Technologies That Will Shape the Future of The Metaverse – The term “metaverse” became widely used in 2021, sparking a spirited global debate about what it means, whether it’s already here, and who will own it. However, we still don’t have a consensus on what it will be in 2022. “Perhaps you’ve read that the metaverse is destined to replace the internet,” the tech website The Verge mocked.
Perhaps we’re all meant to live there. Maybe Facebook (or Roblox, or Epic, or some other smaller firms) is attempting to seize control. Is it possible that it has something to do with NFTs?” To examine the metaverse’s potential consequences, we must first comprehend what it is.
Users can connect, converse, and transfer themselves and their stuff across numerous digital locations in the metaverse. Gaming and creator platforms like Roblox, Epic Games’ Fortnite, and Manticore Games’ Core spring to mind as examples of platforms where gamers and their avatars may effortlessly shift from one virtual environment to another.
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Today’s metaverse: virtual reality as the digital escape
Virtual reality – an alternate, digital world that can be used for a range of personal and business purposes, is predicted to be the primary manifestation of the metaverse in the coming years. Recent high-profile announcements by Meta (previously Facebook), Microsoft, and Sony all suggest that consumer alternatives for navigating interactive and social 3D spaces will be headsets like Meta Quest or Sony PSVR.
Virtual reality focuses on establishing a digital sensation of presence, which many experts believe will be critical to producing a compelling experience and maintaining consumers.
Mark Zuckerberg says that the metaverse is already here, in the shape of popular videogames. Following Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard and Sony’s $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie, many industry experts predict Meta to acquire a big gaming franchise in 2022.
Our digital and bodily selves are kept separate in this worldview. Only certain components of the human experience will be replaced by virtual reality.
Critics argue that depending on a few VR devices and content makers to establish the metaverse will imitate, if not reinforce, the internet’s current ‘walled gardens,’ which are unique, isolated ecosystems controlled by the operator.
Near-term metaverse: augmented reality to enhance the human experience
“These days, so many people are talking about ‘the metaverse.’ You can count me out – at least in the form that most people are imagining – after eighteen months of Netflix, Zoom, and Doordash,” wrote John Hanke, the CEO of software startup Niantic, in a recent post.
He stated that digital technology should not compete with actual reality and that most people are not interested in spending long periods of time in virtual worlds. Hanke believes that the metaverse should enhance rather than replace human experiences.
AR proponents argue that the future metaverse will be built on the fusion of the physical and digital worlds. Niantic was valued at $9 billion in the most recent investment round, indicating that at least some investors agree.
Companies like North (Google), Snap, Nreal, and Tilt Five have recently launched or are about to introduce AR products that demonstrate the potential of the technology as well as the restrictions that must be solved before it can truly take off.
However, with corporations fighting for IT talent and rumors of new gear from companies like Apple, AR’s ‘iPhone moment’ may not be far off.
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Long-term metaverse: brain-computer interfaces, the ‘final platform’
Brain-computer interfaces are perhaps the metaverse’s most far-reaching vision (BCIs). Even though certain devices have operated with the senses of touch and scent, all XR versions today use on screens and standard control techniques. BCIs are designed to completely replace screens and physical hardware.
Many potential customers are both intrigued and discouraged by the fact that technology like Neuralink requires surgery to implant devices in the brain. Researchers have also employed neural interfaces to help those who have lost their capacity to talk and write regain it.
Last year, Valve, a gaming and software business, announced a collaboration with OpenBCI, the makers of the non-invasive Galea headset, to investigate BCIs in the metaverse.
Gaming to healthcare will be among the applications. OpenBCI has raised funds to construct an “operating system of the mind” after expanding their partnership to include MIT Media Lab and Tobii. Success would be a significant step toward realizing a vision in which technology is completely integrated into the human experience.