Some huge developments have very recently happening in the tech world, that the public is, by and large, blissfully unaware of.
- Oct 2021 – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, announces that his company will be changing its name to Meta Platforms Inc, or Meta for short.
- January 2022 – Microsoft announces its largest acquisition in it’s history, with the $68 billion purchase of gaming development company Activision Blizzard.
Big deal, you may say … Well actually it is.
Facebook predicts more than 1 billion people will join the Metaverse in the coming decade. and they’ve recently hired over 1000 people dedicated to expanding their meta vision. Zuckerburg, when asked about the rebranding of his company, said that ‘Meta’ encompasses its virtual reality vision for the future.
With Microsoft’s acquisition, they have made it clear that they view gaming being at the centre of how the Metaverse will evolve.
So what is the Metaverse?
‘Meta’ comes from the Greek word ‘beyond.’
Think of the Metaverse as a ‘catch-all’ term for an immersive experience blending the physical and virtual worlds. It is envisaged that entering the Metaverse may be achieved by putting a digital layer, (eg, Augmented Reality (AR) glasses, or a Virtual Reality headset) over what the participant sees in the real world.
Whilst no-one knows for certain how the Metaverse will evolve, an educated guess would be that each participant in the Metaverse will be represented by their avatar, or animated character, of which they can then socialise with friends, build and interact within virtual communities, perform jobs, or take part in video games.
But how does the Metaverse relate to NoRuleBook?
The Metaverse, like cryptourrencies, is decentralised and therefore not centrally controlled by any government, organisation, or country. The technology is fast evolving, but what is abundantly clear is that the Metaverse will not be governed, or restricted, by the rules of the real world, of which it will mirror.
In the Metaverse of the future there will be no rules.
There will also be much less society pressure to feel you must conform.
Metaverse is yet another example of the increasing global movement towards decentralisation and giving control to the user. With Microsoft Corp and Meta Inc (formerly Facebook), many large companies, including Nvidia, Unity, Roblox, and even Snap, are investing a large part of their war chest, to build the infrastructure that might become the Metaverse. Thus, whilst in its infancy, the Metaverse as a concept, cannot be discounted in regard to the potential impact it may have on all our lives into the future.
