What is the metaverse?
We are starting with the basics, because there is no room for deceiver syndrome in Web 3. What is the metaverse, exactly?
Poet and non-fungible token (NFT) creator Sasha Stiles speaks of the metaverse by looking at the word itself: The Greek prefix “meta” means higher, far away, often even transcending. And the “verse” part comes from the word “universe,” to specify that the metaverse is a universe that transcends the one we currently occupy.
Yes, this is a theoretical definition. Bringing it back downwards to earth, the metaverse is a mechanical infrastructure that allows for human associated to move beyond physical and geographic barriers. In some ways, we’ve already been living in the metaverse. Gamers certainly have been with not only virtual-reality games, digital abstract and online communities, but even in-game concerts in Fortnite from the likes of Travis Scott.
Most metaverse enthusiasts argue that the global coronavirus pandemic hastened the use of technology, and now many of us are used to having interactions across technology, whether on Zoom work calls, Face Time with family members or selling physical goods on Facebook Marketplace. The metaverse as people in Web 3 know it will simply intensify these experiences by equipping consumers with digital wallets carrying their cryptocurrency (money) and any digital advantage they own in the form of NFTs.
“The metaverse is an eveloping universal 3D overlay on real life,” said Isla Perfito, co-founder and CEO of Sator, a blockchain-based enjoyment platform. “As an alternate form of reality, we are able to steer the virtual worlds as we would the physical, you are able to move and interchange as you would in real life with the added potential to defy the physics we are bound to as humans on planet Earth.”
How to access the metaverse
To participate in the metaverse, you need an agreeable crypto wallet. Most popular metaverse worlds and gaming platforms work on the Ethereum blockchain, but some work on Solana or other layer 1 blockchains. To enter a metaverse, you need to sign up for a notecase that works on whatever blockchain the world is built on, then link it in your internet browser..
What is ownership in the metaverse?
So, if everything is digital, what do you literally own in the metaverse?
Imagine you’re a video game player, and you collect a particular token or prize that gives you extra lives. In the video game, your avatar could stock these items in a digital backpack. That’s an easy sufficient concept that anyone who’s collected gold coins while playing Super Mario can understand.
In the metaverse, ownership will operate similarly. Except now, thanks to blockchain technology, you can create a digital deed (aka record) of this transaction. Blockchain is a giant digital ledger that stores all of these details forever, and your assets don’t go away just because you turn off the computer or gaming console.
Taking things a step further, metaverse corporation are finding ways to enlarge the definition of digital ownership beyond just video game prizes. The platform Mirror lets writers post content for others to consume, and editor may decide to offer the creator cryptocurrency for it in trading for some type of ownership.
Brave, an internet browser, lets users opt in to the amount of ads they want to see. When users choose to view more ads, they are rewarded with Brave Attention Tokens (BAT), which get stored in a crypto wallet for consumers to use how they wish.
Similarly, Perfito’s company Sator was created with this goal of revolutionizing ownership in mind. Users generate the value of a show by watching it, Perfito argues. However, only centralized entertainment companies currently receive the payout from this user activity. Even if I binge watch the same episodes of “Mad Men” every year, I don’t receive any portion of the profit Amazon Prime makes by choosing to continue making it available. Sator’s platform rewards film and television viewers for watching their favorite content, which can then be staked to earn interest or traded for crypto or fiat currency. Sator even sets up virtual Movie Nights in the metaverse for wallet holders.
These new concepts of digital ownership are foundational pillars for the brave new Web 3 world, where all of our digital contributions may be logged on blockchain.
How do you make purchases in the metaverse?
Just like online shopping, you will access digital metaverse marketplaces through the internet. But rather than connecting to your accounts via a Google or Facebook sign-on, you’ll simply connect a digital wallet such as MetaMask. To buy stuff, you’ll need to keep enough compatible cryptocurrency in the wallet to cover the cost of the item plus applicable fees.