Blockchain technology may provide the backbone of the metaverse, with interoperable NFT assets that can be used across different metaverse spaces.
What is the metaverse? Well, that’s tough to pin down in a quick snippet. Effectively, it’s a future vision of the Internet that could be more immersive and all-encompassing, with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets likely to play a big role as online experiences look and feel more real—and potentially replace some real-world activities.
For now, however, here’s what you need to know.
What is the metaverse?
While there are potentially competing visions for how the metaverse will function, this much seems to hold true: it’s viewed as the next major evolution of the Internet, shifting from the text-driven websites and oft-closed ecosystems of today into shared, overlapping 3D spaces in which users interact via avatars.
Proponents believe that the metaverse will be used for a wide array of things, from socializing to events, gaming, shopping, and even work. The metaverse won’t be one site or platform, but rather an array of online destinations that will support customizable avatars and assets that you can move from one virtual place to another.
What’s so special about it?
Some of what you just read above might sound familiar. It’s true: virtual world games have been around for a long time now, particularly Second Life, which debuted in 2003. If you play Fortnite or Roblox, then you’re probably already familiar with the idea of a shared server in which users control avatars to play and socialize.
Metaverse advocates believe that it will unlock additional economic opportunities for users and creators alike, whether through play-to-earn video games (like Axie Infinity), creating content and items that others can purchase as NFTs, or even designing games and places that users can explore and enjoy for a fee. A crypto-powered metaverse may better democratize the Internet and accrue significant value to users rather than just platform operators.
How does it work?
In Facebook’s vision of the metaverse, users would interact together in 3D spaces and have the ability to shift between different experiences. For example, you could share a room with other users and chat or play cards, and then pop out with a pal into a 3D surfing game. From there, you could hit a Non-Fungible Token Development Services art gallery, pop into a digital casino, or check out a live concert. And then you can get some alone time in your own personal, customizable home base.
In other words, the metaverse won’t be a single destination run by a single company or community. It’s expected to be more open than that, but all built on an interoperable, potentially blockchain-based framework that enables easy movement across places and spaces.
The future
Part of the reason why the term “metaverse” feels so nebulous right now is that it’s probably still years away—at least in a polished, cohesive form. It’s early days for crypto games and NFTs, and blockchain-driven decentralized apps (dapps) still have a long way to go before they’re accessible and easy enough for mainstream consumers to use.
Facebook says its vision for the metaverse is potentially five to 10 years out. That’s a large gap, but it likewise reflects just how far off a lot of this is. It’s going to take years to build the infrastructure for the metaverse, not to mention establishing best practices, adding interoperability between platforms, and plenty more. VR is hardly mainstream, AR headsets aren’t ready for consumers, and your average home laptop or tablet today can’t handle heavily populated, super-polished 3D worlds with ease.
Even if the broader vision of the metaverse is years out, you can get a taste of it today in apps like Decentraland and CryptoVoxels, for example. We’re sure to see rapid, albeit gradual growth elsewhere in the months and years to come. It might be a long time before we’re really “living” in the metaverse, but it should be very interesting to see it take shape in the years to come.
To know more, contact us at: https://www.codezeros.com/
Comments
Post a Comment