By Christina Rodriguez

Most people are already participating; they probably don’t know that they are doing it. It’s not just about one technology; it’s many technologies. This early stage of the Metaverse is like a game, playing Roadblocks or fortnight. However, those are not the Metaverse; they are parts of the Metaverse. Like putting on a pair of glasses or trying on makeup, many different technologies enable the Metaverse. So again, we are already participating in the Metaverse, and we don’t realize we are.

Is anyone buying NFT’s? You are already participating in the Metaverse.

What is the Metaverse?

The term comes from a Sci-fi novel now; it’s come from Sci-fi to business. The Metaverse makes our world a combined experience of virtual and real, shared virtual experiences. So, in other words, it’s about shared virtual experiences that can happen in the physical world, and it can also occur in virtual worlds, whether it’s VR or gaming platforms. So you have to almost think about it as your digital lifestyle that you’ve been living on phones and computers slowly catching up to your physical life so that convergence of physical and digital.

To understand, I’ll explain where we’ve been and going.

Web 1.0 connected information; it gave us the internet, which changed many things. You know Facebook wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for that.

Web 2.0 Connected people and gave us social media, the sharing economy, e-commerce, all these sorts of things. So we’re in the evolution once again of the web into Web 3.0. That is, we’re Web 2.0 will become Web 3.0. Web 3.0 is called blockchain, and it is in essence because it connects people, places and things or people, spaces and assets, and sometimes these can be in virtual spaces and sometimes in the physical world. So the agreed-upon thing about Metaverse is that it is the successor state to today’s mobile internet, and that’s where we are kind of heading. ” We are on a highspeed train to Metaverse. We don’t know when we will get there, we don’t know the stops, but that’s where we are headed,” said Cathy Hackl, Chief Metaverse Officer, Future Intelligence Group.

How you can join the Metaverse

Enabling technologies such as virtual reality, gaming, AI, robotics, 5g, cloud computing, many different technologies are essential for helping this Metaverse. Several metaverses, metaverse platforms, meta universes, and computer systems are building the Metaverse. Many of you are already using these technologies and interacting with them.

Industries in the Metaverse

Fashion and beauty are at the forefront. Virtual real estate is another platform that will show you how and how much will be owned with limitations. Clinique with its first NFT called MetaOptimistand. Proctor and Gamble on a virtual world that they released. Virtual real estate is another big industry growing inside the Metaverse. Theoretically, you would guess that virtual real estate in the Metaverse is infinite, but each platform will define how much of each platform there going to have, there going to build. You are potentially able to own a part of the internet. What you couldn’t own in Web 2, you can own in Web 3.

The best example I can give on this is; going to Godaddy and typing in Facebook, and many domain combinations will pop up, but there is only one Facebook.com. It’s the same concept when you start to think of virtual real estañte. In essence, there could be an infinite amount of virtual real estate, but there will only be one of X, so you have to wrap your mind around the idea that its scarcity in a virtual space.

There is scarcity. The platforms will decide how much they have to build on. Just like in the physical world, location, location, location will also matter in the virtual world. Suppose you’re buying a plotted land near snoop dog, or you’re buying a piece of land by something you are excited about or interested in there is an element of location, which platform it is on, which blockchain it is on.

Centralized and Decetralized

When you think about the future, two different elements are happening. First, there’s a centralized aspect happening, which we have been doing for a long time in Web 2. Centralized means it is controlled by a specific platform, and there is an open, decentralized aspect to it.

Secondly, there’s decentralization, there is no middle man, the people actually own something, and it’s theirs; the platform doesn’t control this thing in the same way they have managed web 2.

So you almost have to think of the future going towards this direction in some ways; there’s a massive component of the world being a centralized world that many people are building and excited about, but they’re probably centralized aspects, centralized platforms. I would like to see an open and decentralized future, but I realize it will have some centralized parts. Some parts of Metaverse web 3 are open and decentralized.

For example, if you buy a virtual item in Spain and want to meet in virtual Italy, you can bring that thing you bought in virtual Spain to Virtual Italy. You can take something with you and port them across the metaverse platforms, or a centralized platform is what it’s all about.

Such as, in Fortnite, the video game, when you play the game, you’re not able to bring with you items and take them to Roadblocks or World of WarCraft. You can’t cart it and take it with you to different places. On the other hand, in Decentralized, you can take everything with you. Just as in our physical world, it’s open and decentralized in some ways.

Virtual to Virtual Commerce

For centuries we have been doing physical to physical commerce where we go to the store and get a physical item that led to e-commerce.

E-commerce is not that great; it’s just a website, there’s not much serendipity. For decades gamers have been doing virtual to virtual where they buy a virtual item in that virtual space and usually pat some virtual currency in that space. Those are the initial steps in the Metaverse. DIRECT TO AVATAR is slowly starting to become a new direct-to-consumer model. It’s not the only way we will do business in the Metaverse, but it’s kind of those sort of things that we are starting to see. How we shop, buy, and think of new customer journeys is all evolving. Look at Nike; they are participating with digital Jordan’s in the Metaverse. Gucci was the first to release this earlier this year. Virtual goods are goods you buy in-game; virtual fashion is another virtual good. You can try this out yourself by playing a virtual game and experiencing how to virtually buying things. Metamass crypto wallet is another way to participate; even creating a lens in lens studio from Snapchat, those tools are free.

The trajectory of the Metaverse

There is an element of Web 3.0 that if it doesn’t happen, and we continue to have this data extraction, we will be setting ourselves up for something nasty down the line. Blockchain doesn’t solve everything, but blockchain will be vital for owning and managing our data. Blockchain technology lets you control exactly how your data is used, grant permission to use it, and then take it back. The world is entering an exciting new era to embrace technology. It will both have positive and negative effects. It is vital to have these conversations now. We can envision the wrong things, but we need to get ahead of those conversations now. Even with avatars, it will be interesting to explore humanity, human connection to identity, and avatars.

For example, in web 2.0, you have Instagram that would affect people’s self-esteem because they want to reflect an idea of beauty. The avatars are taking this a step further by exploring one’s identity and being fluid in who we are that maybe we didn’t have in the Web 2.0 area of photos. You can experiment in these spaces however you want when you’re in the Metaverse. If you’re going to be a purple unicorn, you can be; even if you are only 5 feet in, this can change, and you can become 6 ft.

Let’s also talk about how beauty standards will be more accessible when we don’t feel like wearing makeup but have to jump on a call, and you can use your avatar and feel much more relaxed.

You will have to check your bias in the Metaverse when you know someone with a disability, and they see their identity as this disability and want to reflect this in their avatar and be in the Metaverse. So we need to be very careful when we think about avatars and how we identify ourselves with our avatars. What are we exploring here because there is such power? There is such an opportunity as well.

CREATIVITY

 

There is so much innovation happening in Web 3 that many are finding much success. Opportunities are opening up. Companies will have to know which people to hire for metaverse business units in the future. Future jobs will require metaverse capabilities. These people know how to develop worlds. People that are crypto natives, there’s a whole wave of opportunities coming. Not everyone needs to be super technical. We will need the technical people and the developers, that’s obvious, but there will be opportunities for people in HR, business and Finance, Law, and more that’s what’s exciting about the future. All are welcome to find these opportunities. Connectivity is the future, and everyone is welcome to come.

How does the future look for Metaverse

Community, Creators, and authentic people are King in the new era where creativity and technologies are merging.

We are building the Metaverse day by day as we go. The following ten years are critical for building the infrastructure. That’s why gaming acquisitions are significant this year and continue to see that. Suppose you look at any kid and how they engage with technology. It’s not only virtual spaces; whether it’s gaming or immersive spaces, it also encompasses the physical world. That’s where the massive change will happen. That’s where we will feel that the internet is all around us.

That is going to unlock a different perspective on the Metaverse.