ETM Show #15: What is the Metaverse? A 3D Real-time Online World

Emerging Tech Mastery (ETM)

The "metaverse" is known by many, but often not fully understood. This episode brings some clarity and concrete definitions to this topic.

Put simply, the metaverse is an open, shared global, 3-dimensional digital environment that's "always on" for people to exist in.

This could mean anything from building worlds and games with Roblox or Minecraft to full-on raging at a concert with peers like our friends at Future Fest facilitate.

In Minecraft and Roblox, once you build something, it remains in this new realm almost indefinitely. When you hear "persistent," that means it's always there.

Future Fest takes a different approach, and instead of creating a fixed world, they customize experiences for hyper-specific communities, as seen in Pride Fest for Cardano.

Needless to say, there are many ways to skin...well, a Metaverse.

Metaverse Definitions

Here are some common descriptions:

"A persistent virtual environment that allows access to and interoperability of multiple individual virtual realities."

Merriam-Webster

"Essentially, it's a world of endless, interconnected virtual communities where people can meet, work and play, using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphone apps or other devices."

National Public Radio (NPR)

"Broadly speaking, the technologies companies refer to when they talk about “the metaverse” can include virtual reality—characterized by persistent virtual worlds that continue to exist even when you're not playing—as well as augmented reality that combines aspects of the digital and physical worlds."

WIRED Magazine

"Technically, a metaverse is a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical and digital reality...Eventually these destinations became sites on a virtual shared space — similar to how a metaverse will develop."

Gartner

Now that you have some operating words in mind, let's launch into the episode.

For this one we brought back our Immersive Technology Correspondent, Eric Azares, long time friend and contributor to the show.
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