On October 28, 2021, Facebook rebranded itself as Meta and furthered the extent of the modern metaverse trend.
Although it may seem like the Metaverse is a product of Meta’s endeavor, that’s not the case. Both are independent pieces in the internet’s evolution.
It will be further exasperated by decentralized finance platforms and cryptocurrencies, which incentivize replacing fiat currency.
The ‘Metaverse space’ is worth over $47 billion.
The term ‘metaverse’ was first introduced by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 dystopian cyberpunk novel, Snow Crash.
Snow Crash is still one of the most highly acclaimed science fiction novels.
The story revolves around a virtual reality dataspace called Metaverse, which could be accessed using personal terminals and VR headspaces.
Truly ahead of its time, Stephenson’s Metaverse was a unique and complicated dataspace subject to development.
Developers could build streets, alleys, buildings, etc., that did not exist in the real world. Therefore, it was like an imagined space. The vision of Metaverse has been borrowed by several multiplayer online games such as Second Life.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse is supposed to be the next version of reality. In practice, the Metaverse will likely be a massive virtual shopping mall collectively experienced by users.
It will be driven by innovative and diverse forms of technology such as software tools, blockchain technology, cloud infrastructure, user-generated content, platforms, and so on.
The Metaverse will include various user-centric experiences like gaming, entertainment, ‘social interactions,’ e-commerce, education, and so on.
Many have raised the question concerning when the Metaverse will arrive. Some metaverse-supported projects have already been launched. For instance, Travis Scott’s VR Fortnite concert tuned in more than 12.3 million players and was one of the first successful metaverse projects.
To sum up, the Metaverse is a fully-realized digital world that exists beyond the world we live in. In this virtual reality, users will interact, play games, and live experiences like they would in the real world.
As the Metaverse makes major headlines in technology, experts have claimed it will be the next big thing in the crypto world. Here are 5 metaverse projects to look out for in 2022:
Sandbox is probably the most well-known metaverse project yet. It is a blockchain-dependent virtual world that runs on the Ethereum technology. Its virtual world uses NFTs and cryptocurrencies, and it also has its unique digital currency known as the SAND token.
The game is like a digital sandbox, where once users register, they can host events of any magnitude.
Users can also create and mint assets, buy, sell, and trade them. The exchange of NFTs is based on the Ethereum blockchain and depends on the total number of tokens owned by a player. Users need to adorn an online persona or an avatar, which is the characteristic of the Metaverse.
Metahero is one of the most impressive metaverse projects.
Metahero aims to integrate ultra-realistic digital avatars. Metahero is currently collaborating with Wolf Digital World, a leading 3D modeling agency.
Bloometa was founded to create the first-ever complete virtual ecosystem for metaverse players. This would help them smoothly trade in-game assets. It is a cross-chain marketplace for metaverse games where players can purchase, sell, mint, and auction NFT assets.
Bloometa is one of a kind because it is redefining how we will trade virtual goods in the Metaverse. It runs on the Tezos blockchain and is expected to expand into a multi-chain platform that will include Ether currency, Solana, BSC, Avalanche, and EVM chains.
By leveraging smart escrow contracts, users can securely exchange in-game NFTs from one blockchain to another.
Bloktopia includes world-famous entertainment spaces like the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). The platform also has plans to integrate NFTs to encourage its users to forge communities and be loyal players.
Decentraland is a well-known metaverse project which aims to create social settings virtually. It is a 3D virtual world that integrates the physical human world. It uses the MANA token.
In Decentraland, users will be allowed to buy virtual plots of land (real estate) as NFTs via the MANA cryptocurrency.
Decentraland currently runs on the Ethereum blockchain and hopes to expand its real estate origins to include e-commerce, marketing, and retail. What sets it apart is that the users fully own and control these spaces.
Virtual worlds have existed for a while, but the modern-day Metaverse will take things to the next level. These projects point towards a future that will be blockchain-based, safe, and steadfast.