What Is the Metaverse? – Government Technology

The 1992 cyberpunk novel Snow Crash introduced the word metaverse a term now bandied about in technology circles and laden with high hopes of redefining the Internet.

This space is still forming, and gaps remain between the visions being woven about what a metaverse-infused future could look like and what exists today.

While definitions vary over what, exactly, constitutes a metaverse, they are commonly described as immersive, persistent, interactive digital environments, and often one that mimics the real world to some extent.

People today commonly access the Internet as text and visuals on a flat screen, but metaverses aim to more heavily use augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to create a 3D experience. And just like activities on social media platforms or in massive multiplayer online (MMO) games continue regardless of whether a particular user is logged in, metaverses, too would be continuous and always-on.

Metaverses are also expected to use blockchain technologies like cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to support digital transactions.

Ensuring the various metaverses are interoperable will also be key to achieving the full vision, he said.

Tech Companies

Firms trying to create metaverses present their visions of the work.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a 2021 public letter that the metaverse is the next chapter for the Internet, characterized by its immersive nature. His firms gaming and per the company social VR experience Horizon Worlds is seen as a metaverse project.

The metaverse will be an embodied Internet where youre in the experience, not just looking at it. The defining quality of the metaverse will be a feeling of presence like you are right there with another person or in another place, Zuckerberg wrote. He said this hypothetical new kind of Internet experience would enable activities like virtual gatherings, playing, e-commerce, design, work and more.

The e-commerce element will rely on technologies like cryptocurrencies and NFTs, while tools like AR, VR, phones and computers would enable different levels of digital immersion and functionalities, he said.

In its blog, computing platform company NVIDIA defines the metaverse as a shared virtual 3D world, or worlds, that are interactive, immersive, and collaborative. Another feature is that digital goods and avatars should persist and be transportable among different virtual platforms and thanks to AR between platforms and the physical world. The company offers an omniverse 3D simulation and design platform intended to be used by metaverse developers.

Public Sector

Some state and local governments have been watching the space as well and offer their own views.

Utah Chief Technology Officer Dave Fletcher told GovTech that the metaverse is basically a virtual three-dimensional environment where people can socialize and interact and perform transactions that replicates a real or unreal universe.

The National League of Cities (NCL) said in a recent report that, while it doesnt have an agreed upon definition generally speaking, the metaverse is the next evolution of the Internet that will further integrate physical and digital experiences. For some, its an online space that digitally recreates the real world. For others, it is a shift in how people interact with their world, using technologies like 3D computing, augmented reality, virtual reality and blockchain to form new immersive virtual world experiences where digital information can be overlaid on our physical world.

The Verge reports that computing power will need to advance, for one. As of December 2021, Horizon Worlds could support 20 simultaneous users in a virtual space, and other persistent, virtual, interactive platforms that avoid VR and thus avoid those greater computing requirements still faced strict limits. The games Fortnite and Battlefield 2042, for example, reportedly could support only 100-128 simultaneous players.

Interoperability remains to be achieved as well, and plenty of questions remain over how or whether policymakers will try to regulate aspects of the space, such as commerce and taxation, privacy, hate speech and disinformation.

Find out what metaverses mean for the public sector in part 2 of this series.