Metaverse 101: A passing FAD or the Next Big thing
To imagine the opportunities ahead, it is important to understand the breadth of what is happening now
🚨Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. I am not an investment advisor. This information is meant to be for educational & entertainment purposes - DYOR(Do Your Own Research).
Understanding the pace of Technological innovation - Slow or Fast?
Over the last 2-3 years, the things we do online have not changed much!! But think about your life ~20 years back, when there were no smartphones, internet apps, or cloud computing services.
In late 90s, how would you react if someone told you, “In some time you would…”
Order a taxi from our phone, and the taxi would know exactly where to pick you up, drop you and charge money from your bank account.
You could do all your banking on the phone, Watch a movie on a moving train with audio piped through a wireless a headsets.
Do a video call with participants from around the world.
It would have seemed straight out of a science fiction movie.
That’s because technology evolves in S-Curves
It feels like not much is changing, but then a new technology or concepts comes along Smartphones, Internet etc, and everything explodes.
So are we ready for the next wave up? The Metaverse may be the next generation of the internet.
No single definition of the Metaverse.
“The metaverse is a seamless convergence of our physical and digital lives, creating a unified, virtual community where we can work, play, relax, transact and socialize.”
Metaverse = Web 3 + AR/VR/Sensors + Social Interactions
Not one virtual world but many worlds where people interact for different needs (work, play, socialize, etc)
Metaverse use cases are still emerging (similar to how the internet grew)
Potentially everything we use the internet for today and more
Gaming, commerce, art, media, advertising, smart manufacturing, health care, virtual communities, and social collaboration
The idea of the metaverse has been in the works for over 2 decades
Why now?
Improved Infrastructure: Higher speed internet, Increased computing power on edge & cloud devices
Hardware & Software Innovation: AR & VR Capability,
Blockchain Technology: Building trust in a decentralized, trustless environment
Sociological changes: Generation of children growing up more comfortable with virtual interactions - Roblox, Minecraft
So What does the future look like
If you haven’t watched the movie Ready Player one, I would strongly encourage you to watch the Trailer. It is a great way to get a sci-fi glimpse of what the metaverse can become. There are enough cases of visions from sci-fi movies coming to life in 20-30 years.
Potential Use cases in the future - Fully immersive experiences
Lots of excitement about the potential of the space, but still early days
Metaverse, Gaming, Sports, Music, Fashion NFTs are just starting off…
What is the role of NFTs in the Metaverse?
Digital assets, such as NFTs(non-fungible tokens), in the Metaverse enable a form of sovereign ownership for the users/owners and are tradeable, composable, immutable and mostly interoperable.
Brands have already begun establishing their Metaverse identities
Lots of similarities with the early days of the internet but this is just the beginning
Clunky Graphics & Bad UI & UX
Mobile device access is limited
Complex to understand with lots of jargon
Lack of Trust & lots of scams
Regulatory standards are not clear
Still limited to a small user base with price being very volatile & speculative
Large Metaverse Projects
Decentraland - Live ($MANA)
Oldest project in the space. Single Metaverse layer. Building collaborations with top crypto projects globally, many setting up virtual headquarters there. Prominent metaverse, used actively by communities. Networking & Events primarily driving Decentraland adoption. Many art galleries few games. JP Morgan established a presence
The Sandbox - Early Alpha Release ($SAND)
Build a game platform with multiple creators - Blockchain based minecraft competitor. Evolved from a non-blockchain project into a new paradigm. Primarily focused on gaming. Many prominent NFT communities & game companies have acquired land. HK specific land projects MegaCity being launched
Cryptovoxel - Live
Oldest project in the space. Single Metaverse layer. CryptoArtists from all around the world have taken over this platform generating lots of content. Filled with art galleries and an active community. Many art and business-related events. Unfortunately, no central way to find and access them
Somnium Space - Live
High-end devices-focused project. With beautiful image rendering on a high-end VR device. Every plot has a different size and limitations. A small community, high-end VR equipment is required. Art galleries & private land built for custom requirements
Meta (Facebook)
Over the past couple years, Mark Zuckerberg has staked his legacy on the development of the metaverse: new virtual spaces which he believes will be as transformational to the world as smartphones were 15 years ago. Early releases have not lived up to people’s expectations, and the company has received a lot of flak.
There is a growing list of contender projects as the lines between games & metaverse projects also blur out - Axie, Enjin, GALA, MetaHero, BigTime, VulcanForge, StarAtlas, BLOK
This article was to get you started; I will write more focused articles diving into specific areas & use cases over time.
🚨Reminder of Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. I am not an investment advisor. This information is meant to be for educational & entertainment purposes - DYOR(Do Your Own Research). Please do your own research before you decide to invest your hard-earned money. If you are unsure seek help from a professional financial advisor who can understand the full breadth of your financial needs & commitments to advise you on what you should do.