Chapter 2: The Metaverse Today
Since we’ve been comparing the metaverse to video games, that’s a good place to start this chapter by saying that virtual reality gaming is the best way to give us a peek into what the metaverse is going to look like. Video games and VR have always been the pavers and the movers towards the combination of digital and physical worlds. But there are other items too that will help us get a better understanding of, and make predictions towards, what the metaverse of several years into the future would look like.
Most MMO video games such as Fortnite, Final Fantasy, Roblox, and World of Warcraft are all examples of ‘mini- metaverses.’ They are persistent games where a player controls an avatar and makes them do certain things, and every player can connect and talk to every other player. Players can socialize, join clubs or guilds, attend events, and make in game payments using in game currency.
Additionally, several games allow you to fully customize your character. You can design a completely different character than yourself, make a non-humanoid design, or create a character that looks completely like you. The Metaverse is going to be populated with a similar cast of characters, as while many people might want to create wacky avatars that push the limits, most people will want an avatar that looks like them.
The metaverse might also hold events that can bring thousands or millions of players all to one spot or world, something MMO games are known for. This helps to foster a sense of community for the gamers who play, as well as gives them something to look forward to. Certain worlds in the metaverse might host similar events or sales to bring people together.
But while MMO’s are a great sneak peek into the world that the metaverse hopes to create, there’s something even more tangible on the horizon, and that is virtual reality gaming.
Before we delve into the metaverse’s uses for VR, let’s focus on the gaming side of things. Virtual reality gaming allows for a much greater level of immersion that we have seen so far in gaming, as we are able to actually move our bodies with our character and in essence ‘see what they see.’ If our character swings a sword, holds a blaster, or throws a bomb, we are making a simular movement with our bodies. It can also be very interesting to see nothing but the virtual land around you. For example, traditional gaming simply has your eyes glued to what is in front of you, but with a virtual reality headset, you can turn around and get a complete 360 view of what the world you are playing in looks like. If you want to be reminded that the world isn’t real, then you need to take the headset off!
Virtual reality is the metaverse in its pre-walking infancy. It allows us to connect with our friends in the virtual world, and also transforms our dull living rooms and offices into places straight out of fantasy and science fiction. We are able to move, interact, and play within the confines of the room we are in and the game we are playing.
The Metaverse will have no limits. You won’t be loading up just one game into your headset and playing only that game, but instead you will have access to every single world and the ability to do whatever you want in each. You can log into a zoom call from your headset but feel like you are sitting in your office, you can go into Amazon’s world and purchase whatever you would like, or you can walk to a virtual park and sit down to watch the world go by. It will be virtual reality on steroids, and it will open up a lot of doors for people.
If you’ve ever played an MMO or even a single player video game, you have probably noticed that you don’t pay for things with dollars and cents. Whether you are buying the newest sword for your character or a new shirt for your avatar in the shop, you are paying in gold, or bottle caps, or ore, or something made up specifically for that game’s world. Sure you can buy the equivalent of the in-game currency with real money, but you are making your payments in the in-game currency.
In the metaverse, while buying things with dollars and cents is a real thing that you will be able to do, you also might be paying for more with cryptocurrency than you might think. Crypto coins are going to be the virtual currency of the metaverse, and you might be able to exchange your dollars and cents for them.
Since the metaverse is going to be the next large step when it comes to the advent of technology, a lot of businesses are already getting in on the ground floor of it. Even more will be getting into it when it is a proven business model, and that’s when more and more cryptocurrencies are going to pop up as a way to pay for the services rendered in the virtual world.
Thankfully, crypto exists today and it’s fairly easy to understand what it is about if you are willing to do some research. It is a form of money that you can’t hold or see, but you can spend it at several stores that will take coins. With the metaverse, the number of vendors that will accept bitcoins and other forms of currency is no doubt going to rise.