Metaverse is an interconnected 3D virtual world where people can be who they want to be, explore without restrictions, and communicate with others from anywhere around the world. The Metaverse is an evolution of existing web technologies including augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR). Fundamentally, the Metaverse is the formation of a virtual universe wherein human avatars are presented through technology.
Organizations develop metaverses for a variety of reasons such as entertainment, education, business, medical scenarios and many more. But Let us understand the metaverse with an example. The Covid-19 outbreak forced several employees to work from their home. While majority continue to telecommute even after two years, there is a strong yearning to the workplace possibly because they miss the camaraderie at work such as the workplace atmosphere, team lunches, and the coffee banter. Now, what if Zoom, a renowned American communication technology company developed a virtual 3D atmosphere, which could allow them to sit at their home workstation and experience the same workplace environment. It won’t be exactly like the real office, but it’ll be near, and as technology advances, it’ll become even more so. Hence, in such cases metaverse could be a boon for these employees.
Metaverse, according to Meta Platforms, is the next version of mobile internet to experience physical activities , however Vishal Shah, vice president at Meta, stated that Metaverse is not a replacement for physical experiences, but rather a new way to experience the internet. Also, Facebook emphasizes that the development of Metaverse would be a joint effort including multiple companies spanning from tech giants to start- ups.
