In the world struggling or somehow recovering from the aftershocks of a confrontation against a nasty pandemic, people are in midst of finding a new normal to get their lives back on track like the good old days, or maybe that's boring and old-fashioned. What if they can craft a new world? Well if not a material one, but a virtual one at least, the new matrix, the metaverse.
The year was 1999, a new century was on its verge. Technology most
specifically the internet was booming and was booming hard and fast. The
Matrix franchise released their first installment and Keanu Reaves was the new
sensation among the masses. People started questioning their existence,
greying out the difference between reality and augmentation. Perhaps it was
just a sci-fi contrivance. But it was not the first time this concept had been
put in front.
The term metaverse was first coined by Neal Stephenson in his science fiction
novel Snow Crash. Snow Crash depicted a scenario intimate to the modern world
concept of a metaverse where humans in the form of their peculiar avatars would
interact with each other and their surroundings in a three-dimensional virtual
space.
According to the geeks of the silicon world, the metaverse is the biggest thing
that is going to happen to the internet since its very own existence. Some may
view it as a more interactive social networking design that can mold to fit
their likings. Others think of it as nothing more than a VR and AR
collaborated video game, another venture that is going to disappear in thin
air once the complexity of factors involved is practically analyzed.
How one may perceive and think of metaverse, it's up to one's own opinion and
judgment based on their understanding and imagining capabilities, but putting
aside all the technicalities, the idea of metaverse sounds ground-breaking.
Imagine you live in a dream world just by hocking yourself to some gadgets,
from the very comfort of your bedroom. You can design your appearance in the metaverse, the way you always wished to look. You can hang out with your
friends anywhere in the world without having to drive or fly there. You will
be attending your favorite artist's concerts and events around the world
without geographical and travel restrictions.
You can literally teleport from
one place to another just with a click of a button. Business meetings will be
happening in virtual surroundings without having to go to the physical
conference rooms. Work from home will be more productive and efficient. You
won’t have to get enrolled in physical educational institutions to graduate.
This all can result in less traveling in the real world which will impact the
environment in an eco-friendly way. The finances will be independent. No more
centralized bodies to control the wealth. However, with all these pros of the
metaverse, we certainly cannot turn a deaf ear to the limitations or in some
cases the swindles of the metaverse.
At the moment, multiple tech giants are emerging into the picture with their
own versions of the metaverse. Facebook has already announced its Meta and
Microsoft is also in the process of publicizing its own metaverse. Many other
less-known companies and startups are also actively advertising for investment
in their very own metaverses. With all these different metaverses being
announced, the question that crosses the mind is which one will prevail, and
will you be able to trust the dominating metaverse with your data and privacy,
given the notorious track record of Facebook and other tech giants for selling
and exploitation of your data and privacy.
Others may just disappear from the
scenes with millions of dollars from the public in seed investments. Just like
the real world, the metaverse will require moderation and regulation to
provide a safer experience for its consumers. And above all this what about
us, the subject of the whole discussion. Will it in some way objectify us?
Quoting Murat Dumas;
“The metaverse is the ideal playground in which the AI can let off steam. The more humans lose themselves in it, the more the AI will take control. That much is certain.”
From all this happening right now, it's very hard to come to a
conclusive conclusion. We have to wait for the hype to cool down a bit.
Meanwhile, a heap of research needs to be done before stepping foot into
something that can entirely change our life in a possibly positive or a much
more destructive way, both morally and socially.
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