What is Metaverse? Future Of Meta?

The term “Multi” originated in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash as a portmanteau of “meta” and “universe.”

Implementations

Early projects included Active Worlds^] and The Palace. Popular games described as part of the multiverse include Habbo Hotel,^] World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Fortnite,VRChat, and game creation platform Roblox which has since employed significant usage of the term in marketing. Social interaction and 3D virtual worlds are often an integral feature in many massively multiplayer online games.

In 2019, the social network company Facebook launched a social VR world called Facebook Horizon. In 2021, Facebook was renamed “Meta Platforms” and its chairman Mark Zuckerberg declared a company commitment to developing a metaverse. Meta Platforms has also faced user safety criticism regarding Horizon Worlds due to sexual harassment occurring on the platform. In 2021, Meta made a loss of over $10 billion on its multiverse development department, with Mark Zuckerberg saying he expected operating losses to “increase meaningfully” in 2022

Proposed applications for meta technology include improving work productivity, interactive learning environments, e-commerce, real estate, and fashion.

Hardware

Access points for the multiverse includes general-purpose computers and smartphones, augmented reality, mixed reality, and virtual reality.

Dependence on VR technology has limited metaverse development and wide-scale adoption.  Limitations of portable hardware and the need to balance cost and design have caused a lack of high-quality graphics and mobility. Lightweight wireless headsets have struggled to achieve the retina display pixel density needed for visual immersion.

Software

Interoperability is a major concern in multiverse development, stemming from concerns about transparency and privacy. There have been several virtual environment standardization projects.

Universal Scene Description is a specification for a 3D computer graphics interchange created by Pixar and supported by Blender, Apple's Scenekit , and Autodesk 3ds Max.

OpenXR is an open standard for access to virtual and augmented reality devices and experiences.