When it was first conceptualized that there could be a decentralized version of social media, the thought was not entertained at the scale that it is now. Today there exists a decentralized financial medium in the form of a crypto market and a decentralized social media in the form of many DeFi apps that developers have built using blockchain technology.
Fast forward ten years since the creation of Bitcoin as the world’s first decentralized cryptocurrency metaverse has not only been conceptualized but also implemented as well.
Origin of the Metaverse
We have fictional writers from Hollywood to thank for when it comes to the origin of the Metaverse. The concept was first posted in various movies and TV series that fans not only adored, but some of them had their jaw dropped because the concept proposed in the form of a decentralized communication medium was absolutely outside of this world.
The technology was not sophisticated enough at that time to conceive the idea, which is why it was so liked so much by the fans of science fiction.
How is the Metaverse Different from Conventional Social Media Platforms?
The word ‘Meta’ means beyond, and the ‘Verse’ means Universe. You literally run into different experiences, more excited planes of existence, and whatnot. Metaverse goes way beyond the original construct of a social media platform where people communicate with each other in real time.
It proposes a medium of augmented reality where people can meet in a virtual fashion, interact with each other, buy stuff, build places and do almost anything that they would normally do in their original lives. But all of it takes place virtually.
The most entertaining aspect of Metaverse is that people would not only be able to communicate with each other but other proposed offerings of the metaverse in an extremely immersive environment.
You can collaborate, communicate and explore what other people are up to. Following are some of the different Metaverse domains that you can interact with in real-time;
- Buying or renting out property in Metaverse
- Opening E-shops
- Building your own social media platforms that are powered on Metaverse
- Catering to different investment tools
- Conducting events or facilitating festivals in Metaverse
Why did the Metaverse Become so Popular?
It is not like Metaverse was not a concept in its entirety, but when Facebook kind of joined the show and changed its parent company name to Meta, that is when all the hype started accumulating around the concept of Metaverse.
Since Facebook is a pioneer when it comes to social media eccentricities, it was only feasible that people started to acknowledge the name change game that Facebook was playing, essentially renaming its brand to ‘Meta’. Hence the overflowing hype that is built around the concept of Metaverse.
There is now so much interest in the Metaverse as a growth opportunity among investors that might or might not favor crypto as their primary investment vehicle. A huge share of thought that people have catered towards Metaverse is powered by the chance of having to explore its sheer vastness of it.
Anything that is even related to the idea of decentralization, may it be the crypto market or Metaverse, has taken the focus while engaging with the thought-provoking centers of the people.
During the debut period of the Metaverse, most people were only interested in tapping into the gaming-oriented capabilities of the Metaverse. They didn’t want anything to do with other aspects of it, but a lot has changed since then.
It means that gaming is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fully exploring the Metaverse. There is a lot to consider and a lot to explore.
The True Potential of the Metaverse
Gaming, finance, having to invest in real estate, conducting events, or putting together a bunch of different festivals for people to interact with is just the beginning when it comes to fully exploring the potential of Metaverse.
The idea is that whole countries, cities, and domains would be able to function and exist within the Metaverse.
So that this thing will not only be crossing borders and connecting people and communities from different cultural and traditional backgrounds but providing them with tons of opportunities that they didn’t know actually existed.
It is like rebooting the internet all over again and providing people that think that the internet is a lot messier at the moment and that there are not many opportunities with limitless options.
Everyday necessities of life could be catered through Metaverse, and this is just the beginning; there is a lot to cover, and there is a lot to look forward to.
Education, health, politics, engineering, architecture, and so on so are various domains that people can tap into with the help of Metaverse.
The thing is that there are no tutorials out there that might help in filling you in regarding various aspects of Metaverse or better yet if it is for you or not. You ought to make what you believe or want to explore by yourself of the Metaverse.
The most tangible aspect that can help you truly tap into the full potential of Metaverse is through the non-fungible tokens and via the own crypto of the Metaverse.
Non-fungible tokens, by definition, are the assets that provide a person with property rights to a potential something. So, if you hold NFTs for a dedicated digital painting or a freshly minted cryptocurrency, then you are, in fact, the owner of that specific portion of the asset that your NFTs represent.
Other than occupying the transferable value for certain assets, these NFTs are practically very important should you wish to navigate through the troubled waters of Metaverse.
In a similar fashion, the Metaverse has Metaverse crypto, which is a financial token that allows you to conduct a wide variety of transactions within the Metaverse platform.
From buying land to purchasing a ticket for your favorite festival within the Metaverse, all such transactions must be accredited with the Metaverse crypto, or otherwise, you can’t perform any successful transaction at all.
Understanding the Working Mechanism of Metaverse Tokens
Think of Metaverse as a financial token that you can use not only to purchase stuff but also to get paid in the Metaverse.
Just like any other cryptocurrency out there, a Metaverse token, once acquired, can be converted into any fiat alternative of your choice, and then you can cash it out or use it to tend to your purchasing needs within the real world, or if required, you can convert your Metaverse token into Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency of your choice.
From paying the blockchain fees to earning node rewards and from staking your tokens to availing of other blockchain-oriented features of the Metaverse platform, everything will be transacted using the Metaverse tokens.
Even if you are a Metaverse creator that wants to start something new within the Metaverse platform, you would have to make sure that each and every transaction concerning your business is conducted in the Metaverse-based crypto.
Metaverse Use Cases
When the Metaverse was in development, and the concept was not as common as it is now, the earlier purpose of the developers was to use it as a dystopian future that allows people to escape their reality and construct a passive reality of their own, however in a completely virtual sense.
But the presently conceived form of Metaverse is a lot different. Not only is it an escapist’s playground but a designed world that can be altered to one’s own perceptions of virtual reality. You can be anything that you want to be within the Metaverse.
It offers you a chance to connect with others, communicate, share ideas and reach out to communities that you think best suit your needs in a chaotic world.
Engaging in Real-world Activities
You might think that just because Metaverse is a virtual entanglement of real-world scenarios so it can’t be meaningful right? Well, that is not the case. Any activity that you do perform within Metaverse can be as meaningful as it gets.
You can be a business person working in the real estate sector, a politician advocating for people’s right to their privacy or any other reasonable cause, an entrepreneur selling their product or service, or a full-time developer working to further nourish Metaverse and in doing so enriching the experience of the people who are new to Metaverse.
No Physical Barriers
Once you enter Metaverse, all the geographical barriers that you knew existed once are gone completely; you get a clean slate to start afresh. You are not bound by your physical location, and suddenly it is something that is not keeping your back but propelling you into the future.
This doesn’t only boost one’s confidence in finding new opportunities, looking for more like-minded people and all that but leaving a unique footprint of their own on the barren launchpad of Metaverse.
The best thing about Metaverse is like unlike the internet, which makes you limited in your capacity, you have all the resources you could ever require to do anything or be anyone; the sky is the limit.
It is Much More than just Gaming
It can’t be stressed enough that the earlier idea behind the development of an internet that strongly features augmented reality, which is Metaverse was for people to only play games.
If the present groundwork of Metaverse was to be laid on this single functionality, then rest assured, Metaverse would have been extremely limited in its functionality, and it could never even compete with the present form of the internet, let alone be called a revolution to it.
Gladly this isn’t the case with the modern version of Metaverse. While not interfering with the gaming tessellation of the Metaverse fabric, there are various other domains to look forward to, such as artificial intelligence, decentralized cloud computing, education, arts and culture, business, DeFi banking, and focusing other economic opportunities that have been introduced in the past few years.
The most iconic aspect of Metaverse is that it allows you to interact with any of the above-mentioned domains and immerse completely in it. It is like choosing your potential role at the very beginning of starting a computer game and then having a fully-fledged story constructed around that very role but in a virtual sense.
On Metaverse, people will not only be able to interact with each other but celebrities, business tycoons, and many other such personalities. As there are no barriers, there won’t be any trouble for people to connect with these icons on the Metaverse.
You can go to concerts, attend festivals, start your own business or become an active member of various different domains that are not only active but also bustling at the moment.
You can interact with your favorite personalities in real-time and reach out to them in a more fun and interactive way than ever before.
As the utilities of Metaverse are exciting and interactive to think of, there is a growing chance that people will soon start replacing physical elements with the virtual interpretation of Metaverse. This is a serious drawback and needs to be addressed right away because this way, instead of becoming an escaping charade
Metaverse would soon begin to replace the very notion of reality that people have in their minds. Some people argue that Metaverse should have been left to its earlier adoption, which was gaming, and should not have been extended to this magnificent apprehension that it is today.
Gaming is an Integral Part of the Metaverse
Although gaming is at the very core of Metaverse and will remain there for an indefinite time period, there are other potential things that are essentially gaining momentum, and shopping happens to be one of them.
Apart from developing your own gaming teams, putting together tournaments, and whatnot, you can shop for various virtual eccentricities scattered throughout the Metaverse. There have been various news articles already published on the notion that people are going crazy for buying virtual property within the Metaverse.
To someone who is not as facilitated as a keen observer of the Metaverse, it might all look like a game nonetheless, buying property, setting up your business, attending concerts, and whatnot in a strictly virtual fashion as one would do in a gaming environment, but Metaverse is much more than that.
It is giving you a chance to be bigger and bolder than you are at the moment living in a physical world that runs on very strict codes and values that Metaverse is trying to replicate in a virtual sense.
Major Concerns Associated with the Metaverse
If you are acquainted with the gaming world, then it is common for you to have heard various news circulating around the notion that some of the games out there are just too addictive.
Many people have lost their jobs, their health has plummeted down the hill, they have become socially awkward, and the list goes on and on, being consumed with the so-called fun and the harrowing need for them to go on with the further stages of the game, trying to explore what game has to offer further.
As for Metaverse, it is also a manifestation of an elaborative virtual game with too many levels and domains to cater to, so is it also very addictive? In a sense, yes, Metaverse can be extremely addictive, too, especially if you have a knack for online gaming.
Even if you don’t primarily see Metaverse as a game, but as a social hub developed for the sake of communicating with like-minded people out there and such, it can come out to be an addictive enterprise.
It is not a shock that in the real world, many people are not as acclimated with online games as they are with social media, and that too is a type of addiction nonetheless.
Many experts have shared their opinion regarding the addictiveness of the Metaverse and how people can lose track of their time so easily while in it. It is definitely a problem that is worth discussing and pondering so a potential solution for it could be made available to people.
In some extreme cases, people can lose interest in real life and become detached from reality. As you know to interact with the Metaverse, a VR headset is required that the player must always wear if they want to keep connected with the Metaverse.
During the testing phases of the Metaverse, it was revealed that the people who became addicted to the Metaverse actually didn’t want to put off their VR headsets except to eat or sleep.
As the data suggest that on, ordinary people are staring at their smartphone’s screen for about 4-5 hours already so imagine if they are given a chance to experience Metaverse, this thing is only going to escalate moving forward; therefore, caution is advised.