BLUF

Robertson and Peters describe the ‘metaverse’ as some sort of 3D virtual space that, by using an avatar, can give people the impression that they are actually in the ‘metaverse’.

Summary

Robertson and Peter make the following points:

  • The ‘metaverse’ is difficult to explain as it probably doesn’t yet exist.
  • It is a dream of the future that encapsulates some current trends.
  • The term ‘metaverse’ comes from the 1992 novel Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson.
  • Stephenson referred to a 3D virtual world inhabited by avatars of real people.
  • There is as yet no accepted definition of the term ‘metaverse’.
  • Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, defines the ‘metaverse’ as:
    • “an embodied internet,  basically an upgraded version of the internet where people can have different experiences that you couldn’t necessarily do on a 2D app or webpage.”
  •  “The ‘metaverse’ is a set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who aren’t in the same physical space as you.”
  • Game designer Ralph Koster notes that the term might help describe the big changes coming to the internet in the near future.
  • Koster goes on to say that the term ‘metaverse is:
    • ‘…an aspirational term for a future digital world that feels more tangibly connected to our real lives and bodies.’
Learn more about the ‘metaverse’.

References