Human connection is necessary for people to thrive, and just like when we couldn’t meet physically during the 2020 pandemic, we were all affected by it in ways we never imagined, we couldn’t go out for jobs, or celebrate friends. and to these problems, the metaverse is a solution. The metaverse was valued at over $40billion in 2020, it is predicted to value $800billion by 2024, and also predicted to value $10trillion-30trillion within 10 to 15 years
The metaverse is an immersive next-generation version of the internet, likely rendered by virtual or augmented reality technology. A platform for human leisure, labor, and existence at large. The metaverse is a solution to our physical environmental limitations, for example when an individual is trying to be present at a music concert, where it would be impossible to be in attendance in a short period because of how time-consuming it would be to travel from his/her country or state to where this concert is being held. Concerts and meetings can be held in the metaverse with everyone present without having to leave their home. There won’t be limitations to jobs as well, as individuals can be present at their workplace located in any part of the world in a second, and won’t be neglected from going to work because of some pandemic or environmental hazard.
Just like in the real world all activities you have inside a virtual world will exist and change in real-time, there will also be no way to pause, stop, or reset a virtual world. Virtual headsets, AR glasses, or smartphones can grant individuals access to the metaverse. But before I go further let me explain what Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are;
Virtual reality (VR); is a technology that allows a user to carry out actions in a digital environment, yet feel as if they are immersed in a physical environment. The purpose of VR is to allow a person to experience and manipulate the environment as if it were the real world.
Augmented reality (AR); is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information, sometimes across multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory, and olfactory.
Every Metaverse has its digital asset token and Users of the metaverse can exchange their digital assets for fair value such as cryptocurrency or fiat currency, for example, decentraland uses Mana which can be bought and sold for fiat currency or other digital currencies. Metaverse is to run on a blockchain, either it is created with its blockchain or any available blockchain such as the ETH, EOS, etc. And because it is built on blockchain, transactions are done with no one overseeing them
In the metaverse, DeFi plays the role as that of the traditional banks but in the metaverse, it is more of a financial layer built upon the metaverse
OPPORTUNITIES IN THE METAVERSE
When talking about opportunities, we are talking about ways to invest in the metaverse
1. STOCKS
It involves investing in companies that have plans on setting up themselves and working on building and bolstering the metaverse for the future. Examples of stocks to consider are; Meta, Matterport, Apple, Microsoft, etc.
2. LANDS
It involves investing in virtual land or real estate not just limited to virtual homes. You could buy land and then rent it out for events, office space, virtual advertising (just like renting a piece of land to erect a billboard for advertisement), and also for shopping in the metaverse.
3. NFTs
It involves investing in virtual assets that will inevitably rise in value as the metaverse becomes more and more popular, it could be creating and selling unique artworks that would rise in price after some time.
Shared virtual worlds bring the promise of democratizing access to digital goods and experiences from anywhere and to anyone in the world. All you need is an interface, like a smartphone or a virtual reality headset.
The vision of the metaverse is slowly taking off, paving the way for profound changes across various experiences and environments — some of them already available and others yet to emerge.
Conclusion
The metaverse is a shared virtual environment that people access via the Internet.
Technologies like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are combined in the metaverse to create a sense of “virtual presence.”
Augmented reality glasses will eventually be as widespread as smartphones.
Blockchain, NFTs, and cryptocurrency are major contributors to the creation of the metaverse
The metaverse is completely novel and not fully developed.
