The Metaverse, Explained

If you’ve been paying attention to tech news, you’ve probably heard of the Metaverse. And if you’re a tech layman, you probably pretend to understand what it means when people bring it up and then do a frantic Google search when you’re by yourself.

You don’t have to worry about pretending to know about the Metaverse here. From one tech illiterate to the other, here’s an explanation of the Metaverse – in terms that you can understand.

What is the Metaverse?

Put simply, the Metaverse is a convergence of virtual and digital reality. Generally speaking, the Metaverse is a digital space, or virtual reality, where users can interact, socialize and work with others. A key component of the Metaverse is that this virtual reality space exists and continues to operate even after you’ve logged off.

Venture capitalist and Metaverse specialist, Matthew Ball, defines the Metaverse on his website as

“A massively scaled and interoperable network of real-time rendered 3D virtual worlds which can be experienced synchronously and persistently by an effectively unlimited number of users with an individual sense of presence, and with continuity of data, such as identity, history, entitlements, objects, communications, and payments.”

Let’s break that down.

The Metaverse:

• Is massive in scale
• Exists in real-time
• Has 3D virtual spaces
• Hosts an unlimited number of users
• Is persistent – meaning it exists even when you are not using it
• Remembers data and stores it, so you’re experiences and actions within the Metaverse continue to exist

The real kicker is – there’s no set definition of the Metaverse because we’re still figuring out what it entails for users. It’s not a new technology per say, it’s an evolution of the internet where individuals can interact with others in digital spaces.

What are the origins of the Metaverse? 

The Metaverse is not a new term. Author Neal Stephenson coined the term “metaverse” in his 1992 novel, Snow Crash. In the novel, the metaverse is a 3D virtual reality space where people accessed the world through virtual reality goggles and interacted with other people through their individual avatars.

Definition – Avatar: An avatar in the metaverse is your personal identity. It’s a digital representation of yourself that exists within virtual reality. You can alter the appearance of your avatar and it’s meant to replicate your physical existence within the digital realm. If this scares you, I’d like to point out that avatars exist in our current tech age. Bitmojis are a current example of avatars. You can alter the Bitmoji to look like yourself and it represents you on a digital platform

Stephenson’s Snow Crash depicted a world in economic disarray and claimed the Metaverse was a way for people to escape the troubles of the “real world.” So, is that the future we’re heading towards? I hope not.

The Metaverse Today

The specifics of how the Metaverse operates and what it looks like depends on who you’re talking to. In rudimentary forms, this version of the Metaverse already exists. The popular gaming platform, Fortnite already allows users to interact with other users in a digital space and watch concerts together, fight each other, build houses and sell goods among other things all with a personalized avatar.

Even earlier, Second Life, released in 2003 allows users to customize their avatars to meet with other users, shop virtually, own property and buy and sell goods.

However, Fortnite and other gaming platforms aren’t the peak of the Metaverse. They’re just the beginning. The Metaverse is an evolution or extension of the internet. Thousands of users interact with each other on gaming platforms like Fortnite, but that is just an aspect of the Metaverse. Just like Facebook and Google are not the internet – they are aspects of the internet. Gaming platforms are not the Metaverse – they are aspects of the Metaverse.

If you can understand how people can log on and interact with each other through gaming platforms, you can understand the direction where the Metaverse is heading. However, nothing is set in stone and big tech companies like Facebook, Sony and Epic Games are investing in and creating their own pockets of the Metaverse.

If this seems confusing and intricate, it’s because the Metaverse is still being imagined. This leads us into the future of the Metaverse.

The Future of the Metaverse

As stated before, the Metaverse as we see it today is a way to escape reality and immerse oneself in a digital world.

The future of the Metaverse looks different depending on who you’re talking to, but one common theme within all the different iterations – human connection. The point of the Metaverse is to interact with other humans in digital space. The specifics of how we will do that is still being developed.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, claims the Metaverse will be a 3D, virtual space where users enter the digital arena using VR headsets or AR glasses. He envisions an immersive world where people buy and sell goods, socialize with others and go to work – all within a digital space. In the Metaverse, you are inside of the internet, engaging with it rather than merely looking at it.

The point is that the internet and technology are major factors in our lives today. The goal with the Metaverse is to connect our digital lives with our physical lives and make virtual spaces more tangible. After two years of Zoom calls, remote working and seemingly online exclusive experiences, we’re more than acclimated to the digital space. The Metaverse is simply an extension or evolution of those experiences that will bring a sense of connectedness to those interactions.

There are kinks that need to be worked out and the specifics of how we will interact within the Metaverse have not been defined, but one thing seems clear: the Metaverse, in whatever form it takes, is coming.

In fact it’s already here.