Metaverse

In his 1992 science fiction book “Snow Crash,” author Neal Stephenson is credited with coining the term “metaverse,” in which he imagined lifelike avatars meeting in realistic 3D buildings and other virtual reality scenarios.

Users “live” inside a digital realm in the metaverse, which combines numerous components of technology such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and video. The metaverse’s supporters envisage its users working, playing, and remaining connected with peers via anything from concerts and conferences to virtual travels across the globe.

A number of advancements have served as stepping stones toward the creation of a true metaverse, an online virtual world that combines augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D holographic avatars, video, and other forms of communication. As the metaverse grows, it will provide you with a hyper-real alternate universe in which to coexist.

Roblox
The platform, which launched in 2004, is home to a slew of user-generated games, including role-playing games like Bloxburg and Brookhaven, where players may construct homes, work, and role-play situations. Roblox founder and CEO David Baszucki tweeted a thank you to everyone who helped bring the platform “one step closer to realising our vision of the #Metaverse” on the day of its IPO. Since then, Roblox has partnered with Vans to build Vans World, a virtual skating park where users can dress up in new Vans gear, as well as a limited Gucci Garden where you can try on and purchase apparel and accessories for your virtual self.

Minecraft
Minecraft, a Microsoft-owned virtual world popular with children, is basically the digital counterpart of Legos, in which users may design their own digital avatar and construct anything they want. Minecraft has more than 140 million monthly active users. It has surged in popularity among children who have had to depend more heavily on virtual connections as a result of the pandemic.

Microsoft
With its Microsoft Mesh platform, the software giant is building mixed and extended reality (XR) apps that integrate the real world with augmented reality and virtual reality. Microsoft recently showed off its intentions to add mixed-reality, including holograms and virtual avatars, to Microsoft Teams in 2022. Explorable 3D virtual linked areas for retail and workplaces are also in the works. The US Army is reportedly developing an augmented reality Hololens 2 headgear with Microsoft for troops to train, rehearse, and battle in. Furthermore, Xbox Live links millions of video game gamers all over the world.

Meta
Facebook has previously made considerable investments in virtual reality, including the purchase of Oculus in 2014. Meta envisions a virtual world in which digital avatars interact through virtual reality headsets for business, travel, or leisure. Zuckerberg is a believer in the metaverse, thinking that it has the potential to replace the internet as we know it. “The next platform and medium will be an even more immersive and embodied internet where you’re in the experience instead of simply looking at it,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said after announcing the company’s renaming.