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,
