purplepatch: February 2022

Meta: after, beyond, transcending

- Merriam-Webster dictionary

Hype. Future. Gobbledygook. Revolutionary.

As things stand, the “Metaverse” is all of it and none of it.

The concept of the metaverse is almost as old the internet itself. Way back in 1992, author Neal Stephenson coined the term “metaverse” in his novel Snow Crash to describe a virtual world in which people, represented as avatars, interacted with each other and artificially intelligent software agents.

But was he right to refer to it as the metaverse? And what is driving the current frenzy around metaverse? Let’s explore all about the metaverse down this merry rabbit hole...

Tell me again - what is the metaverse?

At the most fundamental level – the Metaverse is the bigger, better, and more advanced upgrade of the Internet itself. In the year 2042 (yes, it will be that far out), a new user will get online in the Metaverse – not the internet.

It is important to note that currently, the metaverse is in a very early conceptual stage. There is a good chance that all the grandiose visions will never materialize once the hype fizzles out. But there is also a pretty good chance that in the long term the hype will manifest itself into reality. That's the reality we will delve into.

The metaverse will be a hyper connected blend of virtual and physical reality. It will record, transact, recommend and drive every aspect of your digital existence. To enable this, it will combine social media, remote working, healthcare, entertainment, gaming, technology and regulatory interfaces all provided for by virtual and real economic transactions.

To understand it better, try to consider what the metaverse isn’t…

It is NOT ONLY a game – Fortnite or other massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are not metaverses. They are fictional, commercial, singular UNIVERSES designed for a single purpose (i.e. playing a specific game).
It is NOT ONLY virtual reality – Powered by next-gen mobile phones and advanced wearables like VR headsets – these are not metaverses but enhanced virtual avatar-based business and social environments for 1:1 and group interactions. Think the next generation of Zoom meetings, online birthday parties or “virtual watch parties” on Netflix.
It is NOT ONLY a digital and virtual economy – This exists today too. Online worlds such as World of Warcraft have digital transactions where people trade virtual goods for real money or perform virtual tasks in exchange for real money.

How will all this work?

The continued improvements in telecom networks – scaling up to 7G or 8G from 5G standards will be a significant enabler of the metaverse. This will allow not only for the very high network speeds but also provide the bandwidth capacity to process peta or even exabytes of data across platforms in real-time.

Another factor will be the anticipated advances in Machine Learning. It is already being used in everyday applications such as facial recognition, voice search, and all sorts of other under-the-hood processes. It has the potential to manage the huge magnitudes of information and applications for seamless interactions envisioned in the metaverse.

For actual users, depending on the type of interaction and applications, the metaverse will be enabled through augmented reality (AR) and / or virtual reality (VR) - think advanced mobile devices, smart glasses, VR headsets or even futuristic implants.

Finally, the piping and foundations of the metaverse will likely be based on the next generation of blockchains especially for smart identities, smart contracts, AI bots and cryptocurrencies. These will replace the internet’s current protocols such as HTTP, FTP, DNS servers, etc.

Are we there yet? Can I have my metaverse now?

The metaverse owes its current fame to Facebook renaming itself to Meta. This was followed by Microsoft other tech firms stating the metaverse as their El Dorado.

However, the metaverse currently doesn’t exist. What we have today are early iterations of some components of the metaverse in the form of online gaming universes, current versions of blockchain and machine learning developments.

Blockchains in particular have significant challenges to overcome. Among other things, the current versions are too slow, lack privacy (by design) and are wrecking the environment. So as things stand, it is not a sure thing.

If it does become reality, the metaverse in all likelihood will be more than 3D VR games with digital avatars on Teams and Zoom calls.

While the current hype creates the headlines, the real metaverse will take shape under the hype radar over several years in invisible tectonic technology shifts.

To rephrase Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz “…we are a long way from Kansas!”