Perhaps you have come across the term ‘metaverse’ when reading an article, maybe you have heard tech nerds mention it, or you might not be familiar with this word at all. This concept, which has yet to come to life, is said to be our future. Essentially, the metaverse refers to the adaptation of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) into everyday life. People often think of science fiction movies when they see examples of a metaverse, but it is actually something that will become reality. Currently, VR has been mostly implemented in video games where one puts on a headset in which they are fully immersed into a 3D environment of the game. However, the future of the metaverse promises advancements in various arenas of life. It can reinvent the nature of businesses and individual consumer lifestyles. For instance, e-commerce can come to life for consumers through 3D environments where they can view products in a more realistic way and payments can be made.
This idea began with the creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, with the vision of taking the social foundations of the Facebook platform into a virtual reality where users can interact with one another as if it were real life. Everyone has personal avatars that are used in this virtual world. It is also thought to be a playground of sorts in which people can play various games together. This is called “Facebook Horizon” and only has a beta version right now (Stein, 2020). Facebook has also created a work environment, along with business groups in VR headsets, so that firms can collaborate remotely in a way that is as close as possible to reality (Stein, 2021). Though this idea is still not widely implemented or developed, it has enormous potential for the future.
References
Stein, Scott (August 27, 2020). “We Toured Facebook Horizon, a Social Vr Playground Entering
Beta with Lots of Unknowns.” CNET,
Stein, Scott (October 7, 2021). “Facebook Is Investing Millions into a User-Created Metaverse,
but It’s Not Here Yet.” CNET,
Such an interesting writing Briana! Indeed, VR/AR development is something I always look forward to. However, it would be really interesting to know more how society/firms can actually benefit from this facebook horizon. Although indeed, it would increase efficiency in our way of socializing, but also I believe this application can be harmful if not controlled properly. There has been many incidents when extreme amount of socializing in virtual reality leads to mental and physical health issues. Especially, since there is no specific rule or laws that control the use of VR/AR. I am afraid that this could easily lead to a society that lose touch with reality. I personally think government needs to come up with regulation to prevent the overuse of VR/AR in our daily life, in order to avoid the harmful effects that I have mentioned. But I agree that VR/AR is our future. It will impact so many different aspects of our social life: the way we work, the way we shop, the way we entertain ourselves, and many other examples. Again, would be great to know more and compare the specific benefits of Facebook Horizon with its cons. Do you think companies will want to use Facebook Horizon app to offer a virtual office experience? Will this be beneficial for the industry? How can AR/VR application be used optimally without sacrificing so much form of physical interaction? Regardless, I still hope in the future that we will be in control of our AR/VR usage and will not lose our core human characteristic of a social being. Overall, awesome post! ☺️👍