What is the Metaverse? Everything you need to know in 2022

If you are interested in technology or marketing in any form or shape, the probabilities are you have at least listened to the term ‘Metaverse’. And like most everybody else, you likely had a hard time cladding your head around the concept. That’s not in the least surprising. After all, the entire idea of the metaverse chimes like the stuff you can only read from science fiction.

What is the Metaverse?

Metaverse: If the contemporary internet knowledge is two – dimensional – meaning you browse and scroll via it on a screen – the metaverse is 3D. You will be strolling through it via corresponding headsets or glasses.

It is imprecise whether there will be one metaverse or many different separate metaverses, but this appears to be the one consistent: The metaverse is an immersive next-generation version of the internet, likely generated by virtual or augmented reality technology.

What’s the difference between VR and AR?

Virtual reality (VR) – VR is an immersive venture where one puts on a headset and sees, and can work within, a digital world. VR currently uses full headsets rather than glasses, immersing the user in a 360* virtual world that they can drive around in – as long as they don’t bump into material barriers.

Augmented reality (AR) – AR is a digital overlay launched in the real world. Think of Snapchat’s dancing hot dog or even wearables like Google Glass. While Google Glass never carried off, we could soon be peeking through AR-connected glasses like Facebook’s Ray-Ban stories or Snapchat Spectacles.

Mixed Reality (MR) – MR combines aspects of VR and AR, but the identical definition is undefined. A person can interact with virtual and real-world entities, and virtual entities can interact with real-world ones. For example, the Snapchat hot dog can dance across a table without slipping off the borders.

Companies that are now creating the metaverse –

No single company will possess the metaverse. For one thing, the metaverse is not a forum or channel the same way the internet is not. For the metaverse to become a reality, a combination of organizations and developers have a part in creating it.

Here are some of the companies now concerned in building the metaverse:

  1. Facebook (Meta) – after rebranding to Meta, Facebook has terminated and declared endeavors that will help create the Metaverse, including VR messaging, the Libra project, etc.

    2. Binance – the Binance NFT marketplace delivers creators, artists, buyers, and sellers to trade virtual assets from multiple blockchains, supporting interoperability between metaverse ecosystems.

    3. Epic Games – the company behind Fortnite declared a $1 billion budget round to fuel possibilities for Metaverse development.

    4. Microsoft – the world’s largest software firm, declared the forthcoming release of Mesh for teams in 2022. The said solution will permit organizations to build a virtual world, to cooperate using virtual avatars as their digital identity.