What is that?       

The Metaverse indicates a virtual reality shared through the internet in which one is represented through one's own three-dimensional avatar.

The term was first mentioned by author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 work "Snow Crash" which is set in a post-cyberpunk world. Within it, social classes are differentiated by the "avatar resolution". Being of a higher social class obviously has innumerable advantages, among which we find the possibility of accessing exclusive places within it.

The Metaverse is imagined by Neal as a black sphere of 65,536 km in circumference, cut in half at the equator by a passable road. On the sphere, anyone can create what they want in 3D such as shops, buildings, offices, nightclubs and so on.

HOW TO ENTER THE METAVERSE?

Access to the Metaverse is available to anyone interested in being part of it, however it requires some requirements, namely:

1. Have a powerful enough computer or smartphone

2. Having an internet connection that can allow you to interact with the world of the web

3. Having an account on one of the special platforms to enter the Metaverse, and if possible, however it is not essential, an augmented reality viewer to increase the experience.

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WHAT ARE THE PLATFORMS TO ENTER THE METAVERSE?

The main platforms to enter the Metaverse are:

• Sandbox : A virtual metaverse whose avatars are characterized by a “block” style, like the well-known video game Minecraft (open world). It gained popularity after announcing a partnership with Meta (Formally known as Facebook, Inc., it is the US company founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, changed name on October 28, 2021). Although the platform has yet to be released for use, it is possible to visit the site and interact with the community.

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• Decentraland : A world of the Metaverse created by Ethereum (A decentralized virtual computer whose purpose is to develop and manage "Smart Contracts", computer protocols that facilitate and verify the execution of a contract, sometimes partially or totally removing a contractual clause. "Virtual" because it is a computer that is online and "decentralized" because no one can attack, censor or control it). Virtual reality has all the characteristics of the Metaverse that we have analyzed previously. To purchase virtual items within Decentraland you need to have MANA currency. Unlike Sandbox, it is possible to enter Decentraland by creating an account on the official website.

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• Stageverse : A virtual reality that allows users to attend concerts through 360 ° 3D movies. To access it, just install the Oculus Quest application.

THE POPULARITY OF THE METAVERSE and GOAL

The phenomenon of the Metaverse, although the term was coined in the early 1990s, seems to have gained considerable popularity when it was adopted by Zuckerberg towards the end of 2021. In fact, on October 28, not only was the passage of the name of the company from Facebook in "Meta" , but has also established a very specific future with regard to the Metaverse, according to some the greatest technological revolution since the birth of the internet. In fact, since that October 28 , in the words of Zuckerberg, real estate sales in the Metaverse have increased disproportionately, up to nine times that. The company, more than others, is focusing its attention on the virtual reality phenomenon, developing tools capable of improving the experience. Among these we find the development of a special glove kit with haptic feedback to reproduce the tactile sensations also in the Metaverse. The new glove developed by the company would in fact be equipped with a series of special sensors that modulate the pressure on the hand according to the characteristics of the virtual object to be grasped.

COMPANIES READY TO EARN IN THE METAVERSE

Obviously, when it comes to information technology, one can expect among the major beneficiaries companies operating in sectors such as that of chip creation , cloud computing , the development of artificial intelligence or video game graphics.

Even Blockchains (a shared and immutable data register where various information of various kinds are recorded, whose integrity is guaranteed by the use of cryptography), which support NFTs, together with cryptocurrencies could obtain considerable financial-economic advantages.

AREAS OF ACTIVITY OF THE METAVERSE

• Entertainment and Gaming : The future that many businesses are aiming for is a "real" world version of the hit Ready Player One. Some current games are already a metaverse in themselves, like Minecraft, which only lacks 3D graphics.

• Fashion : avatars are not only necessarily a way to represent ourselves within the Metaverse, but also the object of aesthetic beauty and the fashion that wants to be expressed. Consequently, there will be no shortage of shops to buy all kinds of garments.

• Training and education: Laboratories, offices, schools will not be lacking, the Metaverse could be an excellent educational experience for everyone. In addition to this, it would be possible to reconstruct historical events in augmented reality in order to allow a more detailed study.

• Sport: the Metaverse could allow people to train even in unfavorable weather conditions.

• Geolocation: it would allow the creation of interactive and interconnected maps with shops, restaurants, petrol stations and everything else that can be useful to find on the road.

• Synthetic tourism: convenient to build an opinion on a place and quickly experience a journey that could end up not satisfying us.