What is the metaverse? This is a question that everyone seems to be asking right now. With Meta, making a huge push towards this “Metaverse” the question is only going to become more common. Here is my take, from someone who has been in the VR industry for 4+ years and is actively working on his own “Metaverse” engine.
What is it right now?
Put simply, the metaverse does not exist at this moment. Just like the singularity or flying cars, it is a construct of science fiction. Specifically the 1992 book Snow Crash. Though there are some things that come very close to being what could be defined as a metaverse.
Almost Metaverses:
1. NeosVR
Arguably the closest thing we have to one at the moment. Neos is a social VR platform that allows people to create and visit worlds. It has a comprehensive node scripting system, support for most major desktop VR headsets, and built-in cryptocurrency support. What currently holds it back is its lack of users, performance issues, and lack of a Quest port.
2. VRChat
VR chat is currently the most popular social VR platform, with it breaking over 24,000 concurrent users last thanksgiving. As its name suggests, the main purpose of the platform is to talk to other users. While still having their own world-building and scripting systems, they have much less functionality than the aforementioned Neos. They have full cross-platform support, with the app being available for all VR headsets as well as regular PC users.
Honorable mentions:
What does Meta mean when they say Metaverse?
Before Facebook announced their name change to Meta, they tried selling us on their vision of the Metaverse. The presentation included lots of CGI and Si-Fi fluff. But when you boil it down to the essentalls, you can tell Meta sees a future where the internet has essentially been replaced by a virtual space. Supported, influenced, and controlled largely by them.
So to hang out with friends you will log on to Horizons worlds using your Meta headset or AR glasses. To find things in your house you will be able to put on your Meta AR glasses, ask a Meta AI where said item is. Then you will see a path overlayed in your vision showing you where this item is. It will know where this item is because you will have trackers throughout your house reporting where things are to Meta.
So put in a nutshell, the Meta-Metaverse, is an attempt at fusing the virtual and real-world, to the point that they become indistinguishable, and by extension giving Meta control of reality itself.
What does the word Metaverse even mean?
The word “meta” usually means that something is referring back to itself in a self-aware manner. For example, a show breaking the fourth wall could be considered “meta.” Players using outside knowledge of the stats of items in a game is also “meta.” Theoretically, recreating a universe inside of a universe could be considered meta, or a Meta(Uni)verse.
What will the Metavese be?
Put plain and simple, the internet in 3D.
The question is the form of the Metaverse or what it will be.
Will it be a singular game that just evolved over time to the point that nothing else existed like in Ready Player One?
A decentralized crypto haven?
Regular websites with WebXR integrations?
Or will it be the corporate dystopia described in the very novel that coined the term Metaverse?
At the moment, it appears as if we are on track for the cooperate dystopia option, if Meta plays their cards right. They have the money and the will, it’s just a matter of how they move forward now.
What technologies will play part in this?
Virtual Reality
A big part of what people look forward to, is the VR component of the metaverse. Logging in with your friends to go explore fantastical new realities without ever leaving your couch. But it is important for us in the VR community to remember that the metaverse won’t only be limited to VR, it will also be accessed by more mundane means such as a regular PC.
Augmented Reality
Augmented reality is one of the harder aspects to wrap your head around, but essentially this technology will be used to pull users halfway into, or halfway out of the Metaverse. You could have a face-to-face conversation with a friend in your living room, while they would be able to sit comfortably in their own living room. You could invite friends over to your house while they’re in VR and they would perceive themselves to be in your house. The possibilities are boundless.
WebXR
This is a promising reality for the framework of the Metaverse. Essentially, using a web browser you can go to a page and there will be 3D content embedded in it that you can experience through a headset or even phone. Tutorials on how to do this sort of stuff are actually how I started this website. I’m not a huge believer in this option though as the developer tools and coding languages used for this are clunky and you’re never going to get optimal performance out of a regular Web Browser
Custom Engines
Just like today how we have Internet Browsers, in the future we will have “Metaverse Browsers.” Neos is a good example of this. These browsers can be optimized to give you the best experience possible without having to conform to prior internet standards. This is the route I’m taking with my own engine that you can read about here.
Cryptocurrencies and NFTs
As always, Blockchain technologies are subject to hot debate and controversy, but more likely than not they will play a key role in whatever is to come. The optimal outcome for the metaverse will mirror the current internet, with every brand or world hosting their own servers, disconnected to a certain extent, but super easy to switch between. Or in another word, decentralized.
While it’s relatively easy to see how cryptocurrencies could play a role, it’s just as easy to see everyone keep using PayPal and regular currencies. I think that the much more “disruptive” technology will be NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.
Many people wonder how their virtual belongings will be stored, while it’s simple and easy for games and platforms to store ownership of items exclusive to their platforms solely on their servers, it’s expected that the future citizens of the Metaverse will want to freely bring their items across platforms, and that’s much harder to do in a closed ecosystem. So how do NFTs play into this system?
At its base, an NFT is just a recept like you get from a store. Nothing magic or more than that. Basically, you can point to it and say you have ownership of an asset. Right now they’re being used to store ownership of such glamorous items as jpegs of bored monkeys. This is not really a good representation of their use, as they can be used for much more tangible things.
Let’s say that in a space game, you buy a spaceship. First off this game will ensure that you can’t right-click and save the ship since that inherently wouldn’t make sense in the context. But secondly, if space games are super popular and store ownership through NFTs it would be possible to bring ships from game to game.
Is cross-game ownership of spaceships very likely? Probably not. But cross-game ownership of simpler items will likely be much more common. For instance, you would likely be able to bring a spacesuit from a game to a social platform rather easily. Or put a super rare trophy on a pedestal inside your virtual home.
The Takeaway
What you should get from this article, is that the Metaverse doesn’t exist yet. We’re not quite sure what it is, or who’s going to make it. But we have a vision, it’s getting made, and it’s going to be impressive.
