What is the metaverse? All you can do about it

While Facebook wants his, he's not the only one. What would that allow us? What would the world be like if we could enter this metaverse today?

Metaverse (or metaverse in good French): concept, ideas and origin

A metaverse or metauniverse is a concept used to describe a virtual world or space. It is a word that was born in the early 90s. Concretely, the concept of "metaverse" was born from the science fiction novel Snow crash , created and published by Neal Stephenson in 1992 and which shows us the split personality of his character, a delivery man in "real" life but a totally different character in the metaverse or the non-real world.

Alternative virtual worlds that we already know quite well and have tried at one point. Similar to teleporting in a in law completely new and different through a virtual reality headset, for example, or other elements and gadgets that are already available today and that immerse us in a video game. And even evolve, go further and that they can read our facial expressions so that our avatar smiles or gets angry without you having to send an emoticon but automatically thanks to facial recognition.

With these metaverse we could perform all kinds of tasks in an immersive way . Imagine, for example, that by using virtual reality headsets and different devices, we could make the purchase via the Internet simulating a supermarket but without leaving our living room. Play chess or Parcheesi with your friends but we are not in front of a 2D screen where there is a board with tiles but rather we are 3D characters in a virtual world sitting around the board as if your friends are really in your living room and not in your screen. Three-dimensional spaces during the game, endless possibilities that come to mind and which would depend exclusively on the ideas of the developers to realize them.

Other virtual worlds

But we haven't only seen it in Stephenson's novel mentioned before, but metaverse continually pops up in movies, series, fiction. The same is true in the movie Ready Player One directed by Steven Spielberg in which the main character, Wade Owen, spends much of his life in a virtual reality meta-universe in a dark, gloomy and almost shattered world (set in 2045). An option to escape from what surrounds us, in the case of the character.

Second Life is also a virtual community or metaverse that we have used before and that was launched in 2003 where we can create an avatar and interact with all kinds of people and characters, make creations, etc.

Et Habbo Hotel many years ago (although it is still operational today) this online forum where we did not just discuss, but created character who went through parts of all kinds in addition to building, changing the look, personalizing ...

Ou Roblox today, a game that allows us to create our own games, but also to use our personalized avatar to go to other people's games, meet people, chat with them, show our creativity.

Possibilities and options

What could we do in a metaverse? What interesting news can an idea as such bring us? The company has already given some clues on what it will allow us to do or on what type of experiences it is working on… Beyond pleasure in games or applications to discover the world, she will also offer us the opportunity to personalize work rooms or learn using mixed reality, for example.

Games and entertainment

The games would be the main point that these parallel universes, virtual worlds, would offer us. Everything would be much more immersive, more real. We used before the example of Ready Player One in which the character leaves a destroyed world and on the verge of collapse. to enter Oas i s , a metaverse where you can enjoy adventure, racing, action. It would be the same in the case of totally real racing games, fighting games, FPS ...

In the case of Meta, of Facebook, which we will talk about later, one of the functions that it will have, mainly, will be the games and the entertainment with friends even though we are far from each other. “From augmented reality failures to intense battles.”

Physical activity

Gym routines have changed with the arrival of the pandemic in 2020 and one of the big changes that this technology would offer us has to do with the way we exercise without leaving home. There are many people who have gym equipment in their own home but it's something monotonous that doesn't go beyond YouTube videos or simulators that let us see a cycle route onscreen while we're on the stationary bike. But it could be even better: a virtual world where we box with the video game while pretending to be inside a real ring, to fight in a real way against our opponents. Or we dodge all kinds of objects (as Meta showed in one of his videos) by practicing our punches or our dodges.

For athletes, this would also allow improve and practice running or cycling from home, we could cycle around the world, moving away from the boredom of pedaling without leaving the same room. Of course, with the disadvantage of not leaving your home and not enjoying "real nature", but it could be an alternative option in case of bad weather, low temperatures.

The future of work?

A metaverse will allow us to go further in teleworking. This would allow us to go further in our video calls or online meetings by pretending to be all in an office or by faking a real meeting with avatars. Currently we can change backgrounds in Zoom so that he seems like we're in a totally different place, but with a metaverse, we could move through these meetings using an avatar that allows us to interact or create a fictional room in which we sit at a table together, but also exhibit and project what we are doing. need and facilitate greater interaction.

Not only in meetings, but we could have a virtual office to manage work, projects. We would go a little further in the distribution of work and we would leave communication via Slack behind to do it in a more attractive but above all much more productive way.

Microsoft has already announced animated avatars in Microsoft Teams which would arrive in the first half of 2022 to improve our way of communicating, in which we organize online meetings. Now we choose to show ourselves or turn off the camera, but Microsoft wants us to see our faces even if they are virtual faces. Instead of real people, we would use our avatar to show that you are on hold, but can still wear your pajamas. This is how Microsoft project manager Katie Kelly explained, “Sometimes I just want to be able to sit in my chair with the heating pad on, but that might not be appropriate. We can therefore be present but not. They will have animations to add extra expressiveness and the hands will move in these avatars as we speak.

Flirt, a 3D tinder

Another of the things we usually do online is flirting, finding a partner. There are plenty of apps like Tinder that allow us to do this, but with a metaverse it could be a much more immersive experience than just swiping to one side or the other. As we explained before, do you remember Habbo Hotel? It could be something similar in which our virtual selves (fully personalized) could move around in all kinds of environments to meet real people before being in the real world.

Not only would we have the ability to swipe, match, and chat, but there could be all kinds of rooms and we could even 'dance' with these people in fictional nightclubs using reality tools. Virtual.

Learning

For example, it would allow us to combine the real world with the virtual world to improve ourselves by playing the piano with a kind of Piano Tiles (the popular mobile game) that overlays our real piano at home and that would help us improve competence. The same goes with learning at school level: we could fully enter (something that already allows “normal” virtual reality) into the human body to study anatomy, biology.

Or even virtual environments could be created for allow us to practice any project or subject ... of the realization of a surgical operation to learning to change a wheel or repair an engine. In addition, we could interact with other people in collaborative tasks and not independently.

Online shopping

Today, online shopping is easy and comfortable thanks to the fact that we can have virtually anything without leaving home. But they can be much more realistic: walking around a store to pick up the clothes you need, asking virtual sellers for advice on style, combinations or availability. And even try on our clothes and see what we would look like before checking them out, for example.

Not just clothes but any other product we could see in 3D, check its size. Or go to the supermarket by adding products to our fictitious basket instead of clicking on the "+" when purchasing online on the website of each of them.

Online payments and cryptocurrencies

One of the fundamental elements of these virtual worlds would undoubtedly be cryptocurrencies. These are virtual payment units or methods, digital and intangible virtual currencies. They are not physical and we do not carry them in our pocket, but encrypted transfers are made which we confirm via a private password. Moreover, the value is not decided by the banks but by the law of supply and demand itself… You have heard of it. Bitcoin, Ethereum ...

They already play a fundamental role in the lives of many people and have become essential but they would also be an option for improvement, for unlocking, for shopping for all kinds of things. Micropayments are common in video games today but in this metaverse we would be simulating a real life so we would also need a currency that allows us to buy. To buy what? Clothing and personalization for your avatar, ways to move between the different "worlds", items, upgrades, actions and even items within each of the applications or programs we use. For example, using a simulator to travel that involves paying a small fee to get to each of the destinations and being able to experience it as if you were there.

Problems and limitations

While there are plenty of possibilities for a metaverse, such as the ones we've put together in the previous paragraphs, not everything is good, or it's not an ideal world without problems. The logic, moreover, is that this is available but not immediate because it requires a great development at the level of the software but also of the hardware with tools which allow us a total interaction in this virtual world. In other words, everyone should have a team of devices capable of helping us to "immerse ourselves" in this metaverse and it is not something cheap and within everyone's reach since it would be an economic expense but also a learning of technologies.

Another risk is that I involve to fully enter rooms from where we could do everything, with all the risks and problems that would entail never leaving home in terms of health: sedentary life, vitamin deficiency and even social problems or dependence of people who did not know how to "control" this virtual life.

What is Meta? The idea of ​​Facebook

Meta is the name the company has given to its new “metaverse”. What is it? A set of all businesses, applications and services that we already use but will soon add immersive experiences in all types of segments. As we gathered after the Connect 2021 presentation, Zuckerberg claims that the Metaverse is going to be a place where users will spend a lot of their time with immersive 3D experiences, accessible not only through the Oculus Quest, but many. other devices. Between them, for example, this would make it possible to appear in the form of holograms. And, of course, there would be micropayments and the use of cryptocurrencies, NFTs or virtual collections and what you think of as “smart contracts”.

According to Facebook, Meta or its "metaverse" is a set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who are not in the same physical space as you. Do you remember Habbo Hotel in the 90s? Or the current Roblox? A giant evolution that would allow us to have our avatar and "explore" and create our character like the Sims (by saving distances) but perform all kinds of "real" tasks as well as interact with it. all kinds of people that exist but not in your physical space. In addition to games, applications and other collaborative tasks and environments.

As collected on their news site, “The metaverse will encompass work, entertainment and everything in between”. They further explain “Like today's phones and laptops, our platform needs to be flexible enough to accommodate all of these different use cases. "

They define it, in short, as follows: “Meta creates technologies that help people connect, find communities and develop their businesses. When Facebook was launched in 2004, it changed the way people go online. Apps like Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp have empowered billions of people around the world further. Now, Meta is moving beyond 2D screens to immersive experiences like virtual and augmented reality to help build the next evolution in social technology. "

When?

Facebook did not give details although they did make it clear that starting in Q2021 XNUMX, financial results will occur in two different segments: Family of Apps and Reality Labs. go house all companies which are under its umbrella (as we said, like Google did with Alphabet a few years ago)

Over the next few years, this idea, this concept will be perfected. Taking advantage of technologies such as virtual reality and with the intention of connecting us all. For now, the company has announced that it is already working on new devices and devices but also new software that will make it possible.

Features and details

What will this metaverse look like? What parts will it have or what are its main components? We are already working on the Horizon software, but also on devices and hardware that will make it possible through virtual or augmented reality.

• Horizon

As we know so far, Meta will work with software called Horizon . Horizon is, according to current information, a kind of hybrid between Roblox and Minecraft. They explain that this is the "main base" of the Metaverse. A platform to help people, as collected on their news website, to “create and interact with each other in the metaverse”. As their 30-second presentation video shows, we can do all kinds of activities with people far from us thanks to virtual reality systems: playing together, traveling the world interacting with each other ...

How do you define Horizon? On the Oculus blog, they talk about a platform that enables full virtual reality. They explain: “The metaverse is much bigger than the games. It's a place for fun, yes, but also for work, socialization, education, exercise and more. Building the metaverse means integrating virtual reality into a general IT platform ”. And that's Horizon, looking to turn it into a virtual house that we can build and customize and make it “your corner in the metaverse”. A corner, they say, that will allow it to reflect you and your personality in the future.

• Cambria and Nazaré Project

But beyond the hardware, those of Zuckerberg are also working on hardware and new devices like Project Cambria and Nazaré. The first are mixed reality glasses with high definition and color virtual graphics, with realistic avatars with eye movement detection. As they explain in their official statement, “ it will not be a replacement for Quest 2 or Quest 2 but rather a high-end device at a higher price, equipped with the latest cutting-edge technology. For its part, Nazaré or Project Nazaré will be “the first fully-fledged augmented reality glasses” although it is still a project that will not see the light of day for several years.

Also at Connect 2021, the Aria project was discussed. Michael Abrash, Chief Scientist of Facebook Realy Labs, spoke at the 2021 presentation of the Aria Project. What is it? An augmented reality glasses that not only allows us to see what surrounds us but also seeks to give us a vision a little beyond what we see and with 3D mapping and artificial intelligence . They explain from Facebook that we could "anticipate what we can do with objects, such as turning a television" but also find the keys or "take an inventory of the refrigerator". But Aria is still a research project that will take a long time to come.