The Future Is Metaverse - No Surprise, You Are Already In The Game

 Facebook founder Mark Zukerberg has acted as a crazy scientist by trapping seven of his employees (part of an experiment) for six days in his metaverse laboratory. Alysa Taylor (CVO for Industry, App, and Data Marketing for Microsoft) joined a meeting with host Karuana Gatimu as a MS Teams Avatar. This is no surprise, as Mark has already expressed his desire to establish a "virtual dystopia of the Metaverse." And Taylor was part of a meeting at Microsoft Build 2022, where Microsoft brought together a panel of its experts to discuss the company’s future metaverse strategy.

Now the question is, are we ordinary people new to this feel-like-crazy virtual 3D world of Metaverse that creates a virtual social connection of rich user interactions that imitates the real-world scenario? Absolutely not, as we have already been introduced to simulated digital environments using augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain via games, aren’t we?

Well, by the time we interact with the virtual world, we are a step ahead of entering the metaverse, which is the future of all our activities. Next, simple questions can be how and why so?

From Old Game to A Slightly New Ball Game

Try to remember when the virtual reality-based game Second Life was introduced way back in 2003. How people go insane in order to start a new life in the virtual world! However, it was not the first introduction of virtual reality, though avatars gained popularity for giving people an extended life, which is nothing but a new way of creating better social connections via rich user interaction.

The world was first introduced to Augmented Reality (AR) in the year 1968 at Harvard by computer scientist Ivan Sutherland. He created an AR head-mounted display system. However, the first commercial AR application appeared in 2008 when German agencies in Munich designed a printed magazine ad for a model of BMW Mini. They showed how, by holding a piece of paper in front of a computer’s camera, a virtual model (it connects the markers on the physical ad with the computer) of the Mini can be controlled by a user on the computer screen by moving the paper around to view different angles of the car. It was one of the first marketing campaigns that allowed user interaction with a digital model in real time. Well, we can also recall our craze around Pokémon Go (2016) that engaged 45 million users! It showed the future potential of fast growth in virtual social connection of the future.

The Covid Fuel to the Rocketing Metaverse Journey

We have to admit that the pace of development towards the metaverse was indeed rocketed by the COVID-19 pandemic. People were forced to stay at home, and they could not simply keep playing games! They have to work to earn and live their lives without getting infected and affected. Multinational corporations have already begun to use the metaverse to onboard employees, and they see a brighter future to offer their customers as a result of these technological advancements.

We can site examples of Accenture, Capgemini, and other such MNCs that have launched metaverse-based hiring. While Accenture aims to introduce its newly hired 150,000 employees in India to interact in the metaverse world from the first day of their work at the virtual campus they named Nth floor, Capgemini hosted a "Metaverse Career Fair" for students from five universities in the U.S. The event gave potential job seekers the opportunity to interact with avatars to explore job opportunities and different elements on the platform. One step further, they talk about how Job Descriptions have evolved from text-based documents to picture-based videos and 3D experiences to showcase the "day in the life" of a typical employee.

A new Trillion Dollar Economy!

In a recent report PWC predicted that the metaverse ecosystem can go beyond 1.5 trillion USD by 2030. They identified how cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other blockchain-based digital currencies, assets, and exchanges will likely reinforce value exchange across the metaverse platforms. They also point out how innovation will be needed by governments and all other companies to build trusted digital monetary systems, offer new data monetization propositions, and conduct lending and payments, to sustain this fast growth taking place in the metaverse.

Do Not Purchase Land on The Moon, Consider Metaverse Properties Instead…

The future of the metaverse is as versatile and vast as its name suggests, "beyond reality" for sure. The discussion has pages, touching many aspects of what it is offering us via its virtual and augmented presence that is overpowering the real world. The metaverse real estate is available to invest in and big companies are buying it. Such a purchase of virtual land came to light after US hip-hop recording artist Snoop Dogg partnered with The Sandbox last December to open sales of 122 LANDs and 67 premium LANDs plots. PWC has purchased such digital land for over $10,000 USD as a non-fungible token (NFT) using The Sandbox’s SAND cryptocurrency. So next time you dream of buying land on the Moon, consider the many available metaverse real-estate options available around you. Yes, if your budget does not permit such fantasies, search for easy-to-purchase avatars or merchandise from many other celebrities who sell online.