It had to be 10 years ago, while perusing The Mall Of Millenia in Orlando Fl, that I had my first encounter with VR. I can hardly believe that 10 years have since passed and once again, here I am, face to face with the prospect of singularity.
Singularity is the idea that the exponential acceleration of technological development will lead to a situation where artificial intelligence supersedes human intelligence and will eventually escape our control. Some even predict catastrophic consequences for humanity where machines will become the dominant species on this planet.
Well, ready or not here it is. Since Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of Facebook’s transition from Facebook to the MetaVerse we can safely assume that the world of VR and AR is upon us. So what is the MetaVerse anyway.
Entrepreneur magazine describes the MetaVerse as not having a single definition; but if you think about today’s internet as a virtual two-dimensional (2D) space where you can produce and share content, create value and connect with anyone anywhere, then the metaverse may be thought of as a virtual three-dimensional (3D) space where you can do everything that you can do in today's internet while being fully immersed (through VR/AR) in that space exactly as you would be in the real world, but in a virtual realistic graphics-driven manner while being able to interact, connect, transact and create with others.
So it would be best described as a virtual environment where you can interact with people in a digital space. Its like going inside the internet instead of just looking at it!
Thankfully, the MetaVerse is still in its infancy so, for those who are paying attention, opportunities abound. One of the most important observation I made is that the metaverse will have a fully functional economy. Entrepreneur identified the payments infrastructure as one of the most important corner stones of the meta versa as it provides the ability to buy, sell and most importantly, own things in the metaverse which could be the most transformative part of this new world.
This strange new world, the MetaVerse, offers The ability to trade and will lead to a situation where decentralized ledger technologies or blockchains will actually be the most practical, if not ultimate, solution for value exchange and for storing value. This means that opportunities for economic growth will be unfathomable, as this is literally creating a new world where users will interact, transact, own, exchange and share economic value Across borders using cryptocurrencies. The MetaVerse has opened up a whole new door for cryptocurrencies that policymakers are still struggling to regulate in the real world; how then can they be well-regulated in a metaverse?
The fact is the MetaVerse is here to stay so whether we are parents, business people, educators or just plain human, it would be in our best interest to quickly adapt to this new reality in order to avoid getting left behind.
Join me on the Quest.
See you soon.
~EZ