A brief history of the metaverse, from cyberpunk to Mark Zuckerberg – Domus

And then there is The Matrix, which in 1999 took the metaverse to a whole new nightmarish level: there, the virtual world is a faithful replica of the real world. It was built by machines in order to harvest humans and exploit their natural heat and bioelectricity. In each of these works, therefore, the metaverse (or cyberspace, or Matrix) is a place that reminds us more of a nightmare than of a dream.

Perhaps The Matrix is the best allegory of the metaverse that is emerging in our reality, in which we are offered a virtual Eden to bury our heads in the sand and lead satisfying simulacra of life, while out there the climate crisis, the pandemic, inequality and exploitation are raging. Here it is, the metaverse promised by Zuckerberg: an environment in which we can invite friends avatars into our digital homes even if there is a lockdown, in which we can ski even when the snow no longer exists, in which we can already pretend to live in beautiful villas although in reality we are forced to live with roommates until we are 40.

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A brief history of the metaverse, from cyberpunk to Mark Zuckerberg - Domus