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Metaverse is the hypothesized next iteration of the Internet, containing a decentralized persistent online 3D virtual ecosystem. Virtual Space will be accessible using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphones, computers, and gaming consoles. Metaverse has already well-defined purposes for the computer games industries, businesses, education, retail services, and real estate. The most significant limitation for the wide-scale adoption of the Metaverse comes from technological limitations with current devices and sensors necessary for interacting with real-time virtual environments. The Metaverse faces privacy and user addiction issues, which are linked to contemporary challenges in the social networking and video gaming industries.

Understanding the Metaverse

The virtual world of the Metaverse is a new phase of interactive virtual adventures utilizing technologies such as virtual and augmented reality. At its very heart is the idea that online interactions can be more closely integrated with human interaction by creating a greater level of presence. Facebook is investing heavily in AR and VR, developing hardware such as Oculus VR headsets while AR glasses and wristband technology are in the works. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg warns that Facebook will transition from primarily an advertising company to a metaverse company. The company expects to become more popular than Google.

What is Metaverse?

The Metaverse is a digital reality that combines social media, online gaming, augmented reality, and virtual reality to permit user interaction virtually. Augmented reality overlays image/sound and related sensory input onto a realistic environment as needed to improve user experience. Virtual reality, by contrast, is entirely virtual and improves fictional experiences. As Metaverse grows, it will create online spaces where user interactions are multidimensional than currently supported technologies. Instead of only viewing Digital Content, the user can explore a space where the digital and physical worlds interact.

Special considerations

Neal Stephenson coined the term “Metaverse” in 1993 in his novel Snow Crash. In the book, humans and software agents interact in 3D virtual spaces. Some of Zuckerberg’s contemporaries think the real-life Metaverse is becoming a futuristic nightmare. The existence of metaverses, in general, will be more difficult for someone to spend time separated in this new universe. Technology can improve human experiences, and the company is best known for the augmented reality mobile games are Ingress and Pokémon Go.

Metaverse and crypto

We’ll also need a secure method of demonstrating ownership in the Metaverse if we work, socialize, and even purchase virtual objects in the future. We also need to be confident in moving various items and money from one Metaverse to another. Finally, if the Metaverse will be a significant aspect of our lives, we should play an active part in its governance.

As we think through how Metaverse would work to become a marketplace where we can sell and buy goods and services, it makes sense that crypto will play a significant role in enabling these transactions. Here are a few reasons.

1. You may readily demonstrate ownership of activity or an asset on the blockchain if you have access to your private keys. You might, for example, use a wallet to provide an exact record of your transactions while at work to demonstrate responsibility. Creating a digital identity and demonstrating ownership with a wallet is one of the most secure and durable methods available.
2. We may also want to establish that an item is unique and original. This is crucial for a metaverse looking to expand real-world activities into its platform. We may create items that are entirely unique and can never be duplicated exactly or counterfeited using NFTs. Ownership of physical things can also be represented on a blockchain.
3. A metaverse will require a secure method for transferring value that users trust. Multiplayer video games’ in-game currencies aren’t as safe as crypto on a blockchain. Users will demand a dependable currency if they spend lots of time in the Metaverse and even make money there.
4. Users should also have the ability to set the rules of their metaverse interactions, just as we do in reality. We may have voting rights in companies and select leaders and governments in real life. The Metaverse will also require methods for establishing fair governance, and blockchain has already shown its efficacy in doing so.

Metaverse is still an idea, but blockchain will help it grow. For now, we can already immerse ourselves in metaverse-like projects (see decentraland.org and axieinfinity.com) and see signs that might lead to its existence, like the growing field of virtual reality gaming or the popularity of augmented reality apps like Pokemon Go! Please reach out with your thoughts on whether you think this project has a chance at becoming a reality one day when technology advances enough to make it possible.