Over the next 20 years, the metaverse has the potential to change the fundamental way humans interact with each other, employers, vendors, marketers and retailers. The simple analogy for our current level of metaverse technology would be: We have just jumped from the adding machine era to the era of the handheld calculator. The next step, a step that could come more quickly than most can imagine, will be to jump from calculator to personal computer and the start of the next digital age.

Knowing and thoroughly understanding the terminology associated with the metaverse will be vital to business decision-makers as they assess whether a metaverse strategy will best serve their business needs and, if it does, how and when they will deploy it.

Understanding the metaverse

The word ‘metaverse’ was coined by American writer Neal Stephenson in his 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash. The concept of a computer-generated universe (a metaverse) is therefore not new, and certainly much older than when it was recently commandeered by Mark Zuckerberg in his attempt to rebrand Facebook as a new company called Meta.

Massively multiplayer games, which can be classified as early metaverses, have been widely available to the gaming public for years. However, with the backing of several multi-billion dollar companies, the metaverse concept has now achieved a status in the business world that can no longer be ignored.

Metaverse is now defined as a computer-generated universe. Most often conceptualized as a hypothesized iteration of the internet, supporting persistent online 3D virtual environments through conventional personal computing, as well as virtual and augmented reality headsets.

Metaverse key trends include:

• Real-time activity.
• More playful and immersive experiences.
• Creator economy powered.
• Linking, embedding and loose coupling via decentralization.

Dive into the realm of the metaverse

TechRepublic Premium has developed a quick glossary of the metaverse key concepts to help interested parties understand the lincoln cago.

Avatar, the graphical representation of a person’s digital identity, is one of the concepts discussed in this resource. The technological sophistication of avatars ranges from simple 2D figures to fully rendered 3D replicas of an individual. Each metaverse will have its own avatar versions. In the future, your avatar may become as recognizable and as important to your identity as your physical self.

Another terminology covered in the glossary is the self-sovereign identity. This refers to a form of digital identity that grants the individual user full control and ownership over that identity. It is not beholden to any centralized authority, and the uniqueness of the identity is guaranteed by blockchain technology. Using zero knowledge proofs, the owner of a self-sovereign identity may choose to selectively disclose information to third-party applications that they wish to share and keep other information private.

The glossary also covered mixed reality, six degrees of freedom and transhumanism.

To deeply explore the realm of the metaverse, download the 10-page quick glossary for $9 at TechRepublic Premium.