The dream of building a metaverse has always existed and only now do we have the technology and digital community brought by social media to start building it. But are we going to do this?
reached US$54 billion in 2020 . If you consider that projections put the market value of in-game purchases at more than $74.4 billion by 2025, you'll understand why companies might want to extend this logic to anything and everything.
Thus, in a highly utilitarian view, the metaverse would serve as a way to build new revenue streams for all types of organizations. Profits would not just come from selling digital items and resources. All the equipment needed to connect to the metaverse (from wearables to accessories) would also increase profits for many of the companies that support this concept.
There is another aspect to consider. After the pandemic hit, people began adopting different habits , including “living” the lives that stay-at-home orders denied them through digital environments. So, popular museums and landmarks offered virtual tours, wineries hosted online tastings, remote nightclub experiences became a thing – even musical artists performed in Fortnite! All of this would show that people crave this kind of experience, another indicator of the metaverse's viability in today's world.
Finally, there is the community component. Facebook has always said that its mission is to connect people online, and the metaverse would actually be an evolution of current digital connections. And while we may be cynical about their ulterior motives, neither you nor I can deny that jumping into a virtual world like the one in “Ready Player One” would be incredibly fun. Furthermore, the possibilities for such an environment are countless, which makes it even more appealing.
Is the metaverse the future of the Internet?
Even with all its futuristic flair, all of the above makes it seem like the metaverse might actually become a reality sooner or later. So, can I say that it is the future of the internet? Not necessarily. While it's true that the power of companies like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google can make all this happen, it remains to be seen how they all plan to overcome the many obstacles that come with the notion of a metaverse.
Some of the most notable challenges for the metaverse include pushing VR headsets out of their gaming niche, fixing the drawbacks of VR (especially the infamous motion sickness), establishing processes and ground rules for building the digital environment, develop ways to control online trolls and other disruptions. and obtain government buy-in that provides the necessary regulation and support for the economic, political and social aspects within the metaverse. And all of these challenges are just the ones I can name off the top of my head!
Dealing with these obstacles will not be easy, not even for the big technology companies that are betting everything on the metaverse. Facebook, probably the company most vocal about this venture, is rife with privacy issues that have taken the social media giant to court on multiple occasions. How can we expect such a company to build an equitable digital world without trying to exert firm control over it?
Don't get me wrong, the metaverse sounds like an incredible dream. If you had told 10-year-old me who was fascinated by “Star Trek” that something similar to the Holodeck would be real, I would have gone crazy with joy. But as a sensible adult, I cannot overcome the many obstacles the metaverse must overcome to become a reality. This means that while the metaverse is a possible future for the Internet, it certainly doesn't seem like a near future.
We are still in the early stages of the metaverse, with a lot to define and a lot of work to do. As Zuckerberg says: “There is this long-term issue where as a society we should want a lot of capital and our most talented technicians working on these futuristic problems to lead and innovate in these spaces.” The discussion is on the table. We are willing to play our part to make the metaverse a reality
Source: BairesDev
