You’ve probably heard a lot about the metaverse recently.
Earlier this week, Microsoft recently said it would buy ActivisionBlizzard for $69 billion, explaining the deal was part of an expansion into metaverse. Last year, Facebook rebranded itself as Meta, a nod to the social network’s ambition to be a prime mover in the next step in the internet. Rec Room and world-building games, like Roblox and Minecraft, all get rolled into discussions of what the metaverse is.
The metaverse isn’t a new idea. The term has circulated for decades. Virtual reality, augmented reality and 3D computing – the technological concepts behind it — are older still. The current boom in interest is just the most recent peak in a years-long push to make these advances useful to everybody.
What’s changed is a shift in understanding, a conviction the internet needs to be reimagined. How far-reaching those changes end up being is anyone’s guess. After all, the road map for the metaverse is half-paved. It isn’t clear it’ll be completed as promised.
What’s for sure is that if there’s money to be made, big companies will be involved. In addition to Microsoft and Meta, Qualcomm, Nvidia, Valve, Epic, HTC and Apple are all dreaming up new ways of connecting online. It’s unclear whether these projects will be standalone or interconnected. What is clear: You’ll be hearing more about the metaverse in the years ahead.
