What is a metaverse?
The term MetaVerse has become one of the most popular terms on the Internet recently, after it was widely circulated by the founder of Facebook, who is expected to have a future at the level of his company, and this resulted in the announcement of changing the name of Facebook to Meta, which is derived from Metaverse, in addition to advertising On the social networking giant's plans to hire up to 10,000 employees in Europe to work on new projects linked to Metaverse.
What does metaverse mean?
The metaverse is a combination of multiple elements of technology, including virtual reality, augmented reality and video where users live in a digital world. Supporters of the metaverse envision its users working, playing, and keeping in touch with friends through everything from concerts and conferences to virtual trips around the world.
The word or term Metaverse first appeared in the sci-fi novel Snow Crash in 1992 by author Neil Stephenson, which confirms that the term has no direct relationship to Facebook or the Meta company and that it is much older than that, and the idea has appeared since the eighties in many novels And science fiction films and series, such as Burning Chrome by American author William Gibson and Ready Player One by Steven Spielberg, and the most famous examples of science fiction films are the famous The Matrix.
To date, there is no clear and accurate definition or explanation of the term metavirus, as this term is associated with something that does not exist until now or as a future technology, so that Facebook did not provide it or describe it with the required accuracy and specified when announcing the change of the company's name to Meta.
But Meta, the parent company of Facebook, now said that the metaverse is a mixture of social experiences that will be available online or over the Internet, which may sometimes be available in a 3D stereoscopic way or through integration into real reality, in reference to the reliance on virtual reality technology VR and augmented reality AR. In providing new social experiences based on Facebook services and devices (now dead), so that new experiences can be shared with others and various activities together remotely, which she says is the next development in a long series of social media technologies.
NIANTIC, which develops augmented reality games such as the popular Pokémon Go, sees building metaverses as connecting millions of users around the world with virtual objects they can interact with, linking these users and objects precisely to the physical world.
Is metaverse a completely virtual world?
While VR technologies now provide users with devices such as Oculus glasses or HTC Vive to play and engage in activities in a completely virtual reality, Metaverse is a digital reality that combines virtual reality technologies, augmented reality, digital currencies and digital assets (NFTs) to allow users to interact virtually, integrating Augmented Reality AR Technologies Digital technologies and visual and sensory elements in real life to enhance the user experience.
But the development of metaverses would represent the future of the Internet or the post-smartphone stage, as there are parallel spaces across the Internet that allow users to immerse themselves in content through the convergence of the physical and digital worlds.
And because there is a link to the term Metaverse with the founder of Facebook, and the parent company Meta. Some may think that Facebook is responsible for developing this technology, but the matter is much more complicated than that, and no single company, according to the popular perception, can represent or monopolize metavirs.
Companies such as Google, which had pioneered the launch of augmented reality glasses called Google Glass, but their business model did not achieve success due to its early launch and high price, and it is the glasses that provided a graphic screen in front of the user and built into it a camera, microphone and headphones, as well as During its annual conference for developers this year, Google io2021, Google revealed a vision of a technology that it said will change the future of communication called Project Starline, which it said will provide an experience that makes online communication remotely more like communicating with a person in the same room, and confirmed that its employees are already testing the new technology.
The CEO of Apple has more than once expressed his admiration and interest in AR technology, and many reports indicate that the Apple glasses will be available during 2022, and it is a virtual reality glasses in preparation for the launch of the AR glasses.
Microsoft has augmented reality glasses called HoloLens that many commercial, educational and medical institutions now rely on, as medical institutions use them, for example, to train in performing surgeries, invent new surgeries, or even help perform remote surgeries, as researchers rely on them. Moreover.
Companies competing to develop MetaVerse:
Although the world of MetaVerse is linked to the parent company “Meta” of Facebook due to the company’s recent activity and its promotion of Metaverse, many companies are now seeking to get a part of the huge cake for the world of Metaverse, and these are the most prominent competing companies now:
- Meta plans to invest $10 billion and employ thousands of experts to develop metaverse technologies in the coming months. The company's efforts include developing AR|VR devices and applications, as well as wearables that integrate real and digital.
- Roblox is also now a platform that represents the future of metaverse, with over 43 million monthly active users most of whom are kids.
- Epic Games made more than $9 billion through the popular battle game Fortnite in 2018 and 2019, and its Unreal game engine is central to many AR and VR experiences.
- While Apple has not announced its plans for metaverses, it does not hide Tim Cook's great admiration for AR technologies, in addition to the company's plans to launch a mixed reality glasses and then augmented reality glasses after that in the coming years, and with the financial capabilities of the large American giant. Programmatically and having a group of devices and systems connected together efficiently, it is expected that Apple will be the main Meta competitor in the Metaverse world.
- Microsoft has already announced the entry of the Metaverse race, by announcing new features for its Microsoft Teams video calling and meetings application, so that users can choose a virtual character to represent them during meetings, in addition to the ability to create virtual spaces for discussion and collaboration directly through the application.
When will the world of metaphysics become complete?
It seems, through the efforts of major companies, their investments and their long-term plans, that the Metaverse will not be available soon or after a specific time, as this requires the development of many technologies, including virtual reality technologies, augmented reality, sensors, screens, audio technologies, and others, in addition to To the software itself, including artificial intelligence techniques AI and machine learning ML, simply the evolution to reach the stage of metavirus will be gradual and may take up to 10 years or may face obstacles.