What can be expected from the Metaverse?

If at the beginning of 2004 someone had told us that there was a guy at Harvard University developing a “social network” that people all over the world could connect to, upload almost any content they wanted, read and view content uploaded by others, and also respond to it — would we have believed that within a few years, billions of people would spend many hours every day on that network?

And if at the end of 2021 someone tells us that the guy who studied at Harvard is working on a new project — a virtual universe where we will have an avatar that will experience social interactions, work, learn, play, exercise, and more — will we believe that this vision will come to fruition in the foreseeable future?

“The Natural Successor to the Internet”

Metaverse is the new baby of Mark Zuckerberg, whose previous vision, Facebook, has influenced — for better and for worse — the lives of many of us. At the current stage, the metaverse is still more of a raw idea than a detailed and organized work plan, so it is still difficult to know exactly what awaits us — but many technological consultation experts estimate that it represents a real leap forward in how we experience the internet.

As part of the aspiration to realize the vision of the virtual universe, Zuckerberg rebranded the company he founded. As of October 2021, the company’s name is Meta and not Facebook (although the name of the social network, of course, has not changed). At the event where the 37-year-old Jewish-American entrepreneur presented the new name of his company, he defined what the metaverse is for him — “the natural successor to the internet.” Zuckerberg also defined the goal: “The metaverse will provide us with richer social experiences. We will all be able to feel that we are together, no matter where we are physically.”

Playing Chess in the Park and Diving with Dolphins Without Leaving Home

Zuckerberg also provided several examples of the possibilities that the virtual-physical universe will offer. For instance, we could dive with dolphins while we’re in the living room and immediately afterward travel in Iceland, also without leaving home. Another example is two people located in different places around the world meeting for a chess game in any location they choose — for example, a green and peaceful park. If the metaverse meets the high expectations Zuckerberg has set for himself and all those WEB development professionals working with him on the project, those people will experience the park fully as if they were physically there. Additionally, they will be able to see each other’s body language and facial expressions.

The ability to convey physical information and not just texts or videos is one of the central and critical components of the metaverse. Zuckerberg explained that the information revolution, which is of course responsible for many positive changes, has turned human communication into something disconnected from the physical dimension. For example, if we want to convey a smiling message, we add a smiley at the end of a text message, but it’s entirely clear that even the smiley is just a collection of pixels — whereas in the metaverse, we could simply smile, and the other side would see a real smile.

New Opportunities in the Job Market

Realizing the impressive vision requires, of course, much more work. As of today, there are already products like augmented reality glasses and virtual reality glasses, and Mark Zuckerberg mentioned that Meta will soon launch VR glasses that include voice call options — but developing a virtual universe experienced physically is a huge technological challenge. Accordingly, professionals in fields like game development, micro-behavior analysis, ecosystem building, and more can already enjoy new opportunities in the job market.

Accordingly, experts estimate that programmers, engineers, designers, content writers, MOBILE development professionals, digital economy experts, and many other fields will be in high demand in the near future, not only by the metaverse but as an integral part of the development of the human-digital experience.