Metaverse! Something More than a video game but less than a real World

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.