UNDERSTANDING THE METAVERSE

UNDERSTANDING THE META-VERSE Ayeni Idesukhe Daniel University of Abuja Abuja, Nigeria [email protected] INTRODUCTION The concept of the meta-verse has been a major recurring word used in recent times. This recent acknowledgement of the word meta-verse can be highly attributed to the presentation by Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook is credited to have mentioned it a record 16 times in his presentation in Connect 2021. The presentation also as a medium of notice was used to disclose the new name of Facebook to Meta. The change of Facebook to Meta is to reflect the true identity of the brand whose mission is encrypted in their “DNA is a company that builds the technology that connects people\". The Meta-verse is a promised future by Meta and other major tech corporations. The recent buzz and hype of the Meta-verse as the “next frontier” and “the next Chapter of the Internet has led many to questioning: i. What is the Metaverse? ii. What future does it hold? iii. Can it be possible? iv. Who is building it? These and many more questions about the Meta-verse by many are what this article seeks to answer. The void of knowledge beclouding the concept, the misconception of the idea and the incomplete comprehension of the promised 1

future and other knowledge linked challenges of the Meta-verse have been major problems encountered after the mass awareness of the “Meta-verse”. This article seeks to bridge the gap of knowledge about the Meta-verse and open the doors of perceived mystery-be-deviling the promised frontier of the web. . This article attempts to give a holistic overview of the Meta- verse as we journey through the path of understanding it. The article searches for answers using a historical perspective and secondary sources of data such as articles, essays, journals as well as videos published for public access. Thus, this article goes back in time to review the genesis of the concept, components, technologies and infrastructure of the Meta-Verse. THE METAVERSE. The Metaverse as identified in the introductory part of this exposition is a word made popular after the Connect 2021 presentation by Meta. Inc, then Facebook . Inc. Thus to get a proper grasp of the word we would examine the etymology of the word Meta-Verse. Etymology The word Meta-verse comes from the two words Meta and Universe. The word ‘Meta’ is a word forming, element of Greek Origin meaning 1. “after, behind; among, between,”2. Changed, altered,” 3. Higher, beyond:’ (Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001-2021). Thus meta- simply is a prefix in the English language with origins from the Greek language meaning after or beyond, an altered form of the word it prefixes. Hence what is the meaning of the word universe? The word universe means all existing matter as a whole; the cosmos. Another definition is that “it is a particular space”. Therefore, inferring from the above meaning of the formation blocks of the word meta-verse, one could infer that it is “a space beyond”. The word ‘Metaverse’ was first coined in a piece of speculative fiction named Snow Crash, written by Neal Stephenson in 1992. The concept envisioned by Neal Stephenson's was a computer generated universe, where humans, as avatars, interact with each other and software agents, in a three-dimensional virtual space 2

that uses the metaphor of the real world. Stephenson used the term to describe a virtual reality-based successor to the internet. Neal Stephenson's Metaverse appears to its users as an urban environment developed along a 100-meter-wide road, called the Street, which spans the entire 65536 km (216 km) circumference of a featureless, black, perfectly spherical planet. The virtual real estate is owned by the Global Multimedia Protocol Group, a fictional part of the real Association for Computing Machinery, and is available to be bought and buildings developed thereupon. Users of the Metaverse access it through personal terminals that project a high-quality virtual reality display onto goggles worn by the user, or from grainy black and white public terminals in booths. The users experience it from a first-person perspective. Stephenson describes a subculture of people choosing to remain continuously connected to the Metaverse; they are given the sobriquet \"gargoyles\" due to their grotesque appearance. Within the Metaverse, individual users appear as avatars of any form, with the sole restriction of height, \"to prevent people from walking around a mile high\". HISTORY OF THE METAVERSE The Metaverse has a history stretched through the epoch of recent computer development to meet the needs of man. The ideas of a Metaverse hatched in computer technology have existed before the literature of ‘Snow Crash’ and have evolved as improvements in computer technology have developed over time. The history of the Metaverse can be broadly divided into 5 phases or stages which are: PHASE 1(1979) 3

Phase 1 of the Metaverse saw the creation of text based virtual experiences in which multiple users are connected at the same time for socialization. These text based virtual worlds were of two types at that period namely: Multi-User dungeons (MUDs) Multi-User Shared Hallucinations (MUSH) PHASE (1986) This phase is attributed to be inspired by Williams Gibson’s “Neuromancer” , a literary work similar to “Snow Crash”. This phase saw the creation called Habitat for the Commodore 64 in 1986 and later Fujitsu Platform in 1989 by Lucasfilm. Habitat was graphical in interface in contrast to MUDs and MUSHs . This graphical interface was in 2D and 3D(2-Dimensions and 3-Dimensions). Further, Habitat is attributed to be the first developmental contribution to the Metaverse to use the word “Avatar” which is taken to mean the representation of users in the virtual space. PHASE 3 (1994-2000) The third phase saw the introduction of Web World by Web World Inc, Active worlds (1995) and OnLive! Traveler (1996) . These virtual worlds were 3-D graphical interfaces that integrated user creation in these virtual worlds. Furthermore, these virtual spaces such as Active worlds allowed user to personalize their experiences. It also saw the incorporation audio and voice chats with movements of user characters referred to as “Avatars” PHASE 4 (2000-2009) This phase was a great pointer to the present on virtual reality and Metaverse, engineered with emerging technology and the evolution of the internet. This phase experienced the establishment of 3-D, internet powered, user contentment creation and interactive virtual worlds. Notable amongst them is Second Life introduced in 2003 and Avatar Reality/Blue Mars in 2009. Second life conceived by Linden Labs 4

incorporated much of the vision of the Metaverse which include presence, connectivity, content creation, digital economy amongst others. PHASE 5 (2009- Present) The fifth stage which we are present in has seen the rapid development and contribution while trying to birth the picture of an ideal Metaverse. This phase has experienced improvements in hardware, database technology such as the block chain, connectivity, funding by corporations, digital products, the internet, digital economies amongst others. Thus, this phase has experienced notable development and contribution to the vision of the Metaverse. Notable contributors are the big boys in the gaming industry and corporations such as Microsoft, Facebook now Meta, Roblox. Thus, the history of the Metaverse can be summed up to have experienced transitions from text-based interactive games, virtual open worlds, Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG), immersive virtual environments on smart mobiles and wearables, to the current status of the Metaverse. DEFINITIONS: Thus, there is no clear definition and characterization of the meta-verse. However, we would review the definition from earlier literature on the subject-matter to get a better grasp of conception of the Meta-verse. Among some of the definitions given are s: “the Metaverse is a space where you can interact with virtual objects in real life with real-time information.”, “At the core of the Metaverse stands the vision of an immersive Internet as a gigantic, unified, persistent, and shared realm.”, “the Metaverse is a virtual environment blending physical and digital, facilitated by the convergence between the Internet and Web technologies, and Extended Reality (XR).”, ““The Metaverse is the convergence of 1) virtually enhanced physical reality and 2) physically persistent virtual space. It is a fusion of both, while allowing users to experience it as either.” “The Metaverse is the layer between you and reality. Metaverse refers to a 3D virtual shared world where all activities can be carried out with the help of augmented and virtual reality services.” And it is “The Metaverse is a hypothesized iteration of the Internet, supporting persistent 5

online 3-D virtual environments through conventional personal computing, as well as virtual and augmented reality headsets.” The Meta-verse is a complex idea with different perceptions to it, to some it is the future of the web, an upgrade to a more immersive web which has developed for text web 1.0, to responsive web characterized with multimedia which is the web 2.0 and then the future is the idealized web 3.0 called the Metaverse which includes an immersive 3- dimensional environment fused with the physical world where users can interact both with virtual objects and physical ones. To others it is the promise of a bigger and rapt industrial revolution and rapid economic developments distinguished by its features of digital goods and services, forms of advertisement, form of exchange and its economy engineered by present and future technologies. While to some others it is an avenue of global change order, it is seen as a mechanism to change the current social order across the globe giving more liberty to persons on key economic and socio-political aspects often regulated by third party institutions. Thus, the concept of the meta-verse has changed overtime from the words genesis in the cyberpunk literature called Snow crash to the various building of virtual worlds ranging from developments such as second life to horizon and now the meta-verse projection by Meta. Consequently, the Metaverse can be defined as an interconnected, decentralized digital avenue that is characterized with virtual reality, augmented reality and extended reality fused together with a self governing ecosystem with duality to the physical world powered by present and emerging technology. META’s IDEAL OF THE METAVERSE ON 28TH OCTOBER, 2021, Facebook Inc. now Meta in its annual event tagged “Connect 2021” held remotely and anchored by Mark Zuckerberg introduced the concept termed Meta-verse. The event cum presentation anchored by its founder and CEO gave an expository on the Metaverse acclaimed the next frontier to technology, the web 3.0. 6

Thus, unlike the previous edition of the event, where the company discussed their product and services provided by the company in the year in view; Connect 2021 proved to be a variation to the previous edition. In the event Mark was credited to have said that, the presentation aims to “share what we imagine as possible”. Mark exposed the different mediums that technology has made us connect ranging from text to videos. Mark proposed the new form of connecting with each other in a new more immersive format which we call the “Metaverse”. Consequently, Mark made it known that the Meta-verse does not yet exist but we are starting to see the “basic building blocks” of it. Therefore, he identified some of the basic concepts of the Meta-verse which we label the ideals of Meta’s perspective to the vision of the Metaverse. These basic concepts include: Presence: In the opening remarks of the anchor he believed that the promise of the Metaverse is mainly built on a feeling of presence in the digital space. Further, the company suggests the promise of immersion of users embodied in the form “we are in there” rather than watching through the lens of our devices. The new digital world is envisioned to meet the lapses in current technology by building technology for humans. The promised future is characterized with a strong sense of being part rather than watching through the lens of our devices. In pursuance of these basic characteristics, the technology of Virtual reality, Augmented Reality and Extended Reality will play a major role in actualizing this dream. The video game environment has given a glimpse of how these technologies, especially Virtual reality can facilitate it. Thus, it is worthy to note that these technologies are not yet mature but there is a promised improvement stemming from emerging technologies among which is the “Cambria” developed by Meta Inc. Avatars: 7

The application of the word avatar in the development of the promised future can be traced to the second phase of its history. The word has its origins from Hinduism which means a manifestation of a deity or released soul in bodily form on earth, an incarnate divine teacher. In recent times, it is used to mean a graphical representation of a user or the user’s character or persona. It may take either a two-dimensional form or three-dimensional form, as in video games and virtual spaces. An avatar is a graphic-digital representation of persons in the Metaverse which is unique to that user and customized. In other words, the avatar is how we represent ourselves and how we appear in the Metaverse. The avatar is like our present day profile picture attached to our various social media accounts. However in the future space, these avatars will be 3-D(D for dimensions), capable of being mobile and possess the characteristics of physical humans. These representations of persons would equally acquire the characteristics of proper expressions, capturing even the slightest subtle expressions of a person. The avatars of the Metaverse hold a promise of taking the original we into the digital space as much as possible and realistic to a high degree.ssThe technology to achieve this is being developed and part of the believed emerging technologies of the parallel digital world. Home space: Meta’s vision is that we replicate our physical life in the Metaverse while crossing over the boundary of physical space. The “Home space” is the personal digital space of persons in the parallel universe. In the vision of Meta, this space is synonymous to the present day homepage of individuals on social networks but this time it is improved including digital assets. Thus, an already working example of the Home Space is illustrated in one of Meta’s projects tagged Horizon-homes. This space will have most utilities which are digital and are stored in it. Teleporting: 8

A proper understanding of the concept away from entanglement with the subject of discourse will aid in understanding its part in the Metaverse. Therefore teleport is “transport or be transported across space and distance instantly”. Another perspective of understanding is that “it is a centre providing interconnections between different forms of telecommunications, especially one which links satellites to ground based communications. However, the first definition is what is appropriate in the context of discussion. Teleporting is an amazing experience which we only see in Science-fiction but this time Mark remarks that the computer engineered universe would make it a reality but differently which implies that your physical body would not teleport but your presence and consciousness embodied in your avatar would transcend across limitless space. Teleporting is like clicking a link which you instantly get to another page but in the Metaverse, it is to another space. Interoperability: The term interoperability in the tech space means the ability of computer systems or software to exchange and make use of information. The birth of the internet is strongly interlinked with this because the internet came to existence due to the ability of computers sharing information. However, its standard of connectivity needs to be improved and holds a diverse understanding. In the current internet experiences are limited to platforms. These platforms are owned by organizations and controlled by them. The Metaverse vision is different in the substance of it being decentralized with no control from organization. Interoperability in the Metaverse means being able to move across different platforms of the Metaverse and use assets across varying spaces. This is in mind, the possible technology to achieve this feat of development is guessed by experts to be probably blockchain technology and future improvements on it. Interoperability is a major defining factor of the Metaverse. 9

Privacy and safety: Privacy is a state in which one is not observed or disturbed by other people while security on the other hand is the state of being free from danger or threat. Privacy and safety is among major discourse that has appeared in emerging technologies be clouded with lots of controversies. These controversies stem from internet platforms handling of user data. The Metaverse vision tries to solve this challenge of controversies through some mechanisms which include principles by Meta which are: ● Never surprise People ● Provide controls that matter ● Consider everyone ● People first These ideals can be achieved by adherence to rules and enforcement of them and also through blockchain technology which is a viable response to it. Virtual goods: The Metaverse is meant to have an ecosystem which would also comprise of trade and commerce in the space. The Metaverse would witness the emergence of virtual goods and services, some native to the space while some a digital replica of physical goods. It would also experience the exchange of physical goods like the present E-commerce but this time enhanced i.e. with an attribute of presence. An example of virtual goods and its exchange is the NBA, the league has its own NFT network called Top Shot. NFT means Non Fungible tokens which are virtual goods with unique identity. Therefore, Metaverse opportunities would be given to users to create digital products to enhance others' experience and getting rewarded with money which pundits are of the view that crypto currencies would fill in the space as mediums of exchange. These virtual goods would include; virtual bags, clothes, avatars, space, home space, videos, music, 3-D modeling etc. 10

Natural interfaces: Present virtual spaces and pointers of the Metaverse such as oculus, horizon world etc are accessed through heavy virtual headsets which are for one expensive but more importantly do not have more natural and easy interfaces. The interface should be seen as we communicate in the Metaverse using hardware devices. Thus, the Metaverse seeks to make interfaces as natural as possible through emerging technologies and improvements on the present. Conclusion: This literature has tried to unravel the perceived mystery of the Metaverse through a historical and perspective outlook to the subject matter. The article has made it easier for every reader of varying backgrounds, especially non-tech inclined persons to understand the concept. The work was able to review the concept of genesis, its idealized future among others. Thus, with the knowledge erasing ignorance of the subject and protracted mystery. Bibliography Claire Wallace, F. K. (2021). What is the metaverse? Reed Smith Guide to the Metaverse , 5-11. Online Etymology Dictionary. (2001-2021). meta. Retrieved January 4th of January, 2022, from etymonline.com: https://etymoline.com/word/met- Lee, Lik-Hang & Braud, Tristan & Zhou, Pengyuan & Wang, Lin & Xu, Dianlei & Lin, Zijun & Kumar, Abhishek & Bermejo, Carlos & Hui, Pan. (2021). All One Needs to Know about Metaverse: A Complete Survey on Technological Singularity, Virtual Ecosystem, and Research Agenda. 10.13140/RG.2.2.11200.05124/8. Dionisio, John & III, William & Gilbert, Richard. (2013). 3D Virtual Worlds and the Metaverse: Current Status and Future Possibilities. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR). 45. 10.1145/2480741.2480751. 11

Lee, Lik-Hang & Braud, Tristan & Zhou, Pengyuan & Wang, Lin & Xu, Dianlei & Lin, Zijun & Kumar, Abhishek & Bermejo, Carlos & Hui, Pan. (2021). All One Needs to Know about Metaverse: A Complete Survey on Technological Singularity, Virtual Ecosystem, and Research Agenda. 10.13140/RG.2.2.11200.05124/8. 12