Here Are Top 7 Things You Can Do In The Metaverse

The kind of popularity that Metaverse has gotten, especially in the last twelve months, is astonishing. Today, brands of all sizes, small or big, have successfully captured the wind of the overwhelming potential of Metaverse in the technological realm. There are various reasons for the hype surrounding Metaverse; the main among them is the demographic factor. The younger demographic —13 to 35 age group — continues to play a significant role in pushing the digital world forward with each passing day.

History of Metaverse:

The sudden popularity of Metaverse is attributed to Facebook when it rebranded itself to Meta in October last year. The social media giant unveiled its plan to invest $10 billion into the Metaverse in 2021 alone. The Metaverse concept is almost three decades ago and goes back to 1992 when the term was first used by Neal Stephenson in his science fiction novel “Snow Crash.”

Technologists have been trying to create something like a metaverse since before there was the World Wide Web. The recent version of Metaverse borrows heavily from the imagined futures of virtual reality pioneers in the 1980s. The two things that make 2022’s Metaverse different from earlier iterations of the concept include that it has now been expanded to incorporate augmented reality & extended reality, and 2) the hardware and software offerings have improved much. Today, one can play fun VR games, chat in VR chat apps, own virtual lands and organize official VR meetings or events to connect with audiences virtually.

The prospects of Metaverse look brighter given the notion that future social networks will rely on augmented- and virtual-reality tech.

What is Metaverse?

Metaverse is a 3D virtual space created by the confluence of virtually enhanced physical and digital reality where people interact with each other and have real-life experiences with the help of the internet. People can use digital currencies to incentivize the acquisition and sale of assets in virtual environments. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are the cornerstones of metaverse projects. The three essentialities on which AR systems operate include; a combination of real and virtual environments, real-time interaction, and exact 3D visualization of objects.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Metaverse:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications are clearly visible in the business world today. These include automated decision-making systems, self-driving cars, or recommendation algorithms. There are talks of implementing metaverse AI through Non-Playing Characters (NPCs). NPCs are subsidiary characters integrated into Web 3 games and digital worlds to offer interactive experiences within virtual settings. This is done with the help of AI. 

Cryptocurrencies, NFTs and Metaverse:

NFTs have become part of the metaverse’s virtual real estate. These NFTs are legal ownership agreements over digital assets and help build land and buildings in the metaverse. To purchase, trade, or make land in the metaverse, you must mint an NFT for the property.

Blockchains are the core of the metaverse, and NFTs are held and tracked within blockchains. The combination of NFTs, Metaverse, and cryptocurrencies has revolutionized the online gaming industry to a great extent. There are several metaverse games today where players buy and sell their items in the form of NFTs and are rewarded in cryptos when they win a game. To know more about Metaverse games that can help you earn crypto rewards, refer to our article: Best Metaverse Games list to Earn Crypto Rewards in 2022 

We see that Metaverse has opened up a world of possibilities that felt theoretical and straight out of a fantasy world even a decade ago. There’s a reason mega-companies are betting big on the metaverse. 

A goliath like Facebook rebranding itself as Meta is a clear indication that the metaverse is in fact real. Microsoft’s acquisition of the gaming company Activision Blizzard and a variety of metaverse games popping up every month shows the speed with which this new universe is developing. 

So if the hype around the Metaverse is real, what’s in it for you? What is the future of Metaverse? What are the things you can do in the Metaverse? If you are someone trying to find answers to these questions, this article is for you. This article will apprise you of seven exciting things you can do in Metaverse.

Seven fascinating ways to explore the Metaverse:

Games: Gaming is at the heart of the metaverse revolution. We have been playing immersive video games for decades, but metaverse promises to revolutionize the gaming industry like you never thought before. The technological advancements in VR headsets such as Oculus are making the metaverse dream reality faster than we thought could be possible. When the metaverse matures, it promises to transport you to a gaming environment where you won’t be able to figure out if you are inside a virtual game or the real world. But even in its current state, metaverse transports you to gaming universes and allows you to play while interacting with your surroundings. While most metaverse games currently provide you with a 2D environment, many games, like Among Us, Cities VR, Ghostbusters, etc., are popping up, which will use VR headsets and immerse you in the gaming universes like never before.

1. Socializing in Metaverse

   The way we interact with each other and socialize will also change radically with the metaverse, and we can already see the signs of it. Facebook is at the forefront of the metaverse revolution, and thus you can bet that one of the first things to gain traction in the metaverse will be socializing. Metaverse will replicate in-person socialization in a virtual world where you can meet anyone in any environment. You’ll be able to customize your avatar just in infinite ways and do everything from chatting to playing games with your friends in person in the virtual worlds of your choice.

2. Shop

   The way we shop is going to change as well once the metaverse becomes more mainstream. Most of us currently do online shopping, but that happens in a non-interactive mode. We visit a 3D website, scroll through the images of the products we like, and then place orders. Online shopping has become prominent because it’s convenient, but it still lacks the feel of visiting an actual store and trying out products such as clothes or shoes before buying them. You can visit a virtual store and check out its various products in the metaverse. If you want to buy an Apple iPhone, you’ll visit the Apple virtual store and hold the latest iPhone in your hand. Then you will place an order using cryptocurrency, and your phone will be delivered to your house within a few days or hours. The transactions will be faster and much more secure, and your shopping experience will be much more interactive and close to the real-life shopping experience, if not better.

3. Buying Real Estate in Metaverse

   While other things in the metaverse might still take a few more years to become real, buying virtual real estate is something people are already doing in the metaverse. Games like Decentraland and Sandbox offer people to purchase virtual plots of land inside the metaverse, and these plots are already selling at high prices. A person only recently bought a plot of land for $450,000 in metaverse because he wanted to be a neighbor of Snoop Dogg. While real-estate transactions are already happening, they are going to increase at lightning speed as different universes in the metaverse continue developing, and the metaverse becomes more mainstream.

4. Working in Metaverse :

   The covid-19 pandemic has significantly changed how people work, bringing work-from-home and hybrid remote working systems into the mainstream. While this pandemic has made people experts in Zoom calls and Google Meet, work-from-home still lacks the feel of working with your colleagues. In Zoom calls and Google Meet, you see the stakes of boxes on a 2D screen, and you can watch your colleagues live but on screen. In the metaverse, you will be able to sit side by side with your colleagues and interact with them as you do in the real world. This will bring the promise of work-from-home and hybrid work systems to their fruition. The engagement quotient that work-from-home lacks will not be an issue in the metaverse, and the fun of sitting with your team physically will be restored in the comfort of your home.

5. Traveling in Metaverse:

   Metaverse will also disrupt the travel industry in ways we cannot fathom. In the metaverse, you can travel from anywhere to anywhere instantly. You won’t need to sit on a 24-hour long flight and feel jetlagged because you want to see the Inca Citadel in Machu Picchu. You can instantly get teleported there and see and feel everything around you in all its beauty. You will save on travel expenses and visit as many cities as you want in a month or even a day. It is yet to be identified how this will come to life, and there will be costs involved together, but the idea and the possibilities it opens are tantalizing.

6. Education

   Just like work, education has also been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and as a result, we have seen a rise in virtual classrooms and a booming EdTech sector. Education, too, suffers from the same constraints right now as work-from-home. There is no real immersive classroom environment in a virtual video class. In the metaverse, students can engage with teachers and fellow students much like they do in the real world. You can study in Cambridge while sitting in your room in Thailand and immerse yourself in campus and classrooms. This will revolutionize the education industry like nothing we have ever seen before.

Future of Metaverse:

The metaverse applications are likely endless, and we are only scratching the tip of the iceberg right now. As technology matures and the metaverse becomes more mainstream, it will impact every aspect of our lives. 

The Future is here, and we are already seeing people gaming to earn money and immersing themselves in the metaverse. Within a few years from now, the boundaries between the real world and the virtual world will start to diminish, and we will truly enter a world straight out of a science fiction novel. Before we reach that time, though, we have much to explore and do in the metaverse in its current state. 

According to a study by Mckinsey and Company titled, ‘Value Creation in the Metaverse’, the value of the Metaverse could reach $5 trillion by 2030. The numbers highlight the kind of potential tech-savvy ones is seeing in the Metaverse. The industries that are more likely to be impacted by Metaverse include e-commerce, the academic virtual learning market, and the gaming market. Though this is not all, Metaverse will likely impact other sectors, depending on how it evolves in the future.