What is the Metaverse and What Does It Mean?

The term "Metaverse" is not new, coined by Neal Stephenson in the cyberpunk culture book "Snow Crash" (1992), it gained prominence when Facebook decided to name its holding company "Meta" (which controls the Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Oculus platforms) and initiate a project with this name.
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The Origin of the Term and the Metaverse Concept

The "Metaverse," born as a combination of the terms "meta" and "universe," is described by the book's author as a kind of shared virtual reality through the internet, where people are represented in three dimensions through their avatars. In this world, the difference between social classes, and thus prestige, is represented by the resolution and originality of one's avatar, and the consequent access to exclusive places.

What is the Metaverse:
Definition and Characteristics

To date, it is still a concept that is difficult to define precisely, as the metaverse is still an ongoing and evolving project, with many open questions such as hardware capabilities, identity, privacy, and user security. Simplistically, it can be said to prefigure a set of interconnected virtual and real worlds populated by avatars. Some argue that it is not a technology but a process of digital convergence that will shape the future of the internet.

Although the metaverse is open to various interpretations and is often discussed in an approximate and confusing manner, it actually has a definition and characteristics that describe it accurately.

According to Matthew Ball, one of the most authoritative and influential experts in the field, the metaverse is
(or should be):

An interoperable and large-scale network of real-time represented three-dimensional virtual worlds that can be experienced synchronously and persistently by an unlimited number of users with an individual sense of presence, and with data continuity, such as identity, history, acquired rights, objects, communications, and payments.

The main attributes that the metaverse should be composed of are:

Virtual Worlds

These are computer-generated virtual environments. They can simulate the real world ("digital twin") or represent an imaginary one.

Three-Dimensionality of Environments

This is a fundamental aspect of the metaverse. It is an element that distinguishes this future network from the current internet. Although not all experiences within the metaverse are necessarily three-dimensional.

Real-Time Representation of 3D Worlds

This means that the rendering process - which involves a computer generating objects or environments - must respond in real-time and smoothly to user inputs, or else users become impatient. Naturally, more complex environments require more computing power.

Interoperable Network

This means that systems and platforms, through a series of shared standards, communicate with each other seamlessly, allowing for easy movement from one environment to another and continuous interaction from any platform, just as browsing the web allows you to move from one site to another.

Interoperability Between Users and Platforms

This will allow for smooth and continuous experiences in the digital world, ensuring data collection, transmission, and protection for cybersecurity and privacy.

Persistence

The property that allows the metaverse to operate endlessly without the possibility of being paused, turned off, or reset. In this condition, the effects of users' actions remain unchanged and visible indefinitely to everyone. The experience is continuous, persistent, and without the possibility of resetting between one browsing session and another.

Synchronicity

Experiences in the virtual world must simulate those in real life, so interactions between people must be fluid and exist for everyone in real time.

Unlimited Number of Users

Therefore, there should be no limits on the number of people who can participate simultaneously in the same event and experience a real sense of presence in that place, at that time. So, anyone at any time should be able to enter and stay in the metaverse as they please.

Currently, technological limitations do not allow for the design of a single parallel reality in which an unlimited number of users can interact and communicate simultaneously. With some technical tricks, a few hundred avatars can coexist, as in the case of Travis Scott's concert, where more than 120,000 identical copies of the game were created to allow 27.7 million viewers to watch the live music performance on the Fortnite platform simultaneously.

These elements make the metaverse an unprecedented technological challenge that will require at least ten years and the work of hundreds of companies, each dedicated to solving specific problems and meeting the needs of their customers (business or consumer).

What is the Value of the Metaverse

It is estimated that the metaverse ecosystem will generate a quantifiable impact of between 4 and 5 trillion dollars by 2030. The new internet will involve a multitude of use cases that are difficult to imagine clearly at this stage of development.

Where Are We at with the Metaverse?

It is difficult to predict exactly what the metaverse will be. For now, despite many announcements, the metaverse does not exist, or at least, it can only be discussed in a depowered form. Various experiments have been conducted, such as in the fashion sector with the Metaverse Fashion Week, which took place last year on Decentraland and represented the world's first and largest fully digital fashion week with four days of fashion shows and over 60 well-known brands, designers, and artists.
However, these are individual options that do not yet interact with each other, losing the concept of universality that defines the metaverse.

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Take Your First Step into the Metaverse

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We Create Interactive and Multi-User Virtual Showrooms

Currently, most companies choose to develop explorable virtual worlds through browsers or desktop or mobile applications.
Companies, without resorting to blockchain technology and without having to purchase virtual land, create their own private metaverse: a space consisting of multiple environments where various activities can be carried out, products can be showcased, and interactions with users can occur.
The interactive multi-user virtual showroom allows the company to present its business, promote new collections, and organize virtual meetings. Users have dedicated rooms in which they can explore and interact with products.

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