METAVERSE

 

METAVERSE AND ITS BENEFITS

                                                              BY MOHAMMAD YUSUF KHAN

Internet technology continues to transform and bring fantastic opportunities for its users. From using static websites to navigating the web 2 experiences, we all have witnessed the power of digital evolution. Metaverse comes next in this chain of advancement.

Tech giants from all across the globe have been putting their hard work and creative ideas into redesigning the initial Metaverse concept coined by Neal Stephenson in 1992. He coined the term ‘Metaverse’ in a sci-fiction novel, and it’s now a mainstream technology.

Even though the concept of Metaverse existed for more than a decade, it became worldwide popular with big companies such as Facebook and Microsoft announcing their Metaverses projects. The buzz around a persistent shared virtual world continues to grow as more people understand the exciting possibilities of the Metaverse.

The Metaverse concept gripped overwhelming popularity during the recent pandemic as remote working policies and worldwide lockdown restrictions compelled more people to utilize the virtual world for business and entertainment purposes.

Metaverse represents a highly interactive three-dimensional virtual world. Like the real world, users can trade land, buildings, and other digital assets in the Metaverse and explore the space using their personalized avatars. These avatars are replicas of the user that can do everything a human can do in the real universe.

As per their business needs, companies can choose to build centralized or decentralized Metaverses. However, the demand for blockchain-powered Metaverse increases with various industries utilizing blockchain in their business.

Blockchain technology is also essential for Metaverse development as the future is decentralized and blockchain use cases like NFTs and cryptocurrency are much relevant. For a closer examination of Metaverse’s utility, let’s discuss its use cases and benefits in this insight.

WHAT IS METAVERSE?

Since Metaverse is highly prevalent, it has various definitions, representing precise opinions. To quickly define the meaning of Metaverse, we must think of a three-dimensional web powered by virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Metaverse is persistent, real-time, self-sustaining, infinite, and interoperable, and these features are the key characteristics together composing the Metaverse.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF METAVERSE?

What benefits does Metaverse bring along? Let’s find out this. With the growing telecommuting trend, people mostly rely on virtual spaces and digital modes of communication like video and web conferencing to socialize and interact online.

To take the existing digital experience to the next level, Metaverse brings a range of real-world capabilities to users in a 3D immersive world. Following are the key advantages that Metaverse brings to us.

Addresses the remote work challenges

Metaverse has the potential to address all the existing challenges of remote work. It allows managers to effectively communicate with the employees, including reading their body language and in-person interaction. Moreover, the employer can resolve problems like productivity time theft and goldbrick at the workplace by keeping track of team productivity through their unique avatars.

Great tool for healthcare professionals

Metaverse is a boon for healthcare professionals and medical staff who were previously unable to visit patients due to geographical limitations. In the virtual world of the Metaverse, they get to interact with the patient and have clear insight into their health condition.

Making online games more exciting

Most Metaverse games today have a decentralized economic model where developers and publishers own the in-game asset ownership and the right to distribute these assets. Meanwhile, the idea of allowing avatars to explore the vast virtual space is exciting for the players.

Providing the experience of virtual tours

Traveling is adventurous, but everyone cannot travel around the world. That’s where Metaverse comes useful. It allows people to visit places virtually where they cannot go physically. By utilizing the combined power of Metaverse, AR, and VR, an advanced virtual world is being developed that offers a first-person experience to the users.

What potential challenges exist in the Metaverse?

Metaverse is undoubtedly the greatest innovation in the virtual reality world, and it will change our perception of the internet and social media interactions. But Metaverse is still in its initial stages of progression. Like every emerging technology, Metaverse beholds some potential challenges. Considering this, let’s take a look at those limitations.

• Contrary to what we experience in the real world, it’s quite challenging to identify people in the Metaverse. One has to verify the users through their voice, facial expressions, and features of avatars.
• Scammers or bots trying to damage someone’s reputation can pretend to be someone’s avatar and accomplish the end objective.
• Another vital challenge is the privacy concern. The dependency on Metaverse on VR and AR devices can lead to the leaking of personal data since they are equipped with camera capabilities and unique identifiers.