Are you ready for the metaverse? A new (virtual) world, inhabited by avatars and perhaps the biggest illusion in history.

It’s like the world of social media, but much more powerful. With the metaverse you will be completely immersed in a virtual reality. You will have your own avatar with whom you will meet people from other continents. You will have the sensation of touching them and seeing them up close.

Among the most obsessed with this new technology is Mark Zuckerberg, but he is not the only one. A race is in progress to realize this increased and parallel space.

An example can be the Fortnite video game; users inhabit a digital world using avatars, and buying items using a special coin.

Another example of a real metaverse is that of Roblox. Another gaming platform that has its own currency.

But what of the big tech want to achieve is a kind of internet heir. Zuckerberg defined it “a vision that includes many companies, the entire sector.”

No company alone will be able to build the metaverse, no matter if it is a large or small company, even if there will be more important than others. For example, Facebook.

Basically it will be an interconnected world with the real one. And to make it as true as possible, there are those who are hypothesizing the use of:

1. Tactile gloves allow hand gestures as input.

2. Retinal displays to project images of virtual worlds directly onto our retinas.

3. Access from laptop, smartphone, or any augmented reality or virtual reality device.

Doesn’t that sound like the coolest thing ever? Also, in that world you will be able to do everything you never had the courage to do in your life.

But I also want to warn you. It can be very useful, but it can also create addiction and delude us about many things that don’t happen in real life.

FROM SCIENCE FICTION TO CRYPTOCURRENCIES

The term Metaverse originated from a science fiction story. How could it have been otherwise 🙂

The author Neal Stephenson invented this word in his Snow Crash.

It is a cyberpunk novel from 1992, in which the Americas were devastated by corporate franchises. In this way, a parallel world was created, where people spend time together and talk through avatars.

And it was precisely the Metaverse in the novel.

Fortnite is not yet a metaverse, and indeed is still very far from it.

Few months ago Matthew Ball, an expert analyst very attentive to what happens in the “video games world”, wrote:

“Fortnite is not the metaverse, but at the moment it is the one that comes closest to that concept.”

In fact, in Fortnite you can choose the Royal Party mode. It allows you to walk, socialize, change your appearance and buy items.

The locations of Party Royale are not so many for now, but the prospects are very remarkable: think of a cinema in which to project films (Epic Games has recently made agreements to show Quibi contents on the platform).

Organize football or volleyball tournaments. But one important thing is missing in all of this, namely a currency with which to buy and do things.

The crypto pioneers, for example, say they have been trying to put this idea into practice for a long time.

“There is no metaverse without an economic system underlying the new digital world.”

Meanwhile, Facebook took steps forward with Horizon Workrooms; the social network’s first attempt to create a specific VR (virtual reality) experience for remote working.

HERE’S HOW THIS VIRTUAL PLANET WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU

A small boost to this new reality that will upset the next generations was given by the pandemic.

Think about business and family meetings on Zoom. There have also been exhibitions, vernissages, degrees on Minecraft and other similar things.

But these are only trifles, the beginning of this new technology.

“Another example of how the metaverse is starting to become part of our habits was John Legend’s recent virtual concert, Bigger Love.”

There were 500,000 live participants who cheered a virtual version of the artist and raised funds for charity.

But let’s talk about the practical aspect.

What changes will there be for companies?

– They will bring their marketing strategies from ad purchases into an online shared virtual economy.

– They will have to do the market research on the metaverse clients.

– Our avatars will interact (in the metaverse) with bots and virtual assistants; we will be virtual customers.

– Brand companies will have to invent new products and place them in that context.

It will also be a place for shopping;

– There will be the possibility to try on clothes and accessories in a virtual way.

– Homes or vehicles will have their value.

– Companies will have to design brands for different people and different wealth brackets.

“Perhaps it will be possible to invest in the reality of the metaverse; open their own businesses and earn from companies that may not even exist in the real world.”

Social activity and work;

– In other words, people will be able to have friends, as it already happens in Facebook or with dating apps, but it will be easier to create relationships with avatars.

– There will be the possibility of having virtual working environments and meetings.

A sort of smart working 2.0.

Here I tried a little to synthesize. I said concrete things that can be found in the metaverse and that can be done there.

All of this will be better and more sophisticated when technology will allow us to project ourselves in there.

But all this raises some big questions. At least I, an almost millionaire Italian entrepreneur who looks carefully at any news of the future, have asked myself some questions.

WILL WE LIVE IN ILLUSION DESTROYING REALITY?

I’m not that drastic; I don’t think we will become stunned, caught only by this virtual world.

All the big news in history frightened us at first. In morality it is called the slippery slope theory.

– It is a (wrong) reasoning according to which, starting from a thesis, one obtains a sequence of inevitable consequences, which in reality are arbitrary.

I’ll give you an example. When abortion was made legal, many argued that with this new possibility there would be many cases of pregnant women who would have abortions.

This never happened. Only those who really needed it did it.

Like social networks, that coexist with us and help us. It depends on the use we decide to make of technology.

If we use it too much it is harmful; like sugar or fizzy drinks, to give you an example.

However, here we are facing a major revolution. Which could upset us.

So I find that due caution is needed. Citizens of culture and disciplined so as not to fall into big illusions and exchange their lives with that of an avatar.

I take the example of many influencers or new generations who spend too much time on social media.

“Excessive use of social media can cause mood disturbances, according to research on 6,600 young Americans.”

The study was published in the JAMA Psychiatry journal.

“It suggests that teens who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media are more likely to have mental health problems including depression, anxiety, aggression, and antisocial behavior.”

I don’t want to imagine what will happen with the Metaverse without proper education and awareness.

However, I remain confident about the developments in science and technology. I am very interested in how and when the leaders of the web will succeed in making the Metaverse.

Meanwhile, if you want to have fun, and discover news and information to share with your friends, follow my Twitter profile. It will soon become one of the most controversial and crazy Twitter profiles https://twitter.com/SirNickNite

Nico Nobili —Alias SirNickNite

Are you ready for the metaverse? A new (virtual) world, inhabited by avatars and perhaps the biggest illusion in history.

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