Just when you thought you had the digital world all figured out, here comes the metaverse.
A digital extension of your real life. A shared virtual reality space where you can talk to friends, hang out, play games, watch movies, go to concerts, learn something new, shop till you drop, buy digital stuff—basically do everything you do now but in an immersive, global, online space.
Described as the new frontier in social technology, the metaverse is envisioned to be an evolution of the internet that will enable users to move beyond browsing the web to inhabiting it. Think of it as sort of like having the superpower to “beam” yourself anywhere, at any time, to do anything with anyone.
If you know kids playing Roblox or FortNite, they are already way out in front of the rest of us, driving the future of the metaverse; designing worlds, buying digital stuff, interacting in places they want to visit, socializing with people they want to be with, choosing how they look as an avatar, and forming virtual personalities of their own making.
Some people believe the metaverse will have a more profound impact on the world than the smart phone and will radically shift the way we live, behave and interact with each other in the future.
So how will this innovation take shape over the next decade? And who will shape it? Will it be a place where a few big players set the rules and control how the space is created and utilized? Or will it be a decentralized place where communities and individuals determine how things are run?
It’s a lot to take in! Over the next few months, MLN Research will dig into how kids are feeling about the metaverse. Are they excited? Curious? Wary? Interested? Concerned? What is their vision of the metaverse? What is their understanding of it? Is a digital life more compelling than a physical life?
So many questions. Stay tuned for the answers.