Why Metaverse is currently a tool rather than a destination
Yurii Filipchuk ???? -- e/acc
Founder at OpenBabylon | Boosting Global GDP with AI for Underrepresented Languages | Chaotic Good
The Metaverse isn't a destination. It's rather a tool (currently).
Is this the peak of the hype in the Metaverse? Or are we seeing the emergence of something that has been developing for a long time? Let's take a closer look.
The metaverse is a near-future concept, not yet a reality.
For the past 12 months, the 'metaverse' has become a buzzword and has made headlines regularly. People are always trying to speculate when/where/how this will happen. Most analytics and research predicted that the metaverse would arrive within the next decade and that it has the potential to generate between $4 and $5 trillion in value by 2030. Small wonder, then, that businesses have rushed to get on board, eager to capture the opportunities presented by the new landscape. However, most of them are just jumping on the bandwagon, developing "metaverse strategies," purchasing virtual land plots and believing they are pioneers in a space that is still very much in its infancy. The truth is that most businesses don't understand what it is that the metaverse has to offer them. So are they missing the bigger picture? Why are so many companies rushing into this new space when the metaverse is still far from being an actual reality?
Expectations exceed current product capabilities
The definition of the metaverse is in constant flux. Many refer to it as a shared, immersive digital space for meeting, playing, and socializing. Avatars, often 3D cartoon figures, gather in virtual rooms, meet, shop, play, and leave. Others see the metaverse as a layer on top of the existing Internet, a set of extensible protocols interconnecting applications and platforms. It is unclear whether there will be one metaverse, multiple metaverses, or a combination of both. Maybe it's best thought of as a metaphor for the Internet's continual change. What all of these definitions have in common is that they all represent ideas about what the metaverse might be, but they aren't the reality we're living in today. It's become increasingly clear that people expect the metaverse to have specific capabilities today that it doesn't.
When has this happened before? In 2000, the dot-com boom brought the promise of a paperless office and the ubiquity of cheap wireless Internet to everyone's attention. I was eight years old at the time and went to a junior school in Ukraine. Still, I hope the books are accurate enough to describe that it ended in an epic collapse a few years later when people realized it was just an unrealistic fantasy. But the hype didn't die out completely - some people still like to compare it to today's Internet. The current hype around the metaverse is very similar to the dot-com bubble two decades ago, and here is why??
Let's draw some historical parallels:
The metaverse, where immersion and participation reach their peak, is likely to be the ultimate form of the Internet. But the current development of related technology is still challenging to support the landing of this grand scenario. While everyone is waiting for these early promises to come true, it's hard to see that as an end goal for the next few years, as many of the technologies involved are still developing.
Top blockers on the way to the metaverse. We don't have the perfect hardware yet.
The big philosophical questions about the metaverse are fascinating but ultimately academic if people don't have access to them. You need hardware to get to the metaverse, at least the deluxe version that excited people. Right now, the hardware is clunky and expensive.
The first big blocker is the VR headset. Many current VR headsets are uncomfortable to wear for extended periods, don't offer perfect visuals, and are expensive. There's also the problem of latency in the headsets - if the video or the VR experience is delayed by even a second, it completely ruins the experience. The latest generation Meta Quest Pro headset has promising features like higher resolution and better ergonomics. However, it's still very bulky and probably won't be popular with consumers until the price drops. But even once that's solved, there's another problem to overcome before VR can become truly immersive. For VR to be realistic, you need to immerse your body too - not just your eyes and head&arms movements.
OK, VR is getting better in terms of hardware, but some fundamental issues with virtual reality still need to be ironed out. But how about augmented reality? That's the other big technology that futurists say will transform our lives in the future. AR adds a layer of digital information on top of our real-world environment - for example, showing you the weather forecast or directions to the nearest coffee shop. But unlike VR, in which you're completely cut off from the outside world, in AR, you can still interact with the real world while interacting with the virtual one. There are already quite a few apps that use AR technology, such as Pokemon Go and Snapchat filters. However, most people's experiences with AR so far have been pretty limited - it's mainly used for novelty or entertainment. So many problems still need to be overcome before it can become a truly mainstream technology.
But no one is surprised about VR/AR or XR now. More innovative concepts like Neuralink are emerging to change how we interact with the virtual world. But, to be honest, If we even don't have a proper solution to solve our current problems in VR & AR, it for sure won't be helpful to dive into too much deeper research about emerging human neural systems with the means like Neuralink now.
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Well, all we can do now is stay aware of these new technologies and keep ourselves updated about them from time to time.
What works now? Niche use cases where the value outweighs all the cons of the current tech
Right now, VR is mainly used in niche applications like gaming, training, and engineering design. VR technology is still very much in its early stages, so it has many limitations compared to traditional technologies. Even though VR is becoming increasingly popular, most people don't have any experience with it yet. The most significant example on the market right now is Remio VR - a platform helping remote teams get the benefits of being in-person in VR.
This particular use case is crucial for many industries where getting multiple team members together in the same room can be challenging. I think the experiences are relatively good in UI/UX but still a bit rough around the edges when it comes to the hardware side. The biggest downside here is the cost of entry for both consumers and developers alike. It's still not affordable to get the headsets and all the accessories you need to get started, so only severe gamers and companies involved in training can afford to get into this.
So I'll share our vision and why Party.Space
If the metaverse is a 3D layer to the existing Internet, maybe the ultimate version of the metaverse is something accessed through browsers, with no headset necessary.
It's surprising what's already possible.
We at Party Space believe that a browser-based metaverse makes sense because it would allow everyone to experience a virtual world without all of the current barriers in today's market. People can use their browser to access a world hosted elsewhere and interact with other users from all over the globe simply by using their keyboard and mouse - no more special equipment is required!
The benefits of a browser-based metaverse are:
What about immersion and communication? After all, communication is the fundamental principle of any immersive environment. We don't believe this is a problem, though. In our experience, people don't feel like they are using a web browser when they enter our virtual spaces world. Instead, they feel immersed in an entirely new experience where people can communicate freely and interact with each other in real time, just like they would in the real world. It's crucial because video chatting with a real person is more effective and solves some security problems. Live avatars don't lie, so people are more comfortable using it's and have no problem communicating in a public area. It's more comfortable than real life. This is why many companies choose us for corporate events and team meetings. Businesses value that they can host large group meetings more interactively and feel that it offers a better alternative to traditional conferences in Zoom.
While everyone is arguing about what the metaverse is, analyst house Gartner introduces a new concept - intraverse. The analyst described it as "an interactive space that melds an intranet and a metaverse." What does this mean exactly? The intraverse represents a true convergence of online worlds with physical-world workflows and experiences. Tina Nunno , a research president at Gartner, believes that people don't have to think of a metaverse as a single thing to build but rather as a set of technologies that can be combined to create a coherent user experience across a digital and physical world. However, she warns that an intraverse may not be perfect - or even productive - but will at least mark out organizations that try one as willing to try something on the leading edge and to eliminate dirty, dangerous, or dull work.
I'm sure that the Metaverse will be the infrastructure for many things yet to come.
It will undoubtedly provide new ways to create and share knowledge, connect people and unite communities, or provide another way for individuals to engage with each other for entertainment. Like everything else in this world, however, I'm sure there will be winners and losers in the Metaverse, and those organizations that don't adapt or fail to respond appropriately to the new realities will indeed be left behind.
We are at the beginning of an exciting new chapter in how we interact with technology and each other. I can't wait to see what comes of this in the coming decades!