What is Metaverse?
Metaverse is a virtual world that allows users to connect with each other, communicate, work, play, and transact like in the real world. The term metaverse has not yet been defined with certainty. In simple terms, the metaverse is a virtual world concept that can be owned and filled with various objects and activities like the real world. This concept is a combination of several technological elements, including virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
A person can enter the world of the metaverse which is represented in the form of an avatar that represents themselves. This 3D avatar is a clone or user image that is used as a user representation on the internet. With the metaverse, a person can carry out activities like in the real world, such as playing, working, meeting friends, watching concerts, shopping, to buying property assets that are represented in a virtual form.
What Is The Definition Of Metaverse?
Metaverse is a concept of a virtual world where one can create and explore with other internet users in the form of his avatar. Metaverse is a virtual world concept that people can use in the future. Metaverse is often interpreted as a simulation of the human world implemented in cyberspace or the internet.
In fact, the first person who coined the term metaverse famously was Neal Stephenson. He mentioned the term in his novel called Snow Crash, which is written in 1992. The term metaverse refers to a 3D virtual world populated by avatars of real people. This term does not have a universally accepted definition.
Metaverse is described as the internet in 3D model. Rather just looking at screen for digital image, in the metaverse the screen becomes more alive because it served with 3D. Zuckerberg himself describes the term metaverse as a virtual environment where you can enter, rather than just looking at the screen. In short, it’s an endless world of virtual interconnected communities. In metaverse, people can work, play, and meet by utilizing smartphone apps, augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets, and other devices.
Facebook’s simple description of the metaverse is a set of virtual spaces, where a person can create and explore with other internet users who are not in the same physical space as that person. In the world of metaverse, participants can make avatars at will. A 3D avatar is a user image or replica in the shape of 3D animation. The use of avatar is as a user representation on the internet.
A user requires additional devices with haptic technology in the form of gloves and VR (virtual reality) glasses to be able to carry out activities in the metaverse world. These devices also need to be equipped with additional audio devices to be able to experience real-world experiences when carrying out activities in the metaverse. With the support of these devices, users can receive experiences such as seeing beautiful scenery, touching various objects, hearing surrounding sounds, and various other interesting sensations.
Why Is The Game Linked To The Metaverse?
The metaverse experience already exists in the world of online games such as Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox, it provides evidence that the metaverse is nothing new, it just goes unnoticed. Online community forums have been around since the 1990s taking shape in instant messaging, chat rooms and early social media. Then, in the early 2000s, the game World of Warcraft came and became very popular which made the online community grow around the game. Today, playing Fortnite, and chatting with friends in platform chat rooms has become a natural thing like physical interaction in general, especially for today’s young generation.
Metaverse allows something to be an overlap between life in the digital world and real life in terms of socialization, wealth, entertainment, shopping, and productivity. With games that are based on blockchain technology, players can convert the their spending game time into cryptocurrency. In the popular blockchain game like Axie Infinity, players train, breed and buy Pokemon-like creatures that are NFTs, each individually registered on the Ethereum blockchain. An active market allows players to sell characters for cryptocurrency.
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The Link Between Metaverse And Crypto
Cryptocurrency is the official currency used in the world of the metaverse. On the Decentraland metaverse platform, for example, users can buy items, buy concert tickets online or buy virtual land with digital currency. The relationship between the metaverse and cryptocurrency can also be detected through the use of NFT or non-fungible tokens on the virtual reality platform.
Non-fungible tokens are virtual things that are similar to an item in the real world such as music or painting and can be traded. This NFT is built on a blockchain (usually the Ethereum blockchain) with a smart contract mechanism that allows the user to detect the history of the NFT’s previous ownership. All items in the metaverse from clothes and characters to even virtual land are NFT.
Metaverse Platform Example
Several platforms develop the experience of enjoying different worlds of the metaverse. Here are some of the most popular metaverse platforms around the world:
- Decentraland
Decentraland is a metaverse platform that was founded in 2017 and officially launched its application to the public in 2020. In this platform, users can trade NFT, buy land and build virtual buildings on the land, participate in various virtual events and interact with other users from all over the world. world.
- The Sandbox
The Sandbox is a metaverse platform released in 2012. Initially, this platform was a normal game application before slowly turning into a metaverse. In this application, users can buy land, build virtual land and sell it to other users.
- Cryptovoxels
Another metaverse platform you need to try is cryptovoxels. The platform, which is developed on top of the Ethereum blockchain system, also has a large virtual land that can be built and sold. In addition, cryptovoxels also provides a marketplace that contains various NFT products ranging from gaming items, artwork, and so on.
Conclusion
From the discussion above, it can be concluded that Metaverse is a virtual place that allows users to interact with other users from all over the world and build new experiences with these other users without meeting in person. This is a digital or virtual place which basically people can do whatever they want virtually.