The word “Metaverse”, which means ‘beyond the universe’, has lost its trendiness for the time being. If you see the below given trendline from Google Trends, it depicts the impact of Mark Zuckerberg’s rebranding announcement Facebook to Meta. But one can not deny the true impact and relevance of metaverse.
Source :Google trend
Mark Zuckerberg announced to change its brand name from Facebook to Meta in the last week of Oct 2021. During that time if you see the search trends of metaverse are negligible. Those searches are pretty organic. But after his announcement, the search trends spiked like never before. To grab these opportunities there are lots of startups that have started rushing. The crypto currencies prices also spiked. This kind of trend also has been observed during Tesla’s announcement that it bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. Due to that we can see the spike in Feb 2021 to April 2021. Then due to Covid(Omicron) hit, it started dipping. And again picked in Oct 2021 when Facebook rebranded to Meta.
Source : Google Finance
But now the inorganic thrust is not working. The cryptocurrencies and metaverse trends are coming to its original state. But the trend is definitely more than what it used to be in late 2020. So these big pushes definitely have some impact in these fields. Due to this there are lots of startups, ecosystem created. People started learning about it and exploring and finding new opportunities around it.
Going forward lets understand about what is the technology behind Metaverse and its negative impact on human life.
About Metaverse:
As we all know metaverse is a new technology which promises us to give the immersive experience of the real world. It is not only confined to any big tech companies, game or sci-fi movies but also it is experiencing worldly activities through VR devices . It will give us new experiences of reality. As the name suggests, it will become another secondary world where we can do most of our virtual and social work while having an immersive experience. Due to its immersiveness quality, the user engagement would be more. This leads to a different economy, different ways of income streams, generating different kinds of job, different marketing strategies etc. It gives lots of business opportunities to the world.
To understand the pros and cons of metaverse we need to understand the technologies behind it.
Technology behind Metaverse:
Metaverse, a combination of different technologies which power it to run. Overall it is a combination of virtual reality, augmented reality and high end computer programmes. Similar to the WEB 2.0, there is a front end and back end in the meta world as well. When you enter in to any metaverse platform, what you can see is called front end, which is built up of 3D models. When you log in and sign up in the platform that is managed by backend developers. Which has been created by computer programmers. It may be a virtual 3D space like reception to register the new users. Basically they have created a widget in the reception room to sign up. Then you can enter their space. Similarly within their space they may have created different kinds of widgets which throw you different information and may show you recommended products which are personalized according to the user’s browsing behavior. This is powered by artificial intelligence technology.
Then the next technology is the Devices which are needed to experience this. This is the most important aspect of this technology. These are VR, AR and sensors.
Impacts of Metaverse on Human’s life
Repercussions Usage of VR/AR Headset:
Until today’s invention of VR and AR devices are wearables. And it also has some negative repercussions if we use these devices continuously for a long time. According to a literature review from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in 2022, one should not use a VR headset for more than 30 minutes. After that one should take a 15 minutes break. If we see this with a real example that 15 minutes break people may not prefer while having a great immersive experience. For example if somebody playing a game or somebody is experiencing a virtual tour, in this case nobody wants disruptions. So people will ignore the health related issues as nowadays people are spending more screen time than before. Which also have some health related repercussions. But these repercussions can not be compared with metaverse related repercussions. Because while using a PC/Laptop or Mobile phone you can move your head, look around and the screen is a certain distance from your eyes. But in the case of VR/AR headset it is not. When you want to take a rest you need to remove that headset which may not be preferable for the people while working, having a meeting, playing etc.
Issues from its immersiveness:
Immersive is a great feature of metaverse. But it has some cons as well. Due to this feature, the user engagement is more. Hence some vested interest can threaten the targeted people’s life. They can engage the people in games or some other things and then threaten them to do something. Like the Blue Whale game. This may lead to virtual war between the countries.
Another issue could be influencing the people to buy certain things which they might not be interested in. We all know how the “influencer economy” is working now. This is basically the “Nudge theory” or called “demand push theory” given by the famous economist Richard Thaler. Anywhere you go or browse through the internet you will find the same product which the seller wants to sell to you. They get this data by analyzing your browsing behavior.
Apart from these there are many more challenges connected to it. Like Privacy, Protection of children, sexual harassments, cyber crime etc.
Conclusion:
So last but not the least, Zuckerberg’s announcement definitely created a hype around but it definitely gave a big push to look at the potentials of the metaverse. It may not be the next platform as the mobile phones are playing the role today but metaverse has its own significance. Nobody can deny that.
FAQ
Is the metaverse out yet?
No. It will be with us. But for the time being it is not in the news but definitely it will become boom in future.
