Does Metaverse Exist Yet? Here Is What You Need To Know

The Metaverse is a term that has been gaining a lot of buzz lately, but what exactly is it?

In this blog, you will find:

1. Does the Metaverse exist yet?

2. Can anyone get into the Metaverse?

3. How do we get into the Metaverse?

4. Do I need VR or the Metaverse?

5. How is the Metaverse being used in real life? 

6. Who's leading the Metaverse?

Hi, everyone. It's Jamie from the Linezero team. Recently, we've received a number of inquiries about the Metaverse. With so much information circulating about what it is and isn't, it's no wonder that there is also a good amount of disinformation. It's reasonable to be unsure about how to approach this new technology. Should it be scary? Should it not? That's why we've decided to cover some of the most often asked questions and throw some light on the subject this month.

Hopefully, there's value here. If you have any questions due to these answers, please reach out. We'd love to have a chat. 

The first question we'll cover:

1. Does the metaverse exist yet?

I believe this question assumes that there is only one Metaverse and that it exists or does not exist. And while I believe the answer is yes, the Metaverse exists, several Metaverses may be confusing. Yet, having several web pages is similar to having many internet sites. And when did the internet come into being? Did the internet exist when the first web page was built, or did it exist when there were ten, or did it exist when Google and other search engines helped make it more accessible?

We're at the point today where, yes, there are a variety of venues to go to and explore the Metaverse. So the Metaverse exists. And then, I believe, it is dependent on your concept of the Metaverse's ultimate state as to what this will look like.

So, going to the next question:

2. Can anyone get into the metaverse? Is it open to everyone?

Well, I believe this is piggybacking or following up on the last question, and it depends on whatever Metaverse you're referring to. There are several open Metaverse-type experiences, for example, in which you can participate. Meta Horizon Worlds is now accessible, and if you have a Quest gadget, you may easily access it. It's completely free. Of course, the actual gadget itself is the barrier to entrance, and I believe this is true for every Metaverse experience. It is currently hardware-dependent.

Hence, for the most part, possessing a gadget of some kind is the most important barrier to experiencing the Metaverse.

3. How do we get into the MetVERSE?

As previously stated, I believe the first step is to obtain a device, whether it's an Oculus or a Quest, as they're currently known, or other devices from other manufacturers. Several of them have distinct ecosystems in which you can buy, use, or download software like you would buy a mobile phone. So, if you obtain an iPhone, for example, can you use it entirely straight away? The depth of that experience increases once you begin installing apps from the App Store.

This is quite similar to entering the Metaverse. You acquire a headset, try it out, download applications, and you're ready to ride a roller coaster, go rock climbing, or wield a lightsaber. All of this is feasible if you enter the Metaverse.

4. Do I need VR or the Metaverse?

This feels like a very philosophical question, and one could ask, "Do I need the internet? Do I need electricity?" It depends on how you fundamentally define the word "need." I think fundamentally, you probably don't need virtual reality (VR), just like you don't need electricity. It depends on the purpose or what you're trying to achieve and whether VR actually helps enhance that experience or objective.

So from that perspective, there are absolutely a number of use cases where VR plays a substantial role and adds value as an asset, such as in education, among others. But I think at this root level, you probably could say that you genuinely do not need VR today.

5. How is the metaverse used in real life?

I think there are probably many definitions of the Metaverse. Microsoft has a version where they think of the Metaverse as three different experiences.:

• The Consumer Metaverse is dominated by gaming experiences
• The Commercial Metaverse is focused on business-to-business interactions and office/knowledge workers
• The Industrial Metaverse is centered around frontline use cases such as in healthcare and manufacturing shop floors
  
  

So there are many uses and both individual and corporate applications can be applied to the Metaverse.

6. So, who is leading the Metaverse?

Again, I believe this is subjective and depends on your own perspective. If you merely look at market share, Oculus Quest by far dominates the industry in terms of market share, the depth of its ecosystem, and a variety of indicators, most notably the revenue that's circulating around the ecosystem. That's not to imply they'll win or that there will only be one winner. Yet, for the time being, Meta and the Quest ecosystem is leading it.

The last question for this month is,

7. what are your thoughts on people saying that the Metaverse will not be successful?

It depends on your perspective. I think mixed reality will be effective, but do we know what the end-use cases will be? Do we know how things will turn out? Not yet. Nobody could have imagined that everyone would end up owning a smartphone and using it for everything from communication to photography to computing when it was first released. Similarly, we don't know what the eventual state of the Metaverse will be, but we do know that people desire technology that improves their experiences.

Currently, mobile gadgets are incredibly fascinating and nearly addicting. Consumers spend hours looking around social media, playing games, and utilizing other applications. But what if we could enjoy all of those experiences in a manner that felt significantly more immersive and natural? Although we aren't there yet in terms of hardware, I think the Metaverse will be a success. We simply don't know how it will turn out.

The last thing I'll say is that we've been getting some questions about Meta.

What is the current status of Meta?

So, for instance, do you know how Meta is doing? There has been a lot of news, and I feel most of it is negative, which is sometimes fair. And I think it’s earned in this instance. In this case, if you look at the data and use the stock price to judge their performance, Meta is down from their COVID high peak. This is true for the whole tech industry, where there was a giant bubble, and companies may have been overvalued based on the way things were being done because of the pandemic.

Now that there has been a "correction," so to speak, in the tech market, this doesn't just apply to Meta, but also to Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and other companies. All of them have laid off a lot of people, which has hurt their stock prices.

We ask, "How are they doing?" when we look at Meta. The price of Meta's stock is higher now than it was six months ago. In the last six months, there have been a lot of changes in the tech market system, also called the tech ecosystem. So, is Meta doing all right? I think they are. They have invested in the Metaverse reality labs, and it looks like they are still the most invested in this ecosystem as a whole.

Time will tell if they will come out of this stronger than they were before. But right now, it's safe to say that they've reached a steady state, their stock price keeps going up, and they've been growing.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this blog about the Metaverse! We hope it has helped answer some of your questions and clarify any confusion you may have had.

As always, if you have any further questions or comments, please don't hesitate to reach out to engage@linezero.com. We're always here to help and chat about this exciting new technology. Remember, the Metaverse is still in its early stages, and we can't predict exactly how it will develop, but one thing is for sure: it's going to be a wild ride!

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