Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, recently changed his company's name to "Meta". Metaverse is a virtual reality where people would be able to interact with each other, play games, conduct business, socialize and shop.
This is online virtual reality or to be more precise; the advanced form of the internet. This project has just started and there is a long way to go. This company aims to create a virtual space where people would be living and experiencing connections with each other and with robots (based on AI) in a three-dimensional space. If you have watched movies like Ready-Player One, you might have visualized the future of metaverse. It could be shocking for most of you to know that Facebook is already working on creating OASIS.
The newly named “meta”, had been working on its project, Horizon, which is very similar to OASIS in its concept. Horizon is going to be a multiplayer virtual reality social space. The company had announced its invite-only access on Horizon last year in August.
Future of Metaverse
Many gamers have already experienced the 3D-virtual reality in games like Fortnite and Roblox. Metaverse is going to be the same thing but very huge as it will not be used for gaming only. This would be like a parallel universe where people have their houses, offices, and shops.
Metaverse is supposed to be more immersive than the present-day VR and AR technologies. It would be a mix of augmented and virtual reality, with some advanced technologies, to provide a sense of being somewhere else. It seems unlikely that such a huge entity will be owned by a single company.
Now, you might think that these products may happen to be expensive for a lot of people out there. But here's the good news for you. Meta has mentioned in its "Founder's letter,2021" that the company will make sure that these products cost less and can be easily accessed by almost everyone with the internet. It has also been mentioned that site-loading on PCs and mobile apps will be continued for free. While the developer and creator tools will be available with low fees in as many cases as possible. Yet, the company has to make sure that they don't lose too much money while offering this much to their customers.
Is metaverse really a good idea?
Being able to live in virtual reality seems fascinating, right? But the idea of wearing goggles does not seem to fit though.
Facebook's own vice president for global affairs and communications, Nick Clegg, was not satisfied by the idea. In a recent interview with "Financial Times", he told, "If I’m lifting my head, it’s because I’m drinking my coffee and this wretched headset is too bulky for me to drink my coffee without moving my headset".
Elon Musk, SpaceX and Tesla's CEO, has pointed out the same thing. He does not agree with the idea of using screens to dive into "Metaverse". In an interview with the news website The Babylon Bee, he shared his thoughts about Metaverse. To him, it is more marketing than reality.
Even though not fully satisfied, Musk stopped condemning the idea of metaverse right after. He said that he might not be able to see a persuasive metaverse situation.
Musk has suggested "Neuralink" as a better alternative. “Long term, a sophisticated Neuralink could put you fully, fully in a virtual reality thing,” Musk said. "Having a chip inserted in your brain to connect you with the internet" is the option suggested by Mr.Musk.
Let's just hope that "Meta" may come up with an option better than "frigging headsets" and "Brain chips". Even after these concerns, many investors are looking for opportunities in the"Metaverse Real Estate" as it can be the next biggest hit project.
Links used in the article
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnite
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