The Metaverse; A Future You Cannot Escape

\ # Two Lives – A Short Story The following article is based on the author’s own views and predictions. The examples considering the future should be taken with a pinch of salt, if not the whole spoon. \ Got it? \ ![https://tenor.com/bf0ln.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-cga3t0f.gif.webp) \ Okay, so here we go. \ The city of the future is abundant with humans but scarce with humanity. \ We are told we live in information bubbles, but what about the bubbles of our own lives? Do we look at people and wonder about their stories, struggles, and hopes? What were their dreams before reality entered the stage? Do we really care about others, or is it just a façade to feel we are decent? \ People pass each other on the streets, busy with their own lives and problems. Every person you see feels like an NPC, a shallow 3D character that just happens to be at that place at the very same moment as you. As if the simulation rendered them because of your presence. \ \ Do you wonder what those people's stories are? What brought them here? \ Something catches your attention, a logo on a T-shirt, a silhouette, a hairstyle, a behavior, or a gesture. A detail you don’t remember the moment you enter your office. \ # The Meeting \ David just came back from school and went straight to his room. Threw his bag on the bed and got ready to meet his friends. Today they are meeting in his city, so he put the glasses in his pocket and went outside. It seems he was a bit late, and everyone was waiting as he quickly realized. \ \- *Sorry guys. I missed my bus back home. So are we going by bus or by subway? We’re heading city center, right?* \ \- *Yeah. I’d try out the subway as there are only buses in my small town.* – Natsu replied. \ \- *Okay! We’ll go through the park so enjoy the views! Hope you’ll like it. I see everyone’s got the vision. Let me know if something catches your attention so I can give you a closer look.* \ David bought one ticket with his glasses, as those were constantly connected to his smartphone, and made a reservation in his favorite café. \ All four headed to the park to enjoy the stillness of nature and take a break from the city’s haste. David saw his friends’ avatars as if they were walking alongside him, while his friends saw the park as if they were with David. The distance was not the obstacle, nor was the fact they all spoke different languages. \ ![](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-hlp3t9v.png) *Picture made by DALL-E* \ This evening was among the best as David finally got to meet his friends again after the last summer camp they met for the first time. \ # The Hack \ Marcus woke up before the alarm chip raised his cortisol level to effectively wake him and get ready for another day of corporate work. After his morning routine, he looked in the mirror to check the weather and stock prices. \ *The new hue of his iris still seemed to surprise him every time he saw his reflection. At least it’s far more convenient than the glasses.* – he thought. \ Suddenly, the alert got into his field of vision. Trading bots seem to have been maliciously overwritten with a different algorithm, and no one even saw it. \ *Those guys are getting more precise day by day, and even the latest Purple team couldn’t stop them; I’m running out of options.* – Marcus pondered. \ He immediately called a meeting with his staff in the virtual office as the new eye allowed him to instantaneously enter the corporate VR space. Everyone was ready within 30 seconds to make a report and present the relevant data. \ \- *This time… it’s even more complicated*. – Marcus gasped as dozens of holographic files filled the virtual office. \ \- *I want a detailed analysis within an hour.* – he ordered and cut the connection. \ The coffee was ready as he sat with his wife to have breakfast. \ *How’s your treatment in Singapore? Maybe I’ll find time to visit you next week.* – Marcus calmly stated and touched her hand. The trembling seems to be remitted again, but the hand was unnaturally cold. \ They finished breakfast in silence before the nurse asked to cut the connection. \ # The Metaverse – A Short Explanation \ What is Metaverse? It is one of the most significant concepts of the future society people often get wrong. \ The Metaverse is not some isolated digital world we will live in or get lost in, forgetting about reality. It is possible though, but it will be just a small part of the Metaverse concept which is not so different from the games and apps we have today – the graphics will just switch to VR/AR, and here you have the “futuristic” metaverse. \ So if this digital world is just a small part, what is Metaverse then? \ ![https://tenor.com/bkjrC.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-5s93tze.gif.webp) \ **Metaverse is the evolution of the Internet we know today. That’s it.** \ Don’t fall for catchy words or the view that Metaverse is just entertainment. It is far more. Metaverse is not something new. It is the amalgamation of all the apps, services, knowledge, and entertainment of the present Internet with improved visuals and AR. \ To prove my point, let’s take a quick trip to China for a moment. \ # WeChat \ How much do you know about WeChat? \ It’s a Chinese version of WhatsApp (2009) launched in 2011. \ Well… it’s just another “*Made in China*” story of stolen ideas you might say. \ Yes and no; depends on how well you are familiar with Chinese history and ideology. \ The concept was similar at the very beginning, but as with every other concept and idea, China took and sinicized it – adapted it to serve the culture and people of China. \ ![https://tenor.com/R5vQ.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-wab3tvp.gif.webp) \ China and its society sinicized not only apps or mechanics. A similar process was applied to foreign dynasties from Mongolia (Yuan dynasty) or Mangurian (Qing dynasty), which over the course of years and decades, adapted to the ever-present culture of China. \ The ideas and technologies of the West were also sinicized. All that was taken stopped being a “*foreign*” addition and became a part of the Chinese world after being modulated, reformulated, and redesigned. \ WeChat is like WhatsApp, or at least was at the very beginning, but quickly added far more utilities to become the super-app - One to rule them all. \ Suffice it to say, WeChat implemented voice chat and videoconferences in 2013, while WhatsApp provided such services three years later – in 2016. \ Within two years of its inception, 2011-2013, it gained 300 million users. That’s not a lot you might say. \ You will be kinda right, but I will respond by saying it is almost the population of the US, and it was achieved within two years. **A decade ago.** The Internet and the flow of information were quite different back then. \ As of Q1 2022, WeChat is said to have **1,288.3 billion** users. \ ![https://tenor.com/677H.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-arc3tub.gif.webp) \ With the use of WeChat, you can talk with your friends - that’s obvious. But you can also book a table at your favorite restaurant, make an appointment at the doctor's, call a taxi, order shopping to be brought to your doorstep, send money to your friend, and far more. \ You can live your digital life to the fullest just with the use of one application. \ That’s what the backbone of the Internet looks like – social connections, services, and data all available in one place. All you need is the improvement of visuals, and voilà – the Metaverse becomes real. \ A detailed description of how WeChat monopolized the services industry in China is presented in “*AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Orders*” by Kai-Fu Lee. \ # The Metaverse = The Internet V3 \ Imagine what is possible with the Internet today and how will your life look without it. \ Imagine IN DETAIL how different will it be. \ That’s how significant the Metaverse is going to be in the upcoming years and decades. \ Metaverse will focus mainly on the graphical aspect of the Internet. Augmented Reality (AR) will be implemented in many fields, and the usage of Virtual Reality (VR) will become broader. Therefore, Metaverse will just add another layer to the Internet of today – the graphical layer. \ As if the graphical veil overlaid the city you live in, allowing you to access the service or data with just one click, one scan, one look. \ ![https://tenor.com/bLFtt.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-2bd3ta9.gif.webp) \ We will experience the revolution in the field of immersion; not only in entertainment but in every aspect of the graphical world added on top of the real one. However, beware of the word “*immersive*” as some might use it as a fancy word for “*addictive*”. \ \*The following is an excerpt from the article titled “*The Future of NFTs and Metaverse According to Punk 6529*” which you can find below, in the List of References, or [here](https://hackernoon.com/the-future-of-nfts-and-metaverse-according-to-punk-6529). \ *The real metaverse is the Internet we will see in the near future. The quality of visuals will get much better, presenting users with a wide array of new possibilities. Conference calls might be a good example as nowadays most of us have Zoom calls where we see each other through camera lenses. The improvement of visuals will allow us to use holograms and engage in conversations as if we were in the room with our interlocutor.* \ *Augmented Reality will be with us permanently. During our conversation, we will talk about something and have it displayed in front of us. The glasses and other accessories enabling AR access will become very handy and user-friendly, thus becoming almost inseparable from other daily life items.* \ *The contrarian argument might be that people are not going to wear glasses or similar accessories all the time. Yet, aren’t we having our smartphones with us 24/7? How many of us claimed not to carry mobiles in pockets or bags all the time?* \ One thing worth mentioning is the fact that people associate “*Metaverse*” with a closed and separated digital space - hence the assumption there will be multiple "*Metaverses*". Can we say there are multiple internets today? Well… yes and no. \ To clarify… I’m not talking about geopolitical fractures and divisions but the multiple niches and layers of the Internet. \ My take is that we have major services and places of interest along with various niches and plentiful subgroups, all linked into one entity – The Internet. A similar thing will happen with the Metaverse in the future as the basic principles stay the same. \ *Ash durbatulûk.* \ ## The Education in Metaverse \ How did the Internet change the education system? \ How did the Internet change the way we learn outside schools? \ Of course, the answers will vary based on the educational system of the country we live in. Nonetheless, we might say the Internet revolutionized the way we learn. \ The COVID phase accelerated the transition into a remote working/studying/learning setting. Whether the experience and quality of remote learning were positive or negative is open to discussion and very subjective. Nonetheless, the base experience of remote learning has been gained, which makes it easier now to say what was missing, point out advantages and try to come up with solutions to all the problems encountered. \ \ ![https://tenor.com/bh79b.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-ika3tgp.gif.webp) \ Now let us think about how the addition and expansion of the visual aspect can impact the way we learn. It might not be the revolution, but it will be a great upgrade for sure. \ Virtual classes and vast spaces open to exploration. Infinite possibilities of creative presentations on various topics, completely new ways of learning and understanding things on deeper levels and much more will change the way we educate children and adults. \ Imagine going to Chemistry classes, where everyone will be able to perform a variety of different experiments in a safe environment. The other example might be technical classes, where we can break things into parts and analyze them from different perspectives. It’s like making Unity or AutoCAD into Virtual Reality. \ What about Biology and learning about the human body in VR? Going into the veins and lungs, looking at how muscles are built, how electrical impulses fire out in the human brain. The ability to zoom in and out and play with models will bring immense benefits to education as the best learning happens through play. [https://twitter.com/Jason/status/1572985530996133889?embedable=true](https://twitter.com/Jason/status/1572985530996133889?embedable=true) \ The threats and disadvantages such a revolution might bring, of course, exist. Examples like social alienation or greater division based on income are the first ones to think of, but it’s crucial to say those do not have to happen if the implementation of Metaverse aspects will be properly designed. One thing to note is that those divisions and threats have been with us from the very beginning. The harsh truth is that socio-economical divisions were, are and will be a thing. \ Life is not all unicorns and rainbows; deal with it and move on. \ ![https://tenor.com/uSdc.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-v193t4i.gif.webp) \ ## The Importance of Fashion \ What is fashion? \ Why do we care about the clothes we wear and the way we look? \ Is it any different in the virtual world where we create our avatars and digital personalities? The inner need to express ourselves externally often happens via fashion and… it is not only a human thing. \ ![https://tenor.com/bfhCq.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-ulc3tqw.gif.webp) \ Does anyone remember Julie? \ A chimp that in 2010, began “*wearing*” a long-stemmed piece of grass in her ear was thought to be an anomaly. Things changed when other chimps began following the new “*trend*”. Seems like chimps’ fashion begins to flourish. \ An interesting phenomenon has been spotted among users on platforms like VR Chat, where a lot of people spent a significant amount of time looking in the mirrors. It might sound silly, but the issue of real-time mirrors in games has been long-discussed as hard to implement due to technical reasons. However, the moment we got mirrors in games, people began to use them just as in real life. It was easier to see how our avatar looks and is seen by others. Now the time spent personalizing the avatar to bring to life the vision we have in our heads seemed more “*natural*”. \ Another step towards full immersion. \ Humans are designed by nature to live within societies, to interact with others, to create relationships and become a part of a group. We seek acceptance and a sense of belonging whether we are aware of it or not – and since we are not aware of many things happening in our unconscious, many might argue here that everything they do is a conscious and logical decision. \ If you think the same rules do not apply to virtual reality, you are profoundly mistaken. We are seeing huge brands like Adidas, Nike and Prada entering the world or Metaverse. Is wearing Prada in real life any different from wearing original Prada in the virtual world? Does it elevate your status in the same way? I’d risk stating there are no differences as it shows your status as well in Metaverse as in real life. \ Scarce are those who do not wish to climb the social ladder. \ How about a situation where you buy a piece of Nike clothing in real life and, additionally, you get an NFT version you can use in Metaverse? \ Or in reverse, when you buy a Nike NFT and "burn it" to get the real hoodie, or just get a hoodie shipped as an addition to the NFT? \ How does that impact sales and the spread of fashion in the digital world? \ ![https://tenor.com/8KjQ.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-x5a3tmu.gif.webp) \ ## The Music \ The NFT craze we have seen in the last months was something not many of us expected if anyone. \ Since humans are predators from the biological point of view, our most developed sense is vision. Even the fact that our eyes are set in from of our heads allows us to focus on a single object, whereas prey animals like horses have eyes set on the sides of the head to allow for greater scanning of surroundings to quickly detect the predator. \ Therefore the fact that the first NFT mania was focused on the visual aspect should not be surprising. However, what will be the next surprise? Will it again be focused on our sight? \ Throughout human history, we have had two major factors shaping cultures and societies, visuals and music. While we live in the abundance of visual and musical stimuli today, I’d risk stating that visuals prevail in pop culture and the Internet. \ So where is the music? Did we forget about it? \ ![https://tenor.com/bSIX2.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-v7b3tcs.gif.webp) \ If you are paying close attention to the crossroads between the world of Internet communities and cryptocurrencies, you’ll see that in the aftermath of visual NFTs hype, part of the interest went to the music industry. The first instances of music NFTs were not so popular, but they were present; it was not only the idea but became a product, and that’s worth noting. \ Just as the visual and ownership NFTs - like Sandbox parcels – grew in popularity, people began personalizing them and using those to promote themselves and build their digital reputation. \ Parties or social gatherings in places like VR Chat are not unusual things. People meet, engage in conversations or just hang out together. In the Sandbox, we have seen digital parties hiring real-life DJs to provide top-quality music to whoever decided to come or to chosen ones during closed parties. \ But that’s only live music. What about the music industry as we know it? \ Well… Kings of Leon, 3LAU and many others released their albums as NFTs or worked in music NFT-related projects. \ What about the Warner Music Group joining forces with OpenSea to extend fan communities in Web3 for WMG artists? It would allow them to reach a wider audience and equip them with the tools needed to host limited-edition projects, drop products and personalize the engagement. \ Yeah, yeah… it was just using the hype to get some money and reputation. It might have been, but note we're in a bear market now. On the other hand, it proves a point as there was a demand. Whether the demand for music NFTs will come back with a huge splash, we don’t know, but music plays a crucial role in our lives. \ Why shouldn’t the music play the same role in digital lives? \ ![https://tenor.com/bjTJP.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-b8f3t3l.gif.webp) \ ## The Entertainment \ How much of your life is spent on entertainment? \ How can we even define entertainment in today’s world, to begin with? \ It is such a broad industry, with plentiful different niches finding their way to every aspect of our lives. There is no amount of money people won’t pay to feel better about themselves, to live a “*better*” life, to escape reality, or “*live to the fullest*”. \ Over the recent decades, entertainment grew to become of the biggest and most influential industries we have ever seen. The introduction of every new medium led entertainment to grow even bigger, and now whatever medium you think of, it is full of commercials, advertisements or other, more sublime forms of advertising aimed at providing new forms of entertainment. \ The radio, television, personal computers and many more introduced either new or “*upgraded*” forms of entertaining the user. The Internet was a game-changer in the field of entertainment, as over time, it allowed entertainment to sneak into every part of our lives. \ You might think of movies, games, books, and music as the present forms of entertainment. \ Okay, but every one of those branches into different, modified forms. Classical books became e-books, audiobooks, interactive books. Movies branched out to create TV series, interactive series, and the whole YouTube video experience, just to name a few. I’m not even going to touch the games as it is so vast area it can be anything. \ The integration of the Metaverse into our lives will not be a revolutionary event. It will, and already is, a slow evolution most of us don’t even see. The further the metaverse implementation penetrates the present entertainment industry, the more immersive it becomes. \ The more immersive the entertainment, the more people will want to engage in it. Some up to the point of truly living a second life in the digital world - which does not have to be a dystopian vision of social alienation. \ The Internet and social media allow us to create and develop our careers as well as build our reputations. LinkedIn, Twitter, Fiverr, Skillshare, and many more are places where employees are found, networking is made, and pre-contract discussions are held. \ The Metaverse will bring even more options to enter the Great Online Game. Building our social status, reputation, wealth or even meeting new people and hanging out in the digital world will be just the enlargement of the life chessboard. The number of possible moves, tactics and available strategies will increase. Just as it has increased with the inception of the Internet. \ The skill of decision-making seems to be more important than ever. \ Imagine trying to build your social brand without the use of the Internet or limiting yourself just to the real world. It is possible, but you might miss numerous opportunities. \ If we as individuals don't want to miss opportunities, what about world-renowned companies? \ We all are familiar with the Disney franchise and its products. While the trend of engaging in the Web3/Metaverse niche seems to spread among various industries, entertainment appears to be a prominent example. Disney recently partnered with Polygon (MATIC) project as a part of Disney's Accelerator Program. It's worth noting the partnership does not have to revolve around NFTs, as Polygon is a vast ecosystem capable of providing various utilities. \ Not to mention Polygon has partnered with Reddit, Meta (Facebook), Starbucks and many more... \ That's quite the portfolio. \ ![https://tenor.com/bNkKH.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-h9h3t1b.gif.webp) \ Coming back to the issue of entertainment in Metaverse or digital hermits, I’d like to point out it does not have to be a negative thing. \ The term “*social*” began changing with the inception of the Internet when social connections broke the barriers of distance and physical presence. Imagine people who feel awkward and stressed in social settings. Let’s add the introverted nature and low social skills on top of that. It’s hard to find someone like you in the real world with whom you can really connect and create a true friendship. It’s a lot easier to find such people on the Internet, where you feel more open and unreserved towards others. \ Is such a friendship worse than the “*standard*” one? Isn’t calling and texting our friends the same thing? The only difference is the social interaction in the real world, but maybe not everyone feels comfortable in such a setting? Maybe some people prefer to connect with someone else’s mind and thoughts instead of having a physical meeting? \ ## Blockchain Games \ Let’s begin with a question. \ Is it necessary for games to use blockchain technology? No. \ Does blockchain technology change the way games can be built? Yes. \ ![https://tenor.com/bNkKH.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-kdi3tht.gif.webp) \ The introduction of blockchain technology allows studios to create game ecosystems that can be easily connected to other ecosystems, marketplaces, and social media, allowing users to transfer game reputation and developments to the outside world. \ The creation of bridges between gaming ecosystems might lead to creating an incredibly vast game with a plethora of different niches, mini-games, worlds and spaces designed to allow everyone to meet and spend time together – just as we have seen in the Ready Player One movie from 2018. \ To illustrate my example, let’s imagine you are an avid player of The Elder Scrolls Online. A friend of yours is more into classical World of Warcraft, so the vibe isn’t so much different from the third member of your party, who is very much into the Star Wars universe and spends hours in Star Wars The Old Republic. There is also a new member of your party, but he is suspiciously addicted to Genshin Impact, so you decided to keep the distance until things will clarify. \ ![https://tenor.com/bL6If.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-zaj3t6i.gif.webp) \ Nevertheless, all of you are limited to your own world and cannot play together or even meet as your game avatars. Imagine what would happen once all such gaming worlds will be bridged, allowing players to meet in some “*Leisure District*” or “*OuterSpace Inn*”. \ It would change lots of aspects such as the way games are designed, in-game economies and reputation mechanics, and the way people would spend their time in the digital world would lead to the evolution in social contracts of the digital world. It is impossible to stress enough how big of a game-changer it would be. \ Additionally, it might bring decentralization benefits to games; but this can be hard to achieve as the vast majority of blockchain games and gaming ecosystems are centralized in some way. \ ### The Collapse of Auction House in Diablo III \ While trading for real-world money was a standard in World of Warcraft for a long time, it was not so established in the Diablo series. Additionally, the end-goal and game mechanics are different, but it’s just another reason why the marketplace wasn’t a good idea, to say the least. \ Diablo III allowed users could buy in-game items with in-game currency earned while playing. Wherever there is a limitation to buying things, the black market emerges. The possibility of buying in-game items for real money became quite widespread, which means nothing else than cheating through pay-to-win in a game that has never seen such an incentive before. \ The Auction House allowed players to buy items with real money. The bottleneck of buying items on the black market ceased to be the issue. It changed the game significantly by changing the core philosophy and mechanics. \ If something works out for your neighbor doesn’t mean it will work out for you. \ If you play the game to get the better loot and the only way is to devote yourself to becoming better and better over time, what happens when at some point someone comes having far better items than you while being new to the game? \ Imagine working years to become a manager, and just as you’ve earned your position, a post-graduate without any experience comes and says he is now superior to you because his daddy bought him a higher position. \ \- *Know your place, fool.* – he says as you are trying to not let out any emotions whatsoever. \ ![https://tenor.com/bcnP2.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-4hl3tnh.gif.webp) \ Is it frustration that would fill you? Is it something else? I bet it wouldn’t be a positive emotion – at least in my case. \ Don’t get me wrong, we have a variety of games with micro-payments or pay-to-win mechanics. It’s not a bad thing if it’s something you wanted from the very beginning and players are aware of it. \ But what happened in Diablo was changing the core incentives of the game. It was against the Diablo player ethos. It was against the unwritten rules. \ The idea and implementation of Auction House quickly collapsed. The Diablo franchise lost not only devoted players, but also intangibles like trust and status that cannot be easily regained. \ The story of Diablo is here to show you one thing – using real-money assets in the game doesn’t have to be a bad idea if it is there from the beginning. It allows players to earn money by doing what they like – playing games. However, the rules and incentives have to be clear from the very beginning to create a solid community playing the same meta-game. \ The incentive has to be established from the beginning not to confuse players and set the in-game economy. Otherwise, the potential player will be confused when rules and mechanics change. It is not confusion that leads to dedication. \ We don’t want to play games where rules constantly change, do we? \ # The Revolution – Non-Fungible Tokens \ Most of you associate NFTs with pixilated profile pictures, Crypto Punks, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) or some digital picture with no logical use or value. \ Fair enough. \ ![https://tenor.com/bVXvN.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-unm3trg.gif.webp) \ Why do people buy paintings or posters to hang on the walls? What is the logic behind it? \ I am neither an art critic nor a scientist, so I can only assume certain things and construct a thesis open to public or private debate. \ To me, it all comes down to the question of what is art and what role does esthetics play in our lives. Why do we value it so much, and why throughout the centuries it played such a vital role? \ Non-Fungible Token standard, also known as NFT, is a technology that not only allows us to expand the accessibility of art and esthetics in a digital society but also gives us the possibility we didn’t have before to such an extent. \ Nowadays, you can visit Fiverr and ask an artist to create digital artwork to use it as a background on your website, as an avatar or just post it to share your taste in fine arts. You can visit ArtStation and look for artists you would like to hire or purchase their paintings available for sale. The outcome is you have the original piece of art or design suited to your business or personality. It is very personalized, but top-notch artists don't have time to work on your background picture or logo. \ Other possibility is you can purchase an NFT you like or the one that perfectly suits your style and the sublime message you want to share. \ Okay, but I can just copy such NFT, save it and use it on my profile. \ ![https://tenor.com/Uzdd.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-22c3t6i.gif.webp) \ \ Well... you can also buy a forged painting or a substandard copy of the Mona Lisa to hang on your wall. \ It looks like it, but it doesn’t feel like it. It is not the original, and you know it deep down, just anyone you show your painting to. It’s not an issue if you are fine with having a copy and you do not brag about it being the same quality as the original – then things might get strange. \ But if you copy/save NFT and brag you are the owner… \ ![https://tenor.com/bDXPl.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-lxe3tne.gif.webp) \ The fact of having the original artwork is hard to value – It’s intangible. It’s emotional. It’s social. \ What are intangibles, you might ask? \ “*Well… those are the things we can grasp with our minds but not with our hands. The United States, the Statue of Liberty, the US flag, the land of free and the home to the brave, the American Dream; all those are social intangibles. How can we even ascribe value to it? What would be the fair price?*” – an excerpt from “*The Future of NFTs and Metaverse According to Punk 6529*” by Modern Eremite. \ It all might sound like some mumbling of a deranged individual, but NFT technology is in its infancy, and we don’t even know how much potential it holds. We have barely scratched the surface of what is possible, and it is not something we will find in labs, writing code or doing mathematical calculations. \ The use of NFTs will be discovered and created within social groups and within societies. We only have to be attentive and sensitive to the most subtle signs of something new emerging. \ And above all, remember that NFT is not just about visual arts and pictures. It is far more than this. Just as a wheel is not only applied in a car but has thousands of different usages. \ The years will pass, and you will not even be aware of the NFTs you use or see on a daily basis as they will become consumerized. It will be baked into society as the Internet. \ Various tickets, billboards, advertisements, loyalty cards, digital stickers or even posters you can use to decorate your house will bear the NFT tech inside. \ With every new medium or technology, there comes a moment we stop seeing it, stop thinking about it. It just is with us every day. It is something we get used to over time. \ Like the Internet. Like the smartphone. Like the running water and electricity. \ People can and will get used to everything over time. It’s just the way we cope with reality. We adapt and go forward. \ # Future Marketplaces \ OTC Trading, Decentralized Exchanges, Centralized Exchanges, Marketplaces like OpenSea or LooksRare, the evolution of marketplaces and exchanges is stunning. However, evolution happens when there is a demand to serve people the best experience possible. To make it easier, smoother, and faster to make a transaction. To become a user of the given platform. \ Marketplaces are one of the most significant aspects of any market. The easier it is to buy and sell, the faster growth happens. The easier the onboarding process, the faster consumerization occurs. \ It’s obvious when we think about it but so overlooked in daily life. Marketplaces became something we take for granted while those mirror the demand of the public. \ With the beginning of the NFT craze, when the demand skyrocketed, the need to provide potential clients with the highest quality service became a priority as the potential client was not technical person. The potential client was someone who has never seen or used any cryptocurrency or Metamask before. \ ![https://tenor.com/YSax.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-9in3tyc.gif.webp) \ That’s not an easy issue to solve when you are entering a new market, where clients have a different background than the one you are used to. And so we have seen the emergence of various NFT marketplaces and the evolution of those that have been here for quite some time, like OpenSea, founded in 2017. \ However, the NFT mania was mostly about visual NFTs and collectibles. What about the future niches NFTs will find their way to? \ What about music NFTs? Written NFTs like the ones on Mirror? In-game and Metaverse collectibles? Fashion NFTs? What about those NFT concepts we cannot even come up with today? \ How the issuance and demand for those will change marketplaces? \ How different and well-thought will be the onboarding of new users? \ How perfected and sublime will be the experience of purchasing NFTs? \ How will it impact the concept of Metaverse and Digital Life we all will live in some way? \ # The Metaverse – Is It Already Here? \ Metaverse is seen as a futuristic concept, the distant future we may not live to see. \ What if Metaverse is already here, and we haven’t seen it because of the slow pace and organic changes? \ We tend to overlook slow changes if we are not cautious and attentive. That’s why we find ourselves in some dark places, and we cannot exactly say how it happened. We haven’t seen the process. Now we have to face the results. \ Also, that’s the case of how we perceive others' success. We look at the achievements, not at the process. \ We see the Metaverse as the future where we have to carry devices everywhere we go. Constant connection to the Net, ever-present commercials, and sensory overstimulation are ever-present features. People live in their life and information bubbles, leading to being locked up in their heads. And above all, spending a lot of time in the virtual world. \ Look around you. \ The smartphone you carry everywhere you go, constant connection to the Internet, overstimulation due to notifications, new YouTube videos, Netflix series, and information bubbles we live in. Spending time thoughtlessly scrolling through TikTok, Instagram, Reddit… \ We focus so much on details that we are missing the bigger picture. \ Till next time! \ \~M.E. \ ![https://tenor.com/blqhH.gif](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-phf3tbq.gif.webp) \ --- ***Lead image made with DALL-E*** ## List of References: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. \

The Metaverse; A Future You Cannot Escape

Too Long; Didn't Read

@moderneremite

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