Metaverse: The Exciting and Risky Evolution of Technology
Metaverse or virtual reality space, first announced in 2019, has become a hot topic of conversation for people worldwide. This topic has exploded again since the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, changed his company name to Meta and has ambitions to further develop his business in the metaverse world. The evolution of technology that forms the idea of the metaverse has made many people, including influential people, interested in its development. However, some people are still “afraid” of the sophistication this digital technology offers. Let us find out the explanation about metaverse and discover every fact here.
The American writer Neal Stephenson first introduced the word metaverse in one of his works entitled Snow Crash in 1992. The metaverse is described as a virtual world where avatars interact in the novel. Then in the present, the word metaverse is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary with almost the same meaning, which is a virtual reality space where users can “live” and interact with other users and virtual environments created by computers. This digital technology combines several technological features such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and video, where users will “live” in the digital world by using some of the features of this technology. Economic activities or buying and selling are using crypto assets (cryptocurrency) in this world. Some companies that probably grow and move to the metaverse someday are Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Roblox, Minecraft, etc.
Pandemic Accelerates Metaverse Development
The pandemic has forced people to adapt to new situations by utilizing technology. Metaverse is one of the technologies that were “forced” to be developed quickly because of this pandemic. Since the pandemic, people’s direct social interactions have been disrupted due to fear of disease or virus transmission. People longed for a lifelike before the COVID-19 virus outbreak made their social life completely change. In the metaverse world, users can go to school, work, and even watch concerts without any social restrictions that have been felt for the past 2 years.
How the Metaverse Can Change the Future of the World
Metaverse offers an infinite future of the world. Metaverse will be an innovation that potentially changes the technology of various industries worldwide. It allows consumers to experience “living” in a virtual world as an alternative solution for activities without leaving the house. Perhaps we have found this convenience in e-commerce or virtual meeting technology today. However, what makes the metaverse different from today’s technology is that we exist as digital 3-dimensional humans who can directly experience “living” in a virtual world. Early versions of the metaverse have existed in the current era, for example, digital goods such as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) and cryptocurrencies as assets or digital money. As Facebook (Meta) announced that they had started to enter this world, other technology-based giant companies will likely follow this action. So, it can be predicted that the metaverse will soon become the world’s new future.
Key Risks Metaverse May Bring
Almost every technological convenience must carry risks for its users, including the metaverse. This risk is also one of the reasons some parts of society are “afraid” of this evolution. Companies that exchange information or news, such as Facebook, have a problem spreading fake news. Since the metaverse will be an extension of social media sites like Facebook, disinformation can probably spread quickly in this virtual world. In addition, the metaverse is still in the early stages of development. This metaverse world still lacks control and fixed rules or laws that can cause significant problems, including personal and government privacy issues and legal disputes.
As we can see in the metaverse explanation above, the metaverse is indeed an exciting technological evolution to be realized and certainly has a positive impact on humans. However, it would be best to consider some risks this evolution possesses during this development period. Is your company’s technology ready for the upcoming metaverse? Apply #WholeTechExperience with Phintraco Group to be ready to face the metaverse in the future.
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