What exactly is the Metaverse?
In recent months, the term “Metaverse” has been circulating around the internet as the next big thing. With millions of questions raised, one may still question: what is the metaverse?
“The metaverse can be defined as a simulated digital environment that uses augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain, along with concepts from social media, to create spaces for rich user interaction mimicking the real world,” explained by extended reality company, XR Today.
In short, the Metaverse is a hybrid of our physical and digital worlds. Through the use of digital avatars, people will be able to go to work, have social gatherings, or even test out new apparel.
What functions do we already see in the Metaverse?
The Metaverse’s vision is to duplicate human activities in the physical world into the VR and augmented reality (AR) space. On top of holding work meetings and social events, users will have the ability to attend workshops and exercise with people around the globe.
NFTs play a massive role when incorporated into the Metaverse. Users will also have the option to buy or sell NFTs within the digital infinite world as a form of art, song, or even digital plots of land.
The world’s first virtual real estate company, Metaverse Properties, enables the buying or rental of land in various metaverse virtual realms. Sandbox, Somnium, and Upland are just some of the worlds that allow virtual land purchase.
Major sports brand Nike has recently opened up their Metaverse store Nikeland in November 2021. Since then, Nike has claimed to have attracted nearly 7 million people from 224 countries — with ad spend growth of 20% totaling $854m from the physical and digital world combined.
How do domains play a part in the Metaverse?
As the Metaverse continuously progresses to become the new version of the Internet, so does the use of domains. The world’s first enterprise Metaverse, MCity has been powered by Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, NVIDIA’s AI and Cloud GPUs, Accenture technology services and industry expertise, and the Microsoft Cloud to create the concept of metaverse-as-a-service (MaaS). MaaS allows companies to claim their .metaverse domain to construct their Metaverse land and gather users together digitally — all for free.
As of now, we don’t see a tremendous amount of .com domains for recent projects. Nowadays, domains names are transforming into more dynamic and user-friendly such as sandbox.game and opensea.io. With the use of decentralized domains in the Metaverse, we can witness the acceleration of the novel digital world’s growth to enhance users’ interactive experience.
How domains can assist the growth or entering the Metaverse?
The existence of the metaverse is only possible due to blockchain technology. Decentralized domains will enable the metaverse to utilize crypto wallets instead of wallet addresses. Unlike wallet addresses, crypto wallets are more secure to store users’ personal and financial information. Hence, users will be required to use a crypto wallet or metaverse wallet to hold metaverse-only digital goods, such as avatars, avatar animations, decorations, and apparel.
Decentralized storage in the metaverse will make data not easily to be intercepted, as data is not allowed to be taken down due to blockchain technology. From NFTs and decentralized realms, nobody needs permission to create anything. Overall, decentralized storage provides improved security, faster speeds, trustless operation, and true data sovereignty. Data is not limited by who controls the servers but by users who own the decryption keys.
Utilizing decentralized domain names will only increase an organization’s brand recognition. Reframing from using cliche domain names like .com to .sol will showcase to potential customers that the company is taking advantage of decentralized technology to guarantee customers’ personal information is secured.
References:
● Allemann, A., says, A., A, says, M. I. K. E., Mike, says, P. A., Agarwal, P., says, R., Rob, says, B., Bob, says, A., Anonymouse, says, A., Allan, says, T. M., Meppem, T., says, M., Metaversegeniuses, … Alan. (2021, November 1). Here are the metaverse-related domains meta (facebook) has registered — domain name wire: Domain name news. Domain Name Wire | Domain Name News. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from
https://domainnamewire.com/2021/11/01/here-are-the-metaverse-related-domains-m eta-facebook-has-registered/
● Guardian News and Media. (2021, October 28). Enter the metaverse: The Digital future Mark Zuckerberg is steering us toward. The Guardian. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from
● Metaverse meaning — what is this new world everyone’s talking about? XR Today. (2022, March 8). Retrieved April 22, 2022, from
● Needle, D. (2021, December 29). The metaverse explained: Everything you need to know. WhatIs.com. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from
https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/The-metaverse-explained-Everything-you need-to-know#:~:text=In%20the%20metaverse%2C%20users%20traverse,%22live% 22%20in%20the%20metaverse.
● Rabindra Ratan Associate Professor of Media and Information, & Dar Meshi Assistant Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences. (2022, March 15). The metaverse is money and crypto is king — why you’ll be on a blockchain when you’re virtual-world hopping. The Conversation. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://theconversation.com/the-metaverse-is-money-and-crypto-is-king-why-youll-be -on-a-blockchain-when-youre-virtual-world-hopping-171659
● Welsh, O. (2022, March 6). The metaverse, explained. Polygon. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.polygon.com/22959860/metaverse-explained-video-games