Metaverse a Virtual Universe Parallel to Real Universe

Metaverse is a new word that is made up of a combination of two words “Meta” and “Universe”, where Meta means beyond and “Verse” refers to Universe.  This term first debuted in Neal Stephenson's 1992 novel "Snow Crash," in which the protagonist, a pizza delivery man, hangs out in an online virtual fantasy world. WHEREAS "Ready Player One," a novel set in the Oasis Metaverse, updated the concept in 2011. There are many movies based on this concept that elaborately show the function of the Metaverse and give an idea of that too like Ready Player One and Avatar etc.

 What is Metaverse?

It is a virtual 3D world created for interaction, doing business, and forging social connections using immersive, interactive, and collaborative technology in the field of the Internet. This is the world in which peoples interacts with each other through their respective Avatars using the metaphor of the real world but without its physical limits.

Immersive technology is an integration of virtual content with the physical environment in a way that allows the user to engage naturally with the blended reality.

An interactive computer program or electronic device is one that allows direct communication between the user and the machine.

Collaborative technology refers to tools and systems designed to better facilitate group work, both in-office and remote.

The Metaverse is a digital universe in which the physical and virtual worlds combine together. Combining virtual and augmented reality, the internet, and real-life settings, it would appear to be looking real.

The Metaverse is a term used to describe digital places that appear more lifelike using virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) technology.

What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual reality is a cutting-edge technology that immerses you in a computer-generated environment that you can explore using a headset. Virtual reality headsets completely capture your view and give you the sensation of being somewhere else. VR takes you away from reality and transports you to another world. Virtual reality refers to systems that use extra-peripheral equipment like goggles, sensor gloves, and other haptic devices to improve the sense of immersion in the represented environment.

Examples of VR headsets are –Oculus Quest 2 and Valve Index

What is Augmented Reality?

Augmented reality is a highly visible, interactive means of presenting pertinent digital data in the context of the physical world. Augmented reality takes digital images and layers them on the real world around you through the use of either a clear visor or smartphone. The technology is designed for free movement while projecting images over whatever you look at.

Examples –Oculus Quest 2,Microsoft Hololens 2

The difference between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

• Virtual reality replaces your vision and augmented reality adds to it.
• AR users have control over their presence in the actual world, whereas VR users are controlled by the system.
• VR requires a headset device, whereas AR can be accessible with a smartphone.
•  AR enriches both the virtual and real worlds, whilst VR only enhances a fictional reality.

Virtual reality and augmented reality accomplish two very different things in two very different ways; despite their devices having similar designs. VR replaces reality, taking you somewhere else. AR adds to reality, projecting information on top of what you're already seeing.

What is Mixed Reality?

Mixed reality is the combining of physical and virtual worlds to create new settings and representations, where actual and digital items co-exist and interact in real-time.

The mixed reality was first defined in 1994 by Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino.

Mixed reality is a fusion of the physical and digital worlds that allows for natural and intuitive 3D communication between humans, computers, and the environment.

Real-time objects, synchronizing, and engagement are the foundations of Mixed Reality.

The difference between Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality

The significant difference between mixed reality and augmented reality is the user's capacity to engage. Mixed Reality is a step forward from Augmented Reality, in which additional data is added to what a user sees. The physical and virtual worlds merge in Mixed Reality, and users can interact with both. While AR enhances the appearance of the actual world, MR has the potential to obscure the distinction between what is real and what is not?

Examples – Microsoft Hololens 2

Use of Mixed Reality

• It can be used to generate holograms to show scenes, items, or avatars using Mixed Reality, eliminating the requirement for physical interaction.

• In education, Mixed Reality uses 3D projections and simulations to make learning more engaging and participatory.

• Mixed Reality enables medical professionals and practitioners to more interactively access and shares patient records and data, forming the basis for image-guided surgery.

What is Digital Avatar?

A user-created digital representation that symbolizes the user's presence in a Metaverse is known as an avatar. In other words, the artificially intelligent avatar, a digital representation of a person that looks like a video or a photo but has intelligence, simulates how our brain conducts speech to provide human-like interaction.

The metaverse is a three-dimensional virtual world in which peoples interact with their respective Avatars.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Metaverse

The Metaverse is still in its early stages; its progress will be determined by streamlining various technologies that have been bundled together, as well as the advancement of immersive, interactive, and collaborative technologies that will give the impression of a real-world environment in a virtual environment. These are extremely potent and transformative technologies. They have the potential to dramatically transform how we use computers in the future. Every new technology has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, but we must use it with caution.

Advantages of Metaverse

• It will bring people together.

• It will be a lot of fun.

• It will give everything a mysterious atmosphere of distant worlds.

• It will make everything more entertaining and intriguing.

• It will improve work at home, School, and Office.

Disadvantage of Metaverse

• It has the potential to cause addiction, and excessive consumption might cause you to lose the sense of time.

• It most likely isolates you from nature and the real world.

• It has the potential to overstimulate your senses.

Use of Augmented Reality in the Real World

AR delivers immersive experiences by using the physical environment to produce a new layer of information on top of it.

• This technology greatly improved the security of your home, digital lockers, and various gadgets by providing facial recognition features to lock and unlock your devices.

• Augmented Reality is being used in sports broadcasting also to show additional game facts with an interactive graphic feature on live footage.

• Augmented Reality also enhances the Online Shopping experience of buyers by providing some details about the buying product like size, colours, designs, and dimensions. 

• Pokemon Go uses Augmented Reality technology to display virtual Pokemon characters in your physical environment based on your position.

• Augmented Reality enhances the interaction during video conferencing by employing AR masks and avatars.

 Metaverse is like a Dream

Simply said, Metaverse is a dream in which we can freely interact with various imaginary characters. We appear to be living that life throughout the dream. In our dream, we are flitting from one location to another, performing various tasks, and interacting, conversing, and communicating in numerous ways. The dream creates the illusion of reality for us. This allows us to enter a completely new world. Actually, Metaverse provides that dream a true meaning, allowing us to perform a lot of things at our discretion, but only in the digital world, not in the real one.

Movies, Games & Apps on Metaverse

Movies

There are many movies on this concept that will help us to understand this concept in detail. The few interesting ones are as follows:

• Real Player One
• Inception
• Surrogates
• Tron Series
• Avatar
• Source Code
• Free Guy
• Minority Report

Games & Apps 

• Horizon Worlds
•  VR Chat
•  REC Room
•  Fortnite
•  Second Life
•  Axie Infinity
•  Zepeto

ZEPETO is a wonderful app that provides the real environment of Metaverse. You can experience and understand the concept of Metaverse by creating your own Digital Avatar.  

Conclusion:

Metaverse allows you to interact with a virtual environment by immersing yourself in a simulated world around you. It will build a new universe in which the actual and virtual worlds merge to form a new Metaverse. Right now, the technology is now in its infancy. However, the future will be wonderful.

References:

Journal of the Association for Information Systems Vol. 10 Issue 2 pp. 91-117 February 2009
https://metaverseroadmap.org
Mixed Reality | Microsoft Docs https://docs.microsoft.com
https://sopa.tulane.edu/blog/whats-difference-between-ar-and-vr
https://sapizon.com/blog/5-ways-augmented-reality-impacts-daily-life
Book: Virtual Reality & Augment Reality Myths & Realities
Second life Youtube Channel, Zepeto YouTube Channel
various Articles in Newspaper, Magazines, and on the Net (Wikipedia or Others)

A short Story on Metaverse :