What is the metaverse and why is Facebook involved?

Facebook just announced that it will hire 10,000 workers across Europe to work on the “metaverse.”

This is an idea that some people are touting as the internet’s future. But what is it, exactly?

What is the metaverse, and how does it work?

To the untrained eye, it may appear to be a more advanced version of Virtual Reality (VR), yet some believe the metaverse is the internet’s future.

Indeed, it is thought that it might be to VR what the present smartphone is to the 1980s’ cumbersome mobile phones.

Instead of using a computer, you may use a headset to visit a virtual world that connects many digital worlds in the metaverse.

Unlike existing VR, which is mostly utilized for gaming, this virtual environment might be used for anything – work, play, concerts, movie trips, or simply hanging out.

Most people imagine that when you use it, you’ll have a 3D avatar – a depiction of yourself.

However, because the metaverse is merely a concept, there is no universally accepted definition.

Why has it become such a big deal?

Every few years, there’s a lot of buzz about digital worlds and augmented reality, but it usually fades away.

However, affluent investors and large tech businesses are very excited about the metaverse, and no one wants to be left behind if it turns out to be the internet’s future.

There’s also a sense that, for the first time, the technology is almost there, with advances in virtual reality games and networking approaching what’s needed.

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What is Facebook’s role in this?

One of Facebook’s top aims is the creation of the metaverse.

It has put a lot of money into virtual reality with its Oculus headsets, making them less expensive than competitors – possibly even at a loss, according to some experts.

It’s also working on virtual reality apps for social gatherings and the office, including ones that interact with the actual world.

Despite a history of acquiring competitors, Facebook maintains that the metaverse “will not be developed overnight by a single corporation” and has pledged to collaborate.

It recently funded $50 million (£36.3 million) in non-profit organizations to assist “responsibly build the metaverse.”

However, it believes that the actual metaverse concept will take another 10 to 15 years to develop.

Is there anyone else interested in the metaverse?

Mr. Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games (the company behind Fortnite), has long expressed his desire to create a metaverse.

Shared interactive worlds have been in online multiplayer games for decades. They are not the metaverse, but they share certain concepts.

Fortnite has been expanding its product in recent years, holding concerts, brand events, and more within its own digital environment. Many people were blown away by what was possible, and Mr Sweeney’s concept of the metaverse was catapulted into the forefront.

Other games are also approaching a metaverse concept. For example, Roblox is a platform that connects dozens of separate games to a bigger ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Unity, a 3D programming platform, is investing in “digital twins,” which are digital replicas of the real world, and Nvidia is developing its “Omniverse,” a platform for integrating 3D virtual worlds.

Is it all about games, then?

No. Despite the fact that there are numerous theories about what the metaverse could be, most visions have social human interaction at its center.

For example, Facebook has been experimenting with a virtual reality meeting tool called Workplace and a social area called Horizons, both of which make use of its virtual avatar systems.

Another VR software, VRChat, is only centered on conversing and hanging out online, with no other goal or purpose but to explore different places and meet new people.

Other applications could be lurking in the shadows, waiting to be uncovered.

Mr Sweeney recently told the Washington Post that he imagines a day in which a vehicle manufacturer attempting to promote a new model “would drop their automobile into the world in real time and you’ll be able to drive it around.”

Perhaps you’ll try on digital clothes first, then order them to arrive in the real world when you go online shopping.

Is the technology available yet?

High-end headsets that can fool the human eye into seeing in 3D as the user walks around a virtual world have come a long way in recent years. It’s also gotten more common; in 2020, the Oculus Quest 2 VR gaming device was a popular Christmas present.

The surge in interest in NFTs, which may give a reliable means to trace ownership of digital products, may indicate how a virtual economy would operate.

In addition, more advanced digital worlds will require stronger, more consistent, and more mobile connectivity, which 5G may be able to provide.

But, for the time being, everything is in its infancy. The evolution of the metaverse – if it happens at all – will be battled for the next decade, if not longer, among tech behemoths.