Metaverse: Futuristic Intelligent Realms

The advancing fields of technology and innovative design have been instrumental in closing the gap towards achieving sustainable, desirable, and futuristic living experiences. The rise and development of the metaverse is set to redefine the dimensions of technology. The scope of metaverse technologies has been scaled high in every aspect. Discussions on the human, scientific and innovative foundations beneath the metaverse are imperative and inexorable, alongside talk on the challenges.

Combination of Virtual Worlds, AR, and Internet

Human civilization has always valued innovation and technological advances. In a cyclical pattern, civilization has brought newer forms of innovation into reality, thereby revolutionizing human progress and development. Communication is the core of human civilization. From wires to satellites, the world has evolved into a complex web of inlets and outlets of communication with varied dynamism and utilities. Invention and adoption of technologies have been happening in tandem and at a faster recurring rate. Today, wireless technology accessed by phones, tablets, and computers is hinting at the possibility of ubiquity throughout society. Technology has already taken over human imagination on future cognitive thinking, making it inseparable from everyday life. Today’s gadgets harness multiple service platforms, exerting a transformational impact on society as a whole and the lifestyle patterns of people.

The future is catching up with the present at lightning speed, and technological horizons are broadening, making them illusionary to human eyes. The avenues these revolutions take have lately been more dynamic and impactful. Technology usage has passed the stage of pure sciences and saving lives to become capable of adding immense value to our entire living space. Technological progress has been rapid and unprecedented in scale, helping connect people and offering them opportunities to enrich their lives. Technologies are no longer a matter of convenience but an integral factor in living standards. It is exerting a profound impact on how people live and think.

In terms of technology, communication, and the real and virtual spaces of human imagination, technological tools play a vital role in making things possible. A stop short of the metaverse, the transformative stage includes all forms of “extended reality,” i.e., XR. XR is a widely used term referring to a revolution towards fully immersive virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) forms of technologies. All these techniques and forms lead to integrating diverse services and technologies towards the metaverse, an immersive future managed by smart tech in diverse ways. The metaverse inherently represents VR beyond the tangible world: life beyond (meta) the universe (verse). It combines virtual worlds, AR, and the internet.

Rapid Rise of the Metaverse

The rise of the metaverse has led tech companies to explore designing and optimizing popular services and products. The metaverse is expected to revolutionize technological levels and cause increased necessity to adopt new products and services. It offers innumerable opportunities for the global economy as well. Rising demand for newer technological horizons will force tech companies to elevate their capabilities in offering innovative products and services. Thus, the metaverse will lead to a rise in immersive technologies and devices. The immersive technologies market is predicted to reach the US$2 trillion mark by 2030. The world of immersive technology tools including head-mounted displays (HMD), powerful computers or consoles, and sensors will see rapid transformation.

The metaverse promises an unprecedented level of content creation and management. All forms of metaverse will allow users to access and engage in a rich variety of content. The current wave of metaverse is riding high on prospects of high investment returns and recurring revenue growth. Investing in content is driving the early trend, which now covers entertainment, creators, sports, and XR, VR, and AR experiences virtually anywhere in the world. Alongside the makers of immersive technology tools, telecom providers are betting on immersive media. Rising demand for entertainment, gaming, and media has accelerated the growth of the metaverse market and spawned evolving opportunities for digitalization of fashion, art, and retail industries through AR, VR, and mixed reality (MR).

Consumers will be immersed in a variety of technological avenues. The metaverse will harness immersive technologies to technological avenues. The metaverse will harness immersive technologies to render services through different applications to offer consumers access to content in countless ways. Global brands and service providers will embrace advertising that leverages immersive technologies, and global consumers will get content and information through streams of channels and ecosystems before choosing. As immersive technologies observe and meticulously store consumers’ emotions in unprecedented ways, they will be able to effectively provide the most tailored content. Happier and more content consumers tend to grow the economy. The economy needs consumers to keep the market running, so that money has liquidity. The metaverse is causing market maneuvers and consumerism at the same time. With the virtual world expanding global access, tools and content in the metaverse are sprouting everywhere. Customers are buying not only groceries and consumer goods but also credit cards and personal loans. The metaverse is expected to create new seamless and interactive experiences.

More Applications

While the metaverse promises multiple benefits for consumers, the COVID-19 pandemic has intensely highlighted the importance of such immersive technologies. Healthcare has become a central concern for every country and business. Even before the pandemic hit, new technology and instrumentation was changing the nature of healthcare. The intensity of such influence varied to some extent among countries, but the future of healthcare already clearly depended on technological aspects. During the pandemic, a broad technological revolution boosted the development of healthcare and clinical laboratories. In ordinary times, distance breaks communication and information flows, which are critical for healthcare providers. Doctors and healthcare providers have discovered that immersive technologies can help provide treatment at a distance and monitor patients in real-time.

Moreover, during the pandemic, the limits of VR in medical training were lifted. Usage of robotics in surgeries could see qualitative change by embracing AR technology. Surgical simulations will soon be a feature of the healthcare sector. Simulations and immersive technologies can help doctors watch other surgeons perform operations and carry out clinical procedures remotely.

We have already investigated many possibilities to deploy metaverse realities. Education is another field where immersive technologies could greatly enhance the act of imparting knowledge. The global outbreak of the pandemic forced humans to rethink how we teach and learn. Immersive content allows a person to learn through the best methods. When applied to e-learning, a remarkable advantage is students seizing a sense of reality during virtual classes. Virtual learning environments (VLEs) have seen qualitative makeovers after using newer and cuttingedge immersion tools. The VLE+ presents opportunities to bring together students and educators from disparate geographical locations and diverse cultures and backgrounds to participate in a learning experience. The metaverse version of education would be reaching out and embracing every potential benefit of such novel ideas. The metaverse is expected to influence the future of learning. Also, for problematic educational materials, the metaverse could be an effective supplement to enhance current educational outcomes.

Many have argued why the metaverse matters, but it will certainly cause challenges alongside all the opportunities. Although the metaverse spans connected virtual worlds to offer a complementary space to the real world through digital environments, it will surely suffer meta-challenges. Care and vigilance are needed to monitor the emerging challenges in the metaverse. Guaranteeing the safety of users’ privacy and data in this new, virtual “universe” will be crucial. Questions concerning ethics and morality should present challenges to every stakeholder — governments, businesses, and individuals alike. The recent expansion of the enormous metaverse is set to define virtual space and human life at a dramatic scale.

The author is a senior research fellow at Peking University and an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi.