What is the Metaverse

Definition of the Metaverse

Which one is correct – the Metaverse or the Cyberspace? Upon hearing this question, nine out of ten people will put an equal sign between the notions and they will be right. It is because there is no commonly accepted definition of the Metaverse at the moment. In futurism, it is a hypothetical virtual space that unites millions of users across the world within a conglomerate of three-dimensional worlds that coexist seamlessly.

Those who have read the Snow Crash by Neil Stevenson or watched Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One have a very good idea of what we are about to discuss. The concept of the Metaverse is inextricably linked with such technologies as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). The question, however, is not about the technologies that we are going to use, but about the reasons for applying innovative developments in the field of IT.

To put it simply, the Metaverse is any virtual space a person accesses with VR, AR or a standard PC, and where he/she can perform certain actions, for example, play video games, buy and sell NFTs, exchange cryptocurrencies and fiat money with other users, trade digital and physical goods, read lectures, provide services of a psychologist or a math teacher. Each of these virtual spaces can be called the Metaverse. Also, all of them together are the Metaverse, albeit discrete.

Who creates Metaverses

Any multiplayer game, social or trading platform online can be defined as a Metaverse. And yes, Instagram and Telegram are also Metaverses. This means that the Metaverses existed even before Zuckerberg; he simply changed our understanding of these projects and attitude towards them.

The Second Life project created in 2003 is traditionally considered the first Metaverse. By the way, it successfully exists up to this day. This is somewhat similar to what we’ve seen in the Ready Player One movie we’ve mentioned before. The virtual world is an infinite number of zones that are created and maintained by players. On his territory, a player can build a Medieval castle or a futuristic skyscraper, build a flower garden with unicorns or an amphitheater. People gather in popular zones to communicate, play board or role-playing games, and fight in various settings (these zones resemble traditional video games).

Second Life is a free project; any player can get a separate zone and design it, using the broad possibilities of a built-in editor (there is, however, a fee for the maintenance of the zone). The project has its own economy based on the internal currency Linden Dollars, which can be purchased for fiat money or cryptocurrency. All payments inside the Metaverse are performed with Linden Dollars; users can withdraw virtual funds at any time by exchanging them for real money.

There is the area of 20th Century Fox in Second Life, where the film studio shows premieres of its films. Cisco also has a zone, where the company holds presentations of new products and speaks with the community. The Harvard Law School regularly holds free lectures on the platform, and Sky News has a virtual news section. Second Life Marketplace is hugely popular with thousands of physical and virtual goods sold there.

The Sansar project, which is being developed by the same company, will become the next level of Second Life. You can check out this Metaverse already in the early access mode. It will feature all the mechanics of the original Second Life, but with VR technology.

Therefore, not only Mark Zuckerberg is creating a Metaverse. Everybody working in the field of innovative technologies and launching large-scale online projects, including games, messaging apps, social networks is creating it. Some titles became the Metaverse spontaneously. For example, the Half-Life Alyx video game was released in November 2019. It could be played only wearing the VR glasses. The game gained enormous popularity even before the release, which Charles Cumber, a high school teacher from San Diego, decided to take advantage of.

The thing is that the first location of the game features an interactive glass, a chalk set and an eraser. Cumber bought the game and held a mathematics class in it using an Oculus VR headset. At the time, California announced severe restrictions due to COVID-19 and the transition to remote learning was dictated by necessity. Since then, however, Charles regularly holds classes in the game for everybody, broadcasting them through a streaming service.

Land in the Metaverse

We have already mentioned that there are platforms that provide virtual land to the users, where the latter can implement their own projects. We have to warn you however, that while there are dozens of such platforms, the absolute majority of them are fake, and many are not even registered, operating without the license (the license is required for such a platform, as it performs international commercial activity).

As of now (January 2023), there are five official Metaverses, where you can buy virtual land. They are Decentraland, The Sandbox, Somnium, Cryptovoxels and Upland. All of them are listed on the metaverse.properties website and regulated by the Meta Board; therefore they exist and develop under the same rules. Nonetheless, all five platforms are independent, which means that if you have land in Decentraland, and your colleague has land in The Sandbox, you won’t be able to merge or interact in any way.

These Metaverses are equally popular; you can buy or lease land in them at any time. There is an interesting paradox, however. In the real world, the value of land is determined by two factors. First, it is physically limited. Second, its price depends on the proximity to the center of the region. There is no center in the Metaverse and land is not limited. However, a year ago, a land plot in Decentraland and Sandbox cost USD 1,000, and now the prices start from USD 13,000.

What’s the reason for the price growth? The prices are driven by large companies ‘opening’ their offices in the Metaverses. Business is shifting to the virtual world; companies open offices, hold presentations and business meetings there, gather feedback from consumers and respond to them. It is cheaper to organize all of that in the virtual world than in the real one. In addition, there is a trend that, through the efforts of Meta, is gaining momentum by day.

Why do I need to buy land in the Metaverse?

First, you can turn your land in Somnium, Cryptovoxels or Upland into…. anything. For example, you can build a virtual estate on it of any design (even the one that is impossible in the real world because of the laws of physics). This house will be an expression of your individuality and you can invite friends to visit it, regardless of where they are in the real world. It’s like a video conference, but in a cozy visual environment; you set every aspect of it.

Second, you can present the results of your creative work on your land in the Metaverse. You can show paintings and virtual sculptures (3D modeling), organize and host concerts and fashion shows. By the way, it is possible to sell designer clothing inside the Metaverse for the user avatars, as well as in the real world. For example, Gucci has a big office in Sandbox, where the brand holds fashion shows and sells clothes (NFT and real).

Third, the Metaverse is an ideal environment for business development. A company can build a meeting room on its land to have daily, retro, corporate and other events. The room can be equipped with any multimedia equipment – from rollups to projectors. In the world, where the members of big teams are physically in different parts of the world, this is an effective solution for effort consolidation.

Fourth, you can build a virtual store on your land to sell goods, including real ones. Ask Coca-Cola whether this is a promising idea – the company is confidently growing its presence in Decentraland, buying out additional territories for expansion. In addition, popular platforms can be commercialized through advertising. For example, you have a popular art gallery, where you sell spots for advertising banner in order to earn profit. The effectiveness of such solutions has been confirmed by a number of studies conducted, for example, by Maff Media.