GabyThe metaverse is referred to as a network of virtual worlds where people (their avatars) can interact with each other and with digital objects using virtual reality technologies.
For those involved in the development of digital technologies, the metaverse is the number one topic. While experts continue to debate the role of the metaverse in our lives, it is steadily gaining new ground.
In a future where the metaverse becomes a part of our everyday life, participants at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos also took a glimpse. During one of the discussions, Chris Cox, the Chief Product Officer of Meta Platforms, even stated that one day the metaverse will become as indispensable as the internet is today. smartphone .
Chris Cox announced that over the past eight years, the company has been creating products for the virtual reality (VR) platform. They are “accessible, user-friendly, and quite impressive.” They can be applied in various fields: gaming, fitness industrial design, medicine, social connections, and so on. In addition to the VR platform itself, developers are also working on augmented reality (AR). According to Cox, they are creating extremely “advanced” tools for it. For example, lightweight and comfortable AR glasses that will become part of our everyday life, the publication reported. Designboom .
Despite the developers’ intentions, there are many skeptics who do not share the belief in the inevitable total popularity of the metaverse. The recent collapse of Meta’s stock and the decline in VR sales indicate that the promotion of the virtual worlds network is not very active. However, Meta’s devoted founder Mark Zuckerberg looks to the future of the metaverse with optimism.
A grand digital replica of the real world.
Analysts debating digital innovations urge a comprehensive and in-depth look at the metaverse to understand its pros and cons.
Holly Nielsen, a writer, narrative designer, and game expert (London), demonstrates a controversial attitude towards the metaverse. As Nielsen writes, the digital spaces created by tech companies are oppressive.
In her opinion, it is not so easy to definitively say what the metaverse is. Is it a new kind of Internet? A video game? A virtual experience? According to one of the main interpretations, it refers to a virtual world that continuously operates alongside the real world, an online space that exists independently of our presence.
One thing is clear: the grand design is based on the idea of creating a monumental digital replica of the real world.
The main problem, according to the expert, is that the term “metaverse” does not refer to a single specific technology. Rather, it is about a “bulky, vague set of mostly speculative ideas regarding interaction with future technologies,” she believes.
Supporters of the metaverse justify the “lack of consistency” by saying that the metaverse is still in the process of being created. Although a lot of money has already been invested in its marketing. Meta, being the most prominent potential beneficiary of the metaverse, is far from the only company expecting profits from it. There are also other solid market players looking to enrich themselves through the virtual reality platform.
Thus, the metaverse, which appears to be a digital equivalent of vast empty cities, kindly invites users to spend their money.
The metaverse is the aesthetics of communication and the freedom of self-expression.
By calling the virtual platform of the future a “digital shopping mall,” Nielsen also finds optimistic reasons to justify the metaverse.
Take, for example, the issue of lack of space. Many people face a space crisis due to rental housing, the inability to buy their own property, and financial instability. Often, people also lack public spaces where they can socialize without spending extra money, the publication writes. Dezeen .
This problem is especially familiar to young people. They are often advised not to stay in public places, such as parks and playgrounds.
As Holly Nielsen notes, there are obvious dangers and drawbacks in online spaces, but there are also undeniable positives. In particular, aesthetic appeal and the beauty of interiors and exteriors.
In addition, the accessible metaverse can provide a sense of community, freedom of self-expression, and socialization.
It allows overcoming the limitations that the inhabitants of the planet face in reality. For example, it provides simple movement through the surrounding environment or instant transportation to geographically distant spaces and communities, which is not possible in the physical world.
