  With the advances of the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G/6G wireless
communications, the paradigms of mobile computing have developed dramatically
in recent years, from centralized mobile cloud computing to distributed fog
computing and mobile edge computing (MEC). MEC pushes compute-intensive
assignments to the edge of the network and brings resources as close to the
endpoints as possible, addressing the shortcomings of mobile devices with
regard to storage space, resource optimisation, computational performance and
efficiency. Compared to cloud computing, as the distributed and closer
infrastructure, the convergence of MEC with other emerging technologies,
including the Metaverse, 6G wireless communications, artificial intelligence
(AI), and blockchain, also solves the problems of network resource allocation,
more network load as well as latency requirements. Accordingly, this paper
investigates the computational paradigms used to meet the stringent
requirements of modern applications. The application scenarios of MEC in mobile
augmented reality (MAR) are provided. Furthermore, this survey presents the
motivation of MEC-based Metaverse and introduces the applications of MEC to the
Metaverse. Particular emphasis is given on a set of technical fusions mentioned
above, e.g., 6G with MEC paradigm, MEC strengthened by blockchain, etc.
