Technological Darwinism has shaped the face of the Earth. Similar to how the Crocodilia order of semi-aquatic reptiles often evolve into different snout shapes, innovators guide the improvement of technology according to the needs of the time. After years of development, technology will soon evolve out of reality itself.
USA Today characterizes the metaverse as, “an online virtual world which incorporates augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D holographic avatars, video and other means of communication.” The mere concept on its own provides an interesting viewpoint on how gaming and online activity has progressively claimed dominance over many people’s lives. The fact that the idea has even been engendered attests to the expectations people have for technology. It creates jobs, enhances people’s lives, and will possibly transform person-to-person interactions.
A number of companies have invested in the metaverse, such as Sony and Epic Games. Even Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, restructured entirely in order to adapt to the growing industry that the metaverse will inevitably create. This means that they have been producing metaverse-related products, for example, VR headsets. But those products pertain only to the physical manifestations of the metaverse. It turns out that commodities can be bought and sold within the actual metaverse using cryptocurrency. The New York Times reports that, “in recent months, the volume of transactions for commercial real estate in the metaverse has ramped up.” The New York Times even cited Metaverse Group as one of few digital realty companies. Moreover, the previously-mentioned Epic Games decided to relocate its headquarters to Cary Towne Center, where it will permit the Dave & Buster’s to stay in the old mall, but it will have to move to a new location within it. WRAL specified that the company plans to renovate the surrounding area and have the new building completed by 2024. This will likely provide plenty of jobs for people in the area, such as young adults who have grown up with an interest in video games, and at the same time allow children to continue having their birthday parties at the well-known arcade. (this relates to teenagers! valuable information!)
In theory, the metaverse could revolutionize how the world operates. Potentially, the metaverse could entirely eliminate the necessity of leaving one’s house, which might sound great to antisocial people. In addition, several other outcomes could result from widespread adoption of the metaverse in other aspects of people’s lives, and most seem innocuous; however, plenty of issues arise from the subject of the metaverse. For example, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can be sold for billions of dollars, Yahoo Finance informs, despite being nothing more than little digital images that can be traded or sold. Some may see this as a pointless spend of money because the objects don’t have a physical form, but others see this as an opportunity for young artists to make their impression on the world. That being said, all the online issues that exist presently will likely still exist as the metaverse develops, because, “governments… have been sluggish in their approach to cybersecurity concerns,” Time states.
Society seems to keep pushing the world towards technological advancements. Events such as the pandemic have made it harder than previous times to escape the need for technology every day. While inventions like shoes that need to be connected to the Internet haven’t proven to be particularly useful, hopefully the metaverse will be able to accomplish what its proponents envision for it.
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