Metaverse?

With the announcement this week that Facebook was renaming itself “Meta” many people have been wondering exactly what the Metaverse is. Quite simply, the “Metaverse” despite all the hype, is just an open “virtual” or “augmented-reality” computer environment. Often associated with gaming or social media, metaverses have existed for decades. Many of you probably remember Second Life. Or maybe VR headsets and goggles from almost 30 years ago? Data suits from the 90's anyone? 

The concept of a metaverse requires that it is persistent, always on, so it would have to be available on every device that connects to the Internet. That's where 5G networks come in. Facebook owns Oculus. It also plans to release AR-powered “smart” glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban. The first thing that came to my mind was “Google Glass” from almost 10 years ago. 

Everyone involved in 5G technology is betting on metaverses being the “next big thing.” Qualcomm calls its approach "XR" or extended reality. Microsoft calls their approach "MR" for mixed reality. T-Mobile's President of Technology Neville Ray said "eyewear wearables" could be the killer consumer app for true 5G and would be the means by which you access the metaverse from anywhere. 

Online gaming platform Roblox has announced plans to expand into a complete metaverse. Epic, the maker of Fortnite, just raised a billion dollars to create its own metaverse. Microsoft thinks we will all be working and shopping in one soon. Rumor has it that Bitcoin and other “cryptocurrencies” will play a role. I'm sure they will.

However there's still a big difference between Facebook's proposed metaverse and the one the major 5G players actually want. For one, the “true” 5G metaverse will be reliant upon technologies that are still years away. They exist, at least on paper, but the process of actually building them is going to be long, difficult, and expensive.

Source: PCMag.com


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