As humans, we have an evolutionary need to socialize and communicate. This links back to our history as a species. While many species became extinct, our survival has a lot to do with forming a society and working collectively. And to be a part of the community and society, communication has been the key.
As we have evolved further, we have also tried to evolve the way we communicate. Initially, communication was limited to physical proximity. Soon we began writing letters and reaching farther. Then came a revolution in 1876 with the advent of the telephone.
This made communicating much easier and more accessible. With the innovation of mobile phones, the whole industry went to a new level. This not only made it more accessible-, but, now communication was possible on the move too. Though we could only talk on phones to people who are on our contacts list. This was solved by the internet.
The internet came in the early 90s. It made the cost of communication like talking, sending emails, and exchanging data almost zero. This started the era called Web 1. Web 1 was the era of Yahoo news or blogs where people would write and readers could only read them. Mostly a one-sided interaction.
In the 2000s came ideas like Facebook. That changed the one-sided interaction on the internet. Not only could I write about my life happening, but also someone could comment and I could further reply. Another benefit of that was, irrespective of the location, whether I was in Mumbai or New York, or Shanghai, I could interact with anyone on a common topic. If the topic interested me, I could take part in it even with unknown people outside my contact list! Humans found this way to expand their community and it added a lot of value to their life.
Though the initial Facebook era was mostly text-based, it soon transitioned to photos and then to videos. Now we didn’t just talk to each other, but also sent photos of what we were doing, what we were eating, what we were wearing, where we were going, videos showing dances, and fun videos with relatives, to make it more interesting.
If you have observed this trend, humans have increased their interaction level continuously and made their communication more interesting. Now imagine where are we heading? What would be the next level, we are heading to? Yup, you guessed it, Metaverse. Let me give an example of metaverse gaming where we are working. The most interesting part of metaverse gaming is that you can build things together, you can compete with each other, and enjoy your company. The interaction is taken to another level. Not only can we text, but also voice chat and play games together.
Let me take you back to my college days to explain its relevance. My friends and I used to interact, have long conversations, and have fun. We used to play pool and go bowling. But that didn’t mean we would only play pool, it meant that we would spend time with each other because we enjoyed our company. While playing pool, time would pass quickly as it was a common activity with each other. While playing, we would talk, crack jokes, or pull each other’s legs too.
Same way, in the metaverse we would be living in a digital world, but with more interaction intensity where people would do activities together. Like building a house together, defeating the enemy together, or solving puzzles together.
Now you will ask, but why is everyone talking about ‘Metaverse’ suddenly especially after the lockdown? And to understand it, it is important to know a bit of the background of the metaverse. It was first mentioned in science fiction in 1992 called Snow Crash. Since then, people have been talking about it, but it was limited to a few elites. Like Apple wasn’t a well-known brand until iPod became famous, metaverse wasn’t well known before Facebook made it famous.
Facebook played a major role in bringing metaverse to the public domain just like JIO increased the mobile data penetration and brought an improvement. These technological advancements are happening in shorter durations and our world is changing rapidly and people are adapting to these changes quickly. If I can draw an analogy with blockchain here, blockchain originated in 2008 but has exploded only recently like the metaverse. Credit goes to Facebook changing its strategy and focusing on the metaverse. This acted as the major agent in expanding it in the public domain.
Now you will ask why Facebook took such a big move! Well, we can only guess the underlying reasons, but some say that there was pressure on Facebook due to privacy and anti-competition and they did this to shift attention from that and take the company in a new direction. But it’s not that they started working on metaverse just now, they have been working on it for 3-4 years and they observed the raised attention in this area. People who are interested in crypto, blockchain, and gaming attracted a lot of attention too with many deals and mergers taking place recently. Facebook considered it a right moment seeing this heightened attention to announce that they will create the future.
Facebook has changed our lives in so many ways. Some things are good and some things like privacy issues are not good. But WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook (now Meta) have changed our lives in good ways too. And being an innovative company, they would want to be at the forefront of innovation. And by making metaverse big in the public domain, they would be credited and will carry that legacy. And doesn't every founder dream of his company's legacy in a futuristic realm like the metaverse?
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