Hoga Saragih Bakrie University
The metaverse has been exercising our imaginations since Neal Stephenson introduced the concept in his 1992 cyberpunk novel Snow Crash. Since then, we’ve seen fully-immersive virtual worlds in movies like The Lawnmower Man and Ready Player One, and we’ve seen Robert Downey Jr use AR-style heads-up displays and conjure up holographic digital twins in his role as Iron Man. The past two decades have seen early versions of the metaverse creep into our real lives, too – from virtual social spaces like Second Life and Habbo Hotel through massively multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft and Fortnite, to mobile AR games like Pokémon GO and Wizards Unite. When thinking about the future of the metaverse, we might imagine a fully immersive, hyper- realistic virtual world that caters to all of our senses. Something like Star Trek’s holodeck, where the crew takes holidays in artificially-generated worlds that are largely indistinguishable from reality.
But even from our vantage point today, it’s clear that the metaverse isn’t on a single evolutionary path. While some developments are indeed bringing us closer to general-purpose virtual worlds, others have more specific applications – many of them in the world of work and industry.
At Northumbrian Water in the UK, for example, remote experts guide field technicians via AR headsets. Bank of America is using VR for employee training. And in a glimpse of what might one day be common practice, the team tasked with the restoration of Notre Dame in Paris collaborate on a VR version of the fire-gutted cathedral – a digital twin that they can work in, rather than on.
These examples show that some aspects of the metaverse are achievable today, with further developments around the corner. But what might those developments be, when will they arrive, and how can CSPs and enterprises best prepare for them? To answer those questions, it helps to have in mind the different components that will contribute to the evolution of the metaverse. The metaverse is a complex concept, combining many technologies to create many different types of user experience, depending on the intended use case. Think of it like a kaleidoscope: the same elements can be shaken up again and again to create an infinite array of different experiences. While those elements are many, they can be
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grouped into four key drivers of metaverse evolution and five key attributes of the metaverse user experience.
The Metaverse is the post-reality universe, a perpetual and persistent multiuser environment merging physical reality with digital virtuality. It is based on the convergence of technologies that enable multisensory interactions with virtual environments, digital objects, and people such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). In futurism and science fiction, the metaverse is a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets. In colloquial use, a metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection.
The term "metaverse" originated in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, as a portmanteau of "meta" and "universe". Metaverse development is often linked to advancing virtual reality technology due to increasing demands for immersion. Recent interest in metaverse development is influenced by Web3, a concept for a decentralized iteration of the internet. Web3 and The Metaverse have been used as buzzwords to exaggerate the development progress of various related technologies and projects for public relations purposes. Information privacy, user addiction, and user safety are concerns within the metaverse, stemming from challenges facing the social media and video game industries as a whole. The metaverse is a network of virtual places that are linked to a virtual universe. It is often described as a future version of the Internet.
In the Metaverse, customizable avatars and dynamic group experiences will enable a new era of social interaction. Weddings, happy hours, and religious ceremonies are increasingly taking place virtually, with individuals participating regardless of their geographic location.
Metaverse members will engage with and purchase digital and real-world apparel, sporting goods, and other items through virtual shopping malls.
Virtual try-on software and augmented reality. The metaverse refers to both current and future integrated digital platforms focused on virtual and augmented reality. It is widely hyped as the internet’s next frontier and seen as a significant business and financial opportunity for the tech industry and other sectors.
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In the vision for the metaverse articulated by social media and technology companies, devices like virtual reality headsets, digital glasses, smartphones, and other devices will allow users access to 3-D virtual or augmented reality environments where they can work, connect with friends, conduct business, visit remote locations, and access educational opportunities, all in an environment mediated by technology in new and immersive ways.
The metaverse is not just one type of experience. Instead, it refers to a continuum of immersive digital experiences that will be available to users in the future and which will allow them to engage in a range of different activities in completely digital spaces. That could mean participating in a massive virtual reality multiplayer game accessed through a VR headset or experiencing integrated digital and physical spaces such as location- specific immersive digital content from business users who are visiting via digital glasses or smartphones.
The metaverse isn’t one digital space but several digital spaces and experiences currently being created by companies to offer more realistic and immersive digital experiences. The technology has a range of potential functionalities from augmented reality collaboration platforms that can enable better collaboration and integration to work productivity platforms for remote teams that might, for example, allow real estate agents to host virtual home tours.
Many social media and tech companies such as Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) and Microsoft are investing heavily in Social VR to create platforms, where people can connect socially or work remotely reality (AR) capabilities that help buyers in various ways, are a natural fit for this use case.
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