Neil Stephenson’s 1992 novel Snow Crash debuted what he called the metaverse: a VR version of the internet where characters play as avatars of themselves, escaping their everyday troubles. Now almost 30 years later, some of the biggest tech companies in the world are backing Stephenson’s vision; most notably Facebook, which recently rebranded to “Meta” and announced a $10 billion investment plan to build out the metaverse.
The concept is still in its infancy, but Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is confident that the metaverse is the future of the internet, and he isn’t alone. A Forbes article refers to the metaverse as a “$1 trillion revenue opportunity,” while a Business Insider article calls it “a worse version of the world we already have.” The metaverse is an online space that users can access via virtual reality headsets—and, although Facebook rebranded as “Meta” in reference to the metaverse, the metaverse won’t belong to one company. In fact, it won’t belong to anyone—just like the internet, the metaverse is intended to be universal.
People everywhere are clamoring for more information on the mysterious metaverse. What defines the metaverse? What does it feel like to be immersed in it? Who will be able to access it? And how soon can we expect to use it?
