Unless you live under a rock,
with no news and no internet, you've heard of the "metaverse" (or
"metaverse").
Indeed,
since Facebook's sudden renaming to Meta, all news sources have only the
metaverse in mind.
But as such,
what is it? How it works? And, above all, what is the point of developing a
metaverse?
What is the
metaverse?
The
metaverse in a combination of a multitude of technologies, including augmented
reality, virtual reality and many others, which allows users to live in a fully
digital world.
Users will
be able to play together, host dinner parties, celebrate birthdays, travel the
world, and basically do pretty much anything we can imagine.
The
metaverse is therefore, in short, a digital world with real people (represented
by digital avatars) who can interact with each other and with the world.
Not that
complicated, right?
As such,
Zoom, Skype or Microsoft Teams are already some form of metaverse. In effect,
you are digitally “present” on the screen (in a virtual room), you see static
images, a video or an avatar that represent those with whom you are chatting.
How will the
metaverse be used?
The
metaverse can be used for pretty much anything. Whether it's to train
firefighters to react well in the event of a fire, to show new interns around
the offices, to visit family who lives on the other side of the world, as long
as you have the imagination (and the technology) almost everything will be
possible on the metaverse.
Imagine how
shopping for clothes will be easier. No more going to the store to fight for
fitting rooms, no more leaving your home. Try virtually and order!
Where does the
term “metaverse” come from?
The term
“metaverse” was originally used by author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 book “The Virtual
Samurai” (Snow
Crash in English).
In his book,
the Metaverse was an imaginary place that was available to the public through a
network reachable only with a virtual reality headset.
In this
world, developers could create buildings, parks and a ton of other imaginary
and futuristic things.
The importance
of the metaverse
Although the
first iterations of the metaverse will most likely be far less exciting than
those found in science fiction books and movies, these will still bring
astronomical value to our society. Even many futurists and entrepreneurs
believe that the metaverse will change human beings forever.
Surely you
are already beginning to understand the importance that the metaverse will have
in our lives.
But why
should you care about the metaverse?
As an
investor, your main goal is to grow your assets. The metaverse is, according to
many, the technology that will revolutionize our lives just as the internet did
in the 1990s.
The.com gold rushin the 2000s is already happening in the
decentralized world of cryptocurrencies where we can already see metaverse
projects grow by 1000% in just a few days.
Participating
in its projects is absolutely essential for any investor who wants his share in
the "pie" of the metaverse.
Imagine, we
have the opportunity to own and “early adopt” a technology that will inevitably
occupy an extremely important place in our society.
The
usefulness of the metaverse has no limit. And the possibilities of making money
in the field also do not have any.
What are the pros and cons of the metaverse?
The inevitability of
the metaverse predicted by futuristic giant tech companies such as Microsoft
and Meta creates many questions about the “pros” and “cons” of technology.
Here they are:
The good side of the metaverse
In the metaverse, we
can do anything! And when we say anything, we really mean anything!
Whether you want to
visit the depths of a volcano, play tennis on the moon, visit Monaco with your
family or anything else, it will be possible thanks to the avatars and digital
worlds that will (one day) photo-realistic!
You just have to
connect to the metaverse through your computer (or any other device that will
be invented) and voila!
And this is only one
of the many positive sides of the metaverse.
Here are some more:
- The
metaverse will allow people with disabilities to do things they never
could in real life.
- The
metaverse will facilitate, make more interactive (and above all more fun)
all learning processes.
- The
metaverse will allow families separated by borders and thousands of miles
to see this more often.
The bad side of the metaverse
Although the metaverse
will not be developed with bad intentions, it does not mean that the metaverse
will not bring a negative side to our society.
Several adversaries to
the metaverse point out the following negative sides of this technology:
- The
metaverse will be able to create a whole new kind of dependency.
- At some
point, it will be very difficult to discern reality from the virtual
world.
- The
metaverse may cause and facilitate the development of mental illnesses in
young people.
How to invest in the metaverse?
The cheapest way to
invest in the metaverse and by investing in cryptocurrency from metaverse games
such asAxie Infinity (AXS),Decentraland
(MANA)WhereSandbox (SAND)since there is no minimum amount
you can invest in these decentralized projects.
You can invest in
these tokens through the majority of cryptocurrency exchanges including:
- Binance
- KuCoin
- FTX
- Coinbase
If you don't really
want to invest in digital tokens and prefer a more "visual" asset,
you can also venture into the NFT world of these decentralized games.
For example, you can
buy virtual land in Decentraland or Sandbox on the exchanges ofNFTs such as OpenSeaor by purchasing one
(or more) Axie.
However, the negative
aspect of NFTs is the price. Indeed, these are very expensive (most of the
time). For example, land prices in Decentraland or Sandbox start in the
thousands of dollars.
Otherwise, if you are
not comfortable investing in cryptocurrencies, you can also invest in
traditional stocks of companies that intend to develop a metaverse or are
simply closely related to this technology.
For example, Meta
(Facebook), Microsoft (MSFT), and Roblox (RBLX) are three stocks very strongly
tied to the concept of the metaverse.
If you are interested
in discovering more investment options in the metaverse, we invite you to take
a look at our following article:
Some notable examples from the metaverse
Here are some notable
examples from the metaverse:
1.
Meta: The social media giant previously
known as Facebook shared its vision for the metaverse in a “rebranding”
conference in fall 2021. In its vision, Meta shares with us a virtual and
interactive world which, according to founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, could
replace the internet as we know it today. According to the conference, Facebook
(or Meta) would have embarked on the development of the metaverse since its
acquisition of the company ofAmerican virtual reality Oculus in 2014.
2.
Minecraft: It's no secret that
for years the virtual world of Minecraft has gathered hundreds of millions of
players around the world. Much like the metaverse, the platform allows its
players to create different game rooms and creates communities (and even
economic systems).
3.
Microsoft: The company created
several decades ago by the American billionaire Bill Gates has announced the
expansion of these operations in the metaverse. Indeed, the company reveals
that for a few years they have been working on an augmented reality platform
called Microsoft Mesh, which will combine virtual reality with augmented
reality. Among other things, the US Army is currently using the Hololens 2
augmented reality headset to train soldiers.
4.
Roblox: Founded in 2004, the platform (or
video game), allows its users to create games in which players can create
houses, work, communicate and even exchange virtual items. Since the company is
listed on the stock exchange with a market capitalization, with billions of
dollars in market capitalization, the CEO of the company David Baszucki
mentions several times that the platform is currently heading towards the
development of the metaverse.
5.
Epic Games: Current Epic Games
CEO Tim Sweeney has mentioned several times that Epic has invested heavily in
creating the metaverse, including theMetaHuman Creator, a tool that will
potentially allow us to create our photorealistic metaverse avatars in the
future.
Conclusion
Whether you
like it or not, the metaverse is the next big thing not only in the investment
world, but also in our everyday lives.
Just as the
internet and smartphones have changed our society, the metaverse will do the
same (if not even more) in the coming decades.
The impact
of the metaverse on our lives will be 100% up to us. How we're going to use it,
how we're going to regulate it, and most importantly how we're going to
democratize it.
We are on
the verge of a real technological revolution and about to mark the history of
humanity.
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this article, do not forget to share it on social networks!
Plus, share
your thoughts on the metaverse in the comments below!