What is the metaverse, types, and how to access it

According to many, the metaverse represents the next major evolution of online interaction, a shift characterized by the transition from text-based websites and closed ecosystems to shared and interconnected spaces. Platforms capable of recreating virtual worlds where users can move freely and meet other avatars. But today, what is meant by the metaverse? How does it work, and what are its main applications and opportunities?

Definition of the metaverse

The metaverse is an immersive, persistent, interactive, and interoperable ecosystem, composed of multiple interconnected virtual worlds where users can socialize, work, conduct transactions, play, and create assets. The main solutions for achieving interoperability are based on the concept of Web3 and technologies such as blockchain and NFTs (Non-Fungible Token). However, the metaverse is enabled by many different technologies, such as AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality), edge computing, and many others.

Characteristics of the metaverse

Some distinctive characteristics of the metaverse include:

• Interoperable: allows interconnection of data, objects, digital resources, and identities across different virtual worlds;
• Ensures ownership of assets;
• Modular: allows creation of assets and/or customization of spaces;
• Freely accessible and able to allow users to participate in events, locations, and activities synchronously;
• Inhabited and representative: allows users to be represented through customizable avatars;
• Persistent: capable of continuing to exist indefinitely, independently of a user's presence or absence;
• Economically active: allows individuals and companies to create, own, invest, sell, and be rewarded;
• Immersive: can provide an experience that combines the real and virtual worlds.

Types of metaverse

There are different types of platforms that approach the metaverse in technology or concept, while others are far from it. These categories of virtual worlds can be divided into: Metaverse Ready, Open World, Focused World and Showrooming World.

The virtual worlds closest to the immersive metaverse experience are called Metaverse Ready. They are equipped with native tokens, have an internal economy, guarantee asset ownership and modularity, and, above all, are interoperable. Examples include The Sandbox and Decentraland, which, thanks to blockchain technology and the use of NFTs, allow integration of some interoperability components.

Open World virtual worlds have components that make them similar to Metaverse Ready platforms, but they do not yet use technologies that could make them interoperable. Horizon Worlds (Meta) and Roblox are two examples that, if they decided to integrate NFTs in the future, would become Metaverse Ready.

An example of a Focused World virtual world is the gaming platform developed by Epic Games: Fortnite. Created in 2017, it allows users to create content and participate in interactive experiences, run multiplayer gaming sessions, and customize their avatar. It falls into the Focused Worlds category because it focuses on a specific area of interest (gaming) and does not feature interoperability elements. Finally, what happens during the game is not persistent over time.

The last type of metaverse is the virtual exhibition Musee Dezentral. This is an example belonging to the Showrooming World category, meaning virtual showcases whose sole purpose is to display artworks, services, products, etc. It is not an interoperable platform and does not have an internal economy.

What can be done in the metaverse?

According to Gartner, by 2026, 25% of people will spend at least one hour per day in the metaverse: for work, shopping, studying, entertainment, or simply meeting others. Unlike current virtual reality, mainly used for gaming, this new virtual world could be used for practically anything. People can shop, visit exhibition areas and museums, buy virtual land and houses, as well as organize events, create experimental projects, and conduct training.

Examples of the metaverse

Several fashion and luxury companies are starting to invest in virtual reality. Balenciaga sells avatars in Fortnite, and brands like Gucci, Nike, Adidas, and Benetton have also released virtual products. According to Morgan Stanley, for the fashion and luxury sector, revenues from virtual reality could reach around €44 billion by 2030.

Carrefour has acquired a plot equivalent to 36 hectares in the virtual world of Sandbox. Warner Music and Coca Cola have done the same. There are companies like Metaverse Property, which on its website defines itself as "the world's first company in the virtual real estate sector.” In July 2022, the first business school in the metaverse was established. BMW, for its new line of electric vehicles, built virtual cars in the metaverse over six months. JP Morgan aims to create a virtual office to host its employees and, in the future, also its clients.

New jobs in the metaverse

The metaverse aims to duplicate the world in a digital dimension. Therefore, many traditional professions will find space but with specific training for their virtual version: from marketing experts to customer service roles, both in retail and tourism.

Clearly, the metaverse is also an opportunity for all ICT professions, particularly for programmers, developers, and engineers, both software and hardware, for virtual and augmented reality technologies. Blockchain and AI experts will also find opportunities, skills that can be acquired through a Master in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning for Business.

How to access the metaverse?

There is no single way to access the metaverse. However, generally speaking, it is enough to have a computer, smartphone, or tablet, a stable internet connection, and an account on the virtual world platform you want to access.

Therefore, using a virtual reality headset is not always necessary (as with Horizon Worlds by Meta), and each virtual world may establish its own specific access rules. Decentraland and Sandbox, for example, are blockchain-based, so it is not even necessary to create an account, just authenticate with a blockchain wallet.

Difference between metaverse and multiverse

Metaverse, multiverse, and omniverse refer to different approaches to virtual reality. While the metaverse aims to create a single shared virtual world, the multiverse focuses on several separate digital worlds (with little shared data), whereas the omniverse seeks to connect all these digital worlds into one unified structure.