In a recent tweet, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin claimed that one of the most popular terms in technology, “metaverse,” is difficult to define. Buterin said the term is only used to describe things that “feel” a commodity.
As it is known, many big companies from Walmart to Chevron jumped on the metaverse train with their latest patent applications. The trend started when social media giant Facebook changed its name to Meta in late October. Such an audacious step on virtual reality has caused many other companies to explore the metaverse.
The confusing term was first used by author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel “Snow Crash” (Parasite). However, the term itself does not actually refer to any particular technology or experience. Rather, it is an all-encompassing term for the combination of technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and big data.
Also, a fully functional metaverse that can be accessed by any virtual user is not yet available. Enabling immersive metaverse experiences requires innovative types of display technology that may not be possible right now. In addition, developers also need to integrate spatial sound and high-quality holograms.
Buterin states that metavrerse tries to copy “some aspects of reality” in the virtual world.
Despite growing skepticism and the market crash, Meta is not giving up on its metaverse plans. The company recently announced that it will set up a full-fledged metaverse academy in France.
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