Metaverse… What, when & why?
I started my Metaverse journey with Second life in 2007. It was a pretty cool thing back then. But technology keeps getting better and better through the years, and suddenly it wasn’t “cool” anymore. Then I started thinking, let’s wait a few years… So we came all the way to year 2021 and Altspace. Microsoft bought this “platform” in 2017 and probably already then they decided, that this platform is the future. And what do we have a year later? Microsoft Mesh, Metaverse etc… On Microsoft Build in 2022 they demonstraded it to us and it looks pretty cool.
But What is Metaverse?
Wikipedia says it’s:
In futurism and science fiction, the metaverse is a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single,
universal and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)
headsets. In colloquial use, a metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection.
The term "metaverse" originated in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash as a portmanteau of "meta" and "universe."
Metaverse development is often linked to advancing virtual reality technology due to increasing demands for immersion.
Recent interest in metaverse development is influenced by Web3, a concept for a decentralized iteration of the internet.
Web3 and The Metaverse have been used as buzzwords to exaggerate development progress of various related technologies
and projects for public relations purposes. Information privacy, user addiction, and user safety are concerns within the metaverse,
stemming from challenges facing the social media and video game industries as a whole.
For me, the Metaverse is going to be a place where you can meet, teach and learn virtually, right in your living room, closet, outside, inside…
You can meet other people around the world, whenever and wherever you want.
You can teach others much easier with your avatar, because you can see them. (I’d rather watch an avatar than two letters in Teams.)
You can learn easier because of the feeling that someone is there with, to help you to learn.
If you don’t like to turn on your webcam in meetings, you can take part with an Avatar. And that is a good thing in education, especially for the introverts.
I have organized a few virtual meetings myself and the feeling when you are in that “avatar world” you can hear people talking each other just like a normal meeting.
The Covid-19 proved that you can make webinars, meetings etc. happen in virtual worlds and the participation part, in this case the AltSpace. You create an account and register, and you’re in. Yes. of course, you have to learn the basic movements etc. But that is not gonna take long, I can teach you ;)
So try it, feel it, it is a new thing but there are so many others who can help you “cough” Sulava Metaverse offering
Feel free to check that link if you want to. ;)
But how does it look, the Metaverse. Here are a few sample photos from internet that I found about the upcoming Microsoft Metaverse.
This is propably the best picture where you can see all the necessary things in Metaverse, in my opinion.
Whiteboard and Collaboration. What else do you need to get efficient in your meetings?
Metaverse is running in Azure platform. I’m not an Azure guy, I’m more of a Collaboration guy which can be found in the picture above.
Other companies are also creating their metaverse platforms. Are they better or worse, who knows…
Metaverse AI translates your speech to your own language so the collaboration is much more easier.
If you are an introvert and don’t want to put your camera on, or you’re having a bad hair day, Avatar is the solution.
Which is better, a heart emoji or that you can make that heart yourself?
After the meeting is over, you can stay to chat with other avatars. Just like after regular meeting.
What: A platform to learn much more sufficiently.
When: I believe that in this autumn we can already try Mesh for Teams. We are all waiting for the launch date.
Why: Better learning, you are no longer dependable on the place where you can join the meeting, you can do it anywhere. Introverts will definietly like it, bad hair day people will like it, not a morning people will like it when the meetings are at 08.00 am.
I’m sure that pretty much everyone will like this Metaverse. I’m sure I will. Do you ?
