{"id":22573,"date":"2025-05-07T11:42:39","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T11:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/?p=22573"},"modified":"2025-12-30T07:43:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T07:43:24","slug":"why-it-matters-for-our-digital-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/why-it-matters-for-our-digital-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Why It Matters for Our Digital Future, Can We Move Our Lives to a Digital Universe?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Can we move our lives into a digital universe? Questioning the course of the <strong>metaverse<\/strong>\u2014which will shape our future\u2014and the dangers it may pose is of great importance!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/metaverse-news\/\" data-type=\"category\" data-id=\"125\">metaverse<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (lit. \u201cbeyond\u2011universe\u201d) is a network of continuously open virtual environments where many people can interact with one another and with digital objects through their own virtual representations, i.e., <strong>avatars<\/strong>. You can think of the metaverse as a combination of immersive virtual reality, a massively multiplayer online role\u2011playing game, and the web. It has three core aspects: <strong>presence, interoperability,<\/strong> and <strong>standardization<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Presence<\/strong> is the feeling of embodiment\u2014being in the same virtual space with other individuals. This sense of presence is known to improve the quality of online interactions and is achieved through VR technologies such as head\u2011mounted displays.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Interoperability<\/strong> is the seamless travel between virtual spaces that share the same virtual assets, such as avatars and digital items.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Standardization<\/strong> is what makes the platforms and services within the metaverse interoperable. As with every mass\u2011communication technology from the printing press to messaging apps, widespread adoption of the metaverse requires common technical standards. International bodies like the <strong>Open\u202fMetaverse\u202fInteroperability\u202fGroup<\/strong> define these standards.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Historical Road to the Metaverse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-1-1024x640.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21857\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-1-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-1-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-1-768x480.jpg 768w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-1-1536x960.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-1-2048x1280.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-1-150x94.jpg 150w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-1-scaled.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For the past 30\u202fyears we have witnessed an extraordinary technological revolution: the construction of a man\u2011made, digital universe. It began in the 20th\u202fcentury with transistors, computers, and the internet. Commerce, communication, and social relations\u2014all human activities\u2014started moving from the real to the digital. For example, we no longer go to the bazaar; with a few clicks we buy what we want. We no longer wait months to contact distant friends; we talk instantly. Our music, movies, and games are now in our pockets, not in the physical world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While we\u2019ve been severing our ties with the physical realm, the tech revolution has pressed on: enormous strides have been made in CPUs, GPUs, data processing, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and cryptography. By the 2010s these advances opened the door to even higher\u2011level ideas. <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/blockchain\/\" data-type=\"category\" data-id=\"142\">Blockchain<\/a><\/em><\/strong> technology, for instance, made it possible to process data securely without central authority. Its most popular application is cryptocurrencies, but the same tech can be applied anywhere we don\u2019t want power centralized and where privacy matters\u2014digital identities, government, healthcare, insurance, law, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notice the common thread: digitizing physical\u2011world processes and interactions. These developments were all progressing, yet how seemingly independent technologies would connect was unclear\u2014until the concept of the <em>metaverse<\/em> emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Science\u2011Fiction History of the Metaverse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-2-1024x640.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21856\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-2-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-2-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-2-768x480.jpg 768w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-2-1536x960.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-2-2048x1280.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-2-150x94.jpg 150w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-2-scaled.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The metaverse is not a new concept. It was first expressed in Neal Stephenson\u2019s 1992 dystopian sci\u2011fi novel <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/summary-of-snow-crash\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"14426\">Snow\u202fCrash<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, though the idea was popularized earlier as \u201ccyberspace\u201d in William Gibson\u2019s 1984 novel <strong>Neuromancer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <em>Snow\u202fCrash<\/em> the term metaverse means exactly what it does today: a virtual reality where individuals can interact with each other and their surroundings in three\u2011dimensional physical space via various virtual technologies. Decades ago Stephenson foresaw the metaverse as the successor to the internet and described it as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote quote-solid is-layout-flow wp-block-quote quote-solid-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201c[Hiro Protagonist] is not meeting real people, of course. They are all part of the moving picture his computer draws according to the specs coming down the fiber\u2011optic cable. People are pieces of software called avatars. [Avatars] are the audio\u2011visual bodies people use to communicate with each other in the Metaverse. Hiro\u2019s avatar is now on the street, and couples getting off the monorail can see him just as he can see them. Those people\u2014probably four teenagers on a couch in a Chicago suburb\u2014could strike up a conversation with Hiro in Los\u202fAngeles. But they probably wouldn\u2019t say much more to each other than they could in real life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Since then the metaverse has appeared in films, books, and series from <strong>Avatar<\/strong> to <strong>Ready\u202fPlayer\u202fOne<\/strong>, <strong>Otherland<\/strong>, <strong>Altered\u202fCarbon<\/strong>, and even <strong>The\u202fMatrix<\/strong>. The 2018 sci\u2011fi film <em><strong>Ready\u202fPlayer\u202fOne<\/strong><\/em>, based on Ernest\u202fCline\u2019s 2011 novel, portrays the metaverse as the heir to the internet: a young orphaned hero escapes his bleak reality by entering a wondrous virtual universe called the \u201cOASIS\u201d through a headset and physically interacting in three dimensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Etymology of the Term \u201cMetaverse\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"585\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Children-Take-Over-the-Metaverse-What-You-Need-to-Know-2-1024x585.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20865\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Children-Take-Over-the-Metaverse-What-You-Need-to-Know-2-1024x585.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Children-Take-Over-the-Metaverse-What-You-Need-to-Know-2-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Children-Take-Over-the-Metaverse-What-You-Need-to-Know-2-768x439.jpg 768w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Children-Take-Over-the-Metaverse-What-You-Need-to-Know-2-150x86.jpg 150w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Children-Take-Over-the-Metaverse-What-You-Need-to-Know-2-scaled.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Stephenson likely chose the prefix <strong>meta\u2011<\/strong> because it has both an established meaning and a newer one taking root in computer\u2011science culture. In ancient Greek meta means \u201cafter\u201d or \u201cbeyond.\u201d <em>Metaphysics<\/em> is that which is \u201cbeyond physics.\u201d Your <strong>metatarsal<\/strong> bones are beyond (after) the tarsals of the mid\u2011foot. <strong>Metamorphosis<\/strong> means taking a form beyond the current one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The word gained a technical connotation with the emergence of <strong>Lisp<\/strong> programming in 1958\u2014partly thanks to its support for <em>metaprogramming<\/em> (programs that modify themselves at runtime). Keyboards for Lisp programmers even had a <strong>Meta key<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ten years later John\u202fLilly applied metaprogramming to people in <em>Programming and Metaprogramming in the Human Biocomputer<\/em>\u2014a book Timothy\u202fLeary once called \u201cone of the three most important ideas of the 20th\u202fcentury.\u201d The book argued that our environment continually \u201cprograms\u201d us, and LSD experiments could allow us to change our own programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1979 Douglas\u202fHofstadter\u2019s <em>G\u00f6del, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid<\/em> entrenched meta\u2019s self\u2011referential meaning in geek culture\u2014meta\u2011game (a game about the game), meta\u2011learning (learning about learning), meta\u2011cognition (thinking about thinking), metadata (data about data), HTML meta tags (information about a web page\u2019s content), and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/metaverse-blog\/\" data-type=\"category\" data-id=\"21\">metaverse<\/a><\/em><\/strong> can also be thought of as a \u201c(digital) universe about the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stephenson likely envisioned the metaverse as a combination of \u201ca universe beyond our own\u201d and meta\u2019s self\u2011referential sense in geek culture. Since he first used the term in the early \u201990s, the word has evolved to embrace both meanings: self\u2011reference and another plane of reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Technological History of the Metaverse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"614\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Record-Loss-from-Meta-Mark-Zuckerbergs-Costly-Move-1024x614.jpg\" alt=\"a man standing in front of a blue screen\" class=\"wp-image-15835\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Record-Loss-from-Meta-Mark-Zuckerbergs-Costly-Move-1024x614.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Record-Loss-from-Meta-Mark-Zuckerbergs-Costly-Move-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Record-Loss-from-Meta-Mark-Zuckerbergs-Costly-Move-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Record-Loss-from-Meta-Mark-Zuckerbergs-Costly-Move-1536x922.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Record-Loss-from-Meta-Mark-Zuckerbergs-Costly-Move-2048x1229.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Record-Loss-from-Meta-Mark-Zuckerbergs-Costly-Move-150x90.jpg 150w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Record-Loss-from-Meta-Mark-Zuckerbergs-Costly-Move-scaled.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The metaverse has begun to step out of science fiction and into tangible tech. In a July\u202f2021 interview with <em>The\u202fVerge<\/em>, Facebook CEO\u202f<strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/mark-zuckerberg-delays-metaverse-project\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"6195\">Mark\u202fZuckerberg<\/a><\/em><\/strong> said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote quote-solid is-layout-flow wp-block-quote quote-solid-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWithin the next five years I think people will see us not as a social\u2011media company, but as a <strong>metaverse company<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Just three months later, at the end of October\u202f2021, the nearly one\u2011trillion\u2011dollar firm renamed itself <strong>Meta<\/strong>\u2014an attempt to escape mounting legal troubles and PR crises, but also the culmination of a strategic pivot brewing since at least\u202f2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many experts believe that in the not\u2011too\u2011distant future virtual reality will become a major part of our lives. We may spend much of our time in a vast digital universe filled with diverse virtual spaces that feel real. That universe is what we call the <strong>metaverse<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is the Core Logic of the Metaverse?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/metaverse-2-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21847\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/metaverse-2-edited.jpg 960w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/metaverse-2-edited-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/metaverse-2-edited-768x426.jpg 768w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/metaverse-2-edited-150x83.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Put simply, the goal is to turn everything housed on today\u2019s 2\u2011D internet\u2014or anything in our lives that can be digitized\u2014into 3\u2011D and move it into a shared digital universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During <strong>Facebook\u202fConnect\u202f2021<\/strong>, Zuckerberg painted such a future.[5] Imagine watching a YouTube video today: you passively view it on a flat screen. In a \u201cYouTube metaverse,\u201d however, <em>Evrim\u202fA\u011fac\u0131<\/em> (or any creator) would stand on a custom digital stage; you, wearing VR goggles, would be there beside us. You could interact both with us and with other viewers in real time\u2014asking questions directly rather than typing comments. If we wished, the Q&amp;A could even take place in a virtual caf\u00e9 modeled after Mars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Metaverses don\u2019t have to replicate Earth; they can be entirely imagined worlds\u2014other planets, Jurassic Park, the Matrix, anything. Think of the virtual backgrounds people use in Zoom calls: in a metaverse that background becomes an explorable <strong>place<\/strong>. Avatars can walk around, physically interact, read facial expressions, and perceive gestures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In essence, the metaverse moves the internet off flat screens and into immersive 3\u2011D space. The next step\u2014via brain\u2011computer interfaces like <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/play-counter-strike-2-with-neuralink-a-new-era-awaits\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"19510\">Neuralink<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u2014could enrich sensory experience (visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile) by sending signals straight to the brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Beyond Today\u2019s VR: A Massive Shared Space<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"564\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21854\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-3.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-3-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-3-390x220.jpg 390w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Metaverse-3-150x85.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Compared with today\u2019s limited VR experiences, the metaverse will unite VR and <strong>augmented reality (AR)<\/strong>, allow avatars to move seamlessly between virtual locales, and host hundreds of millions of people simultaneously in a single, physically interactive 3\u2011D realm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People could work, study, own businesses, shop, exercise, play, watch, read, attend events, socialize, build their own worlds, or join fictional universes like <em>Star\u202fWars<\/em>. Example: friends living on different continents could gather in a shared virtual environment to collaborate or just have fun. Unlike the internet, the metaverse offers three\u2011dimensional <strong>physical<\/strong> interaction, letting distant users feel as if they are truly together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the metaverse is a spatial internet that can be experienced any time, anywhere, through new connections, devices, and technologies\u2014no screens or keyboards required. Picture stepping inside Minecraft, Roblox, PUBG, or Fortnite and feeling that world as if it were real. Simply put, it is an advanced internet you inhabit rather than merely look at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Giving Meaning to Modern Technologies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"435\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/metaverse.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19339\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/metaverse.webp 696w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/metaverse-300x188.webp 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/metaverse-150x94.webp 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The metaverse will weave together rising tech trends and give them purpose. <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/web-stories\/6-most-followed-cryptocurrencies-on-twitter-2\/\" data-type=\"web-story\" data-id=\"16572\">Cryptocurrencies<\/a><\/em><\/strong> could underlie its economy. As people decorate their avatars like they embellish themselves in real life, <strong>NFTs<\/strong> become perfect for owning digital fashion, vehicles, or accessories. As simulation power grows and the line blurs between digital and physical, what you own in the metaverse will matter as much as what you own offline\u2014NFTs will prove that these items truly belong to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Virtual reality (VR)<\/strong> and <strong>augmented reality (AR)<\/strong> will be the primary technologies enabling the metaverse. With AR glasses, for instance, a tourist could walk through a city while real\u2011time overlays display traffic, pollution levels, or historical facts. If you can\u2019t fully picture AR, think of apps that layer navigation arrows or Pok\u00e9mon on top of the real world\u2014the metaverse integrates that with VR and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Metaverse platforms may resemble today\u2019s online games: millions worldwide interacting in shared spaces like Fortnite or Roblox. Yet philosophically the metaverse could be even more profound. If arguments in Simulation Theory are correct, creating a digital version of our universe might be humanity\u2019s destiny\u2014an inevitable step for any species that reaches a certain stage of technological maturity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Metaverse Problem: How\u202fRealistic\u202fIs\u202fThis\u202fIdea?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14773\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-3.jpg 640w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-3-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-3-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As you may have begun to notice, the metaverse faces both <em>technical<\/em> and <em>philosophical<\/em> hurdles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How\u202fFar\u202fAway\u202fAre\u202fWe\u202fTechnologically?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Many define the metaverse as online, interactive, and delivering a near\u2011real sense of presence. Tech companies want to build it, yet we still lack several key capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Achieving the full potential of the metaverse will require <strong>15\u201320\u202fyears\u2014or more\u2014of additional computing power and infrastructure<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Today\u2019s VR industry is tiny compared with the smartphone or PC markets; catching up in experience and market size will take time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>VR and AR hardware<\/strong> must become stylish, inexpensive, highly sophisticated, and friction\u2011free. Current headsets are bulky, heavy, and run hot\u2014uncomfortable for long sessions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A photorealistic world that supports a <strong>few hundred simultaneous users<\/strong> already taxes today\u2019s systems; hosting <strong>hundreds of millions<\/strong> in a hyper\u2011realistic environment and moderating that space is an entirely different scale, demanding decades of network upgrades.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It remains unknown whether the general public\u2014beyond gamers\u2014will embrace wearing such devices just to meet colleagues or friends.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These obstacles are <em>solvable<\/em>, but only if companies smell enough profit to keep pouring money into the problem. Thus the main issue is not technology per se.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How\u202fFar\u202fAway\u202fAre\u202fWe\u202fPhilosophically?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Future-of-Remote-Work-and-Work-Environments-in-the-Metaverse-1-1024x569.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14780\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Future-of-Remote-Work-and-Work-Environments-in-the-Metaverse-1-1024x569.webp 1024w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Future-of-Remote-Work-and-Work-Environments-in-the-Metaverse-1-300x167.webp 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Future-of-Remote-Work-and-Work-Environments-in-the-Metaverse-1-768x427.webp 768w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Future-of-Remote-Work-and-Work-Environments-in-the-Metaverse-1-150x83.webp 150w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Future-of-Remote-Work-and-Work-Environments-in-the-Metaverse-1.webp 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The deeper challenge lies in <em>how<\/em> the metaverse is being built. Our familiar reality emerged <strong>bottom\u2011up<\/strong>: simple building blocks evolved into complexity under fixed natural laws. Humanity\u2019s push to create its first grand simulation is proceeding <strong>top\u2011down<\/strong>, led by firms such as Facebook (now Meta) that have repeatedly violated human\u2011rights and legal boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Early marketing speaks of \u201ccollaboration,\u201d with artists, designers, and partners all helping shape the space. But once the puzzle pieces click, we know what happens: a small group of corporations, armed with sheer capital, will dominate the new reality. The rest of us\u2014users and smaller creators\u2014will be sidelined, reduced to statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Metamonopoly: Who\u202fWill\u202fOwn\u202fthe\u202fMetaverse?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14776\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-2-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-2-scaled.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Think about the internet\u2019s evolution. How many search engines do you actually use? How many social networks for active communication? How many major video sites? The metaverse is unlikely to escape a similar consolidation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Companies like Meta survive on our <strong>data<\/strong>. We pay not with money but with time, attention, content, and personal information. They build detailed profiles and sell targeted access to advertisers. The metaverse will be no different\u2014only <em>far<\/em> more invasive, because instead of interacting from the outside, we will <em>live<\/em> inside it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zuckerberg\u2019s own demos mention that the system can track your <strong>facial expressions and gestures<\/strong>. Picture a pizza ad today: a five\u2011second clip on a webpage. Now imagine a lifelike avatar\u2014designed to resemble someone you admire\u2014sitting across from you in a virtual caf\u00e9, savoring that pizza. Political persuasion, consumer manipulation, and algorithmic steering all become exponentially more powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the coming \u201cmetaverse revolution\u201d is left unchecked, it will likely enrich the same handful of giants. They will fund the colossal, trillion\u2011dollar build\u2011out only because it opens new markets, new patents, new consumer electronics, and, in short, <strong>new profit streams<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who\u202fStands\u202fto\u202fGain\u202ffrom\u202fthe\u202fMetaverse\u202fRevolution?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"652\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/VR-Headsets-in-Teams-Meetings-Embracing-the-Metaverse-3-1024x652.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14767\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/VR-Headsets-in-Teams-Meetings-Embracing-the-Metaverse-3-1024x652.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/VR-Headsets-in-Teams-Meetings-Embracing-the-Metaverse-3-300x191.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/VR-Headsets-in-Teams-Meetings-Embracing-the-Metaverse-3-768x489.jpg 768w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/VR-Headsets-in-Teams-Meetings-Embracing-the-Metaverse-3-150x95.jpg 150w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/VR-Headsets-in-Teams-Meetings-Embracing-the-Metaverse-3.jpg 1106w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For different people the term <em>metaverse<\/em> evokes widely different visions, which makes it hard to explain to an outsider. Ultimately the metaverse will be defined by those who build and use it. Its recent surge in popularity has renewed speculation about what it might mean in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like every transformative technology, the metaverse will bring sweeping <strong>political, cultural, and social change<\/strong>\u2014an effect known as technological determinism. Many experts in the tech industry say it will eventually <em>replace<\/em> today\u2019s internet. If that happens, <strong>who builds it and how<\/strong> will shape the future of the economy and society at large. Meta and other giants are pouring billions into VR precisely because it opens new markets, new types of social networks, new consumer hardware, new patents\u2014in short, <strong>new revenue<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Metaverse\u2011style ideas <em>could<\/em> help society organize more productively. Shared standards that unite many virtual worlds and AR layers in a single open metaverse might boost collaboration and reduce duplicated effort. Yet similar promises were made in the early days of the internet. Over time those hopes were steam\u2011rolled by surveillance capitalism and the dominance of firms such as Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The internet has excelled at connecting people and acting as a vast library of knowledge. But it has also privatized public spaces, filled every corner of life with ads, tethered us to a handful of mega\u2011corporations stronger than many nations, and enabled platforms to exploit the physical world through environmental harm.[9] The culprit is not the technology itself but the <strong>capitalist system<\/strong> that dictates how it is used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Your 3\u2011D Digital Identity: Who\u202fWill\u202fOwn\u202fIt?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/The-Future-of-Work-Exploring-the-Metaverse-4-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/The-Future-of-Work-Exploring-the-Metaverse-4-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/The-Future-of-Work-Exploring-the-Metaverse-4-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/The-Future-of-Work-Exploring-the-Metaverse-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/The-Future-of-Work-Exploring-the-Metaverse-4-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/The-Future-of-Work-Exploring-the-Metaverse-4.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Deeper problems concern the worldview the metaverse will embody. One view treats us as passengers in a single, pre\u2011made reality; this is essentially how Facebook works\u2014a platform that exists independently of any one user. An alternative, found in many Indigenous cultures, says we <strong>create reality through our actions and rituals<\/strong>, connecting people, <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/metaverse-land\/\" data-type=\"category\" data-id=\"123\">land<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, life, and spirit into a living whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The danger is that a corporate\u2011run metaverse could impose a <strong>single\u2011reality monopoly<\/strong>, leaving no room for multiple ways of being. On social media we already see this: algorithms funnel us into a narrow band of predefined \u201creactions,\u201d shaping experience by manipulation. Games like <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/how-vast-is-your-gaming-knowledge\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"22161\">PUBG<\/a><\/em><\/strong> offer boundless creativity\u2014yet only within rules set by the developer. A universal metaverse would shift far more of our lives into a virtual arena controlled by one or a few companies, with even heavier doses of advertising, data extraction, and behavioral limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Questioning the Metaverse\u2019s Trajectory Is <strong>Not<\/strong> Tech Paranoia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-1-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14774\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-1-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-1-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-1-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-1-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-1-150x100.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Impact-of-the-Metaverse-on-Businesses-1-scaled.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We are not anti\u2011technology. <em>Evrim\u202fA\u011fac\u0131<\/em> has long embraced innovations such as blockchain. But when corporate interests clash with the well\u2011being of our audience, it is our duty to warn. The current system is expert at exploiting human biological and psychological vulnerabilities; a metaverse left unregulated could damage social bonds even worse than social media, widen generational gaps, deepen polarization, and super\u2011charge consumer manipulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Identity\u2011driven consumption<\/strong> already rules the physical world. Nobody buys a Ferrari because they <em>must<\/em> travel faster from A to B; they buy it as a <strong>status symbol<\/strong>. <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/tag\/apple-news-and-content\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"72\">Apple<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, Tesla, Gucci, Starbucks\u2014all sell <em>identity<\/em> as much as product. Social\u2011Identity Theory shows how easily humans split into groups. Companies hook this need to boost sales; you think you\u2019re buying an item, but you\u2019re really buying membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Handing control of that <em>identity market<\/em> to a metaverse monopoly would be perilous. This isn\u2019t just the old internet you observe; it\u2019s a space you inhabit with a full digital body. We must shape it from the start around <strong>reason, science, and human values<\/strong>, not seductive hype.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tim\u202fBerners\u2011Lee feels \u201cheartbroken\u201d over what the web became; Robert\u202fOppenheimer famously quoted the <em>Bhagavad\u202fGita<\/em>\u2014\u201cNow I am become Death\u201d\u2014upon seeing the A\u2011bomb. If we fail to plan wisely today, we may stare at our new creation with similar dread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Practical concerns loom as well:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We already struggle to block harassment online\u2014how will we handle abuse when avatars can <strong>touch<\/strong> us?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Can firms that leak survey data protect full\u2011body motion files?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In a metaverse Moon colony, which nation\u2019s laws apply to assault?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Will Africa and the Global South enjoy equal access, or be locked out?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Are our brains, biologies, and societies remotely ready for such immersion?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many questions, and if <em>you<\/em> don\u2019t ask them\u2014or engage in the process\u2014someone else will ask and answer for you. Remember: companies racing to build the metaverse have already influenced elections, enabled genocidal coordination in Myanmar, ignored human\u2011trafficking on their platforms, worsened teenage mental health, and spread deadly misinformation about vaccines. Those who claim \u201cno one will own the metaverse\u201d have literally renamed themselves <strong>Meta<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A richly sensory connection between people and universe is a wonderful idea. The metaverse itself is a wonderful idea. But if we erect our <em>beyond\u2011universe<\/em> atop a neoliberal capitalist system, we risk birthing a monster that deepens inequality in unprecedented ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The future is not yet written; it depends on the standards, governance, and ethical constraints we insist on <strong>now<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You Might Also Like;<\/h3>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__list wp-block-latest-posts\"><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can we move our lives into a digital universe? Questioning the course of the metaverse\u2014which will shape our future\u2014and the dangers it may pose is of great importance! The metaverse (lit. \u201cbeyond\u2011universe\u201d) is a network of continuously open virtual environments where many people can interact with one another and with digital objects through their own &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAown96uCw:productID":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[322],"tags":[319],"class_list":["post-22573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metaverse1","tag-metaverse-blog"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}