With foot firmly in the 21st century, the tech giants now seem to be gambling on the next big thing that will shape how we interact, play, and even work in the Metaverse. When tech giants Meta (formerly Facebook), Microsoft, and Apple invest billions to engineer virtual worlds, the metaverse ceases to be a science fiction idea. It is becoming a multi-billion-dollar business with the potential of transforming the very structure of the internet itself.
Over the past few years, the concept of metaverse shifted not only in its futuristic potential but an expanding conglomerate of virtual realms, in which individuals gather, interact, socialize, work, and play. In its essence, the metaverse is supposed to offer an immersive, persistent, and interactive 3D virtual space in which both digital and real worlds come together. Be it in the form of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), or mixed reality (MR), the metaverse aims to establish an intricately connected digital environment where the divide between reality and virtual reality is growing thin.
The concept of the metaverse is among the hottest and most controversial aspects of the Big Tech world in 2023, and leading businesses are taking considerable steps to become dominant forces in this next-generation digital space. This blog touches on the topic of how Big Tech is maneuvering in the metaverse, what it means to users and to industries, and what the challenges and opportunities are.
Metaphor: Its Definition and Development Linda Chateux, University of Waterloo Linda Willing, University of Waterloo e-mail: Linda Chateux
First metaverse The word metaverse was coined by writer Neal Stephenson in his 1992 science-fiction novel Snow Crash, in which it referred to a virtual space accessed by avatars. This concept was developed in the next several years in different forms of virtual reality, games, and interactivity in online space. However, it only got seriously popular in the mid-2020s when VR, AR, and other gaming technologies have appeared. On a most fundamental level, the metaverse can be considered an overall digital world in which users are able to connect, perform a series of tasks and activities, and even own virtual belongings and explore immersive worlds. The metaverse involves an experience of 3D, unlike the traditional platforms of the internet, which are mainly 2D and passive. The metaverse is therefore designed based on a 3D experience, and access to this experience can be done with the use of immersive technologies, such as VR headsets, AR glasses, and other sophisticated devices.
As we can already see today, the platforms such as Meta Horizon Worlds, Microsoft Mesh, or Roblox are rapidly expanding, opening up the pathway to a more integrated virtual reality, where gaming, socialization, business, and workspace become simultaneously integrated.
Meta: Moving First in Virtual Reality:
Arguably, none advocate the metaverse more than the company that was formerly known as Facebook, Meta. The belief that the metaverse will turn out to be the next big transforming aspect of the internet has been a bet that the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, has placed on behalf of the company. Zuckerberg later in 2021 made an announcement that marked a significant transition to create the metaverse, renaming Facebook to Meta.
The immersive VR-based platform, Horizon Worlds by Meta, has become one of the major resources the company might offer in this field. Horizon Worlds enables the user to develop avatars, create a vacuity world, and interact with other users within a full environment. In 2023, Meta kept improving and developing Horizon Worlds with new creation tools and features to support creators and businesses. To give an example, the launch of Horizon Workrooms allows users to interact in a virtual room as they do in the same room physically, and maintain a meeting, brainstorming meeting, or even a presentation.
Meta would also invest tremendously in the hardware, as the Oculus Quest VR headsets have become one of the most successful metaverse entry devices. Another issue that the company has had is that it is on the road to the release of its first product line. launched the Meta Quest Pro, a mixed-reality headset which provides both VR and AR experiences, hinting at the company wanting to bring the physical and the virtual even closer by means of a more complete fusion between the two.
By 2023, Meta had spent more than ten billion dollars on the metaverse, and it intends to keep on investing in software and hardware development. Nevertheless, Meta has had its struggles despite such investments. The user base of Horizon Worlds is growing at a slow pace, and most critics have doubted whether the metaverse, the dream of Zuckerberg, will ever attain mainstream usability. Meta has countered this by concentrating on the enhancement of experience on the platform by the introduction of more interesting content, augmenting collaboration with third-party developers.
Microsoft: Work and Enterprise Solution Metaverse:
Even though it is clear that Meta has placed its emphasis more on the social interaction and entertainment aspect of the metaverse, Microsoft has positioned itself differently because it has positioned itself as a provider of the metaverse to businesses. Since its acquisition of Activision Blizzard and the development of Microsoft Mesh, the company is trying to merge the metaverse into the workplace.
The Microsoft Mesh is a mixed-reality service by which individuals can meet virtually with each other in shared, 3D environments even though they may be physically distant. The platform includes full compatibility with other Microsoft business solutions, including Microsoft Teams, Azure, and Power BI, facilitating work in virtual workspaces. One can enter the metaverse by using VR headsets or even AR glasses and work on projects, host meetings, and even perform to demonstrate a product.
The business opportunity of the metaverse is huge. Microsoft has already partnered with such sectors as manufacturing, retail, and healthcare, where virtual environments may facilitate remote working, virtual product prototyping, or training or diagnosis simulations. In 2023, Microsoft revealed new partnerships with such companies as BP, PepsiCo, and Toyota in order to attract additional businesses. Into its metaverse ecosystem, which generates a virtual working environment where in-person and online communication cannot be distinguished.
Apple: The Lazy Giant and the Metaverse Frontier:
Apple has not gone to the extent of making a statement about the metaverse like Meta or Microsoft, but it has been laying the foundation to get into this space very slowly. Notorious for its privacy, Apple has been leaning heavily on augmented reality (AR) technology, which the company considers a key element in the metaverse.
In 2023, the new Vision Pro mixed-reality headset by Apple was presented as the next-generation device capable of providing virtual and augmented reality. In contrast to Oculus headsets offered by Meta, Apple places importance on AR in its Vision Pro since it enables people to superimpose digital objects onto real life. The headset is predicted to make a critical contribution to Apple going going-forward metaverse approach, mixing the digital world with physical experiences for users in realms of entertainment, gaming, and productivity.
The ecosystems of devices by Apple, such as iPad, iPhone, and Mac, can be central to the development of its metaverse product. Apple can easily give consumers a primary yet integrated experience since it has the hardware that supports AR and VR applications.
Other Players: Roblox, Epic Games, and NFTs:
Although Meta, Microsoft, and Apple are the main industry leaders that are involved in the metaverse race, other corporations are also playing a big role in its development. Roblox is one such platform that has already become well established as a virtual place, on which millions of users communicate, play, and create virtual worlds. Due to its highly user-friendly user-generated content and virtual gaming, Roblox has become one of the most used metaverse platforms by the younger generations.
In the same line, Epic Games, the authors of Fortnite, have been in the process of developing a metaverse platform around the game landscape. Fortnite has evolved into a war royale game in the virtual world of concerts
