What is the Metaverse? – Crypto, NFTs and available platforms
Are you wondering what is the Metaverse? If you are a bookworm and love reading science fiction, you have probably read the novel “Snow Crash,” which was released in 1992 written by Neal Stephenson. The term “Metaverse” was initially coined in this novel.
When you ask what is the Metaverse, you need first to understand what is AR or augmented reality.
To some people, terms like Metaverse and AR may seem like technical jargon associated with gaming. However that is not true at all. The fact is we are all living in a dual world where a part of us spends most of our productive time in the virtual world.
To be specific, AR entails superimposing visual, aural, or other sensory data onto the natural environment to improve one’s experience, and a metaverse is a network of three-dimensional virtual environments centered on social interaction.
In layman’s terms, a Metaverse is a virtual world where we can create, customize, and live as per our wishes. We have the freedom to dictate terms here and paint it the way we want to see it. In other words, a Metaverse is a universe created taking the benefits from the real and virtual world. According to Mckinsey and Company, the Metaverse consists of 4 categories: Content and Experiences, Platforms, Infrastructure and Hardware, and Enablers.
Are you still confused?
Have you ever seen video games or seen a 3-D movie in a theatre? Isn’t it a fantastic experience? Imagine if you could live in the movie or be a part of your favorite game for real? Life would have been full of fun and excitement.
A metaverse makes that dream come alive. You get to experience your dream world for real, and you can live in the world you always wanted to be a part of without actually being there. It’s like living a dream.
Isn’t it amazing?
Are you wondering how you can participate in the Metaverse? Well, you would be surprised to know that you are living in the Metaverse and you just don’t know it yet. However lets look at a few popular platforms that you can actually experience directly.
Four Popular Metaverse Platforms
Listed below are the top four Metaverse platforms that innovative people are currently using to build worlds and explore.
The Sandbox Game
The Sandbox Game is a Metaverse that rivals Decentraland. The Sandbox Game is a virtual Metaverse where players can create, own, and commercialize virtual worlds. You can also invest your cryptocurrency to increase your SAND earnings.
It’s one of the fastest-growing initiatives that use the DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) model for governance. Creators can monetize assets and gaming experiences on the blockchain. Furthermore, holders of MANA tokens have power over the Decentraland domain. On the other hand, Sandbox is a blockchain-based virtual world that runs on an essential native coin called SAND. SAND is a ERC-20 token built on the Ethereum blockchain that has a finite supply of 3 billion.
Facebook – Horizon
Today 2.9 of the 7.9 billion people worldwide have an account on Facebook. It is one of the biggest social media platforms that have successfully connected people. Today Facebook is not limited to chatting and sharing posts. It is also an advertising, gaming, product selling and group management platform that is continuously looking for ways to innovate and grow.
Facebooks Metaverse is called Horizon Worlds. Users of Facebook’s Oculus virtual reality headsets can design a legless avatar to stroll around in the animated virtual environment in Horizon Worlds. They can play games and engage with the avatars of other individuals there. There are also concerts and movie events like the Post Malone and NOPE experiences for users to join. (https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/2532035600194083/)
Microsoft XBOX- Museum
If you are fond of video games, you must have heard of Xbox. The video game console by Microsoft has five dedicated gaming consoles and hundreds of applications. On the Xbox, Microsoft has their Metaverse called the Museum . The Museum creates a space dedicated solely to the user using saved data associated with an Xbox account. Xbox players can find a history of games they’ve played, as well as when and how long they played them, in this area.
Decentraland
The Ethereum blockchain powers Decentraland, a decentralized virtual reality network that claims to be the first ever virtual world owned by its users. Decentraland is the first fully decentralized world that gives control to the people to create and play virtually. Users may create, enjoy, and monetize their content and applications on the Decentraland platform. For example, you are playing an online game, and you have the privilege to buy the peace of virtual land inside the game for real. Check out the Tech Levitate Decentraland demo that we created here: https://builder.decentraland.org/view/6dd68f58-27af-46d5-b280-80889879f0c9
If you are wondering, how do I buy at the current cost range using Decentraland?
You can follow the steps mentioned below.
Steps to Buy Property using Decentraland at the Current Cost Range
Before we get into how you can buy land at the current cost range, you need first to know that there is a total of 90,601 parcels of land in Decentraland. This land is categorized into two types. The one-by-one land is called a parcel, and the estate is a pack of two or more parcels combined. This means if you own just a single plot, you have a parcel, and if you own two or more plots, it becomes an estate. Each land parcel is approximately 52ft by 52 ft or 60 meters by 60 meters.
Now that you have a brief idea about property types in Decentraland, let’s get into how you can buy property at the current cost range.
Parcels in Decentraland are NFT, better known as non-fundamental tokens. You can see an example of our NFTs (Angel Cheer Girl NFT) here: http://techlevitate.com/angel-cheer-girl-nft/
Also here are a few simple strategies to help you buy at the current cost range.
- Firstly, identify the piece of land you wish to buy in the Decentraland. See if it’s located near the green patch, blue patch, or touching the roads. Suppose it is near the green patch because these patches indicate maximum traffic inflow. ThTese blue patches show users’ private properties, which are also quite popular. And the lands near the roads are considered a good investment because the traffic moves through the streets. So, determine the current cost by analyzing the location of your land. Try buying lands near popular worlds to ensure you have a lot of traffic floating in.
- Once you have identified the land you wish to buy, you need to visit the Decentraland marketplace. It is one of the most popular places to buy property in Decentraland. You will see the parts of land for sale highlighted on the map.
- Once you click on the part of the land you wish to buy, it takes you to a page where you can see all the details of the piece of land. On the right-hand side, you will see the option to buy or bid for the land.
- If you wish to buy land at the current cost, you need to click on the calendar at the top right-hand corner of your screen. It will take you to a different screen to sort the land as per your preference. To ensure you are buying land at the current cost range, ensure that you sort the land as per the cheapest.
- Another way to buy land at the current cost range is by purchasing it through the Open Sea, the official website of Decentraland. You can search for the piece of land you wish to buy using low to high, and it helps you see the current cost range.
Some of the most popular tools used to create Metaverse content are MRTK, Unity 3D, Lightship ARDK by Niatic and NVIDIA Omniverse .
Equipment Needed to Join Metaverse
Do we need to buy special hardware equipment to join Metaverse? Facebook says we would need specially designed headsets that resemble Oculus Quest 2 to join Metaverse. To experience life in the Metaverse, you can also just use your smartphone. However if you wish to get the full immersive experience of the Metaverse, a pair of VR headsets or AR glasses are recommended. You can learn more in our post called Smart Glasses with Augmented Reality.
What is the Metaverse Crypto?
A few of the popular Metaverse platforms have been mentioned so far but one of the main components of the Metaverse world is its crypto currency. MANA, SAND and other Metaverse cryptos have gained value and popularity as the use and purchase of the LAND on their platforms have increased in value. Their market cap value combined is currently over 11 billion and is expected to increase to 5 trillion by 2030 according to a report by McKinsey and Company. You can find the top Metaverse crypto coin prices here: https://crypto.com/price/categories/metaverse
Upcoming Metaverse Events of 2022
If you wish to participate in the upcoming metaverse events for 2022, you need to keep an eye on the official website of the platform you want to participate in. For example, if you are a veteran Facebook user, you will get updates on the latest Metaverse events that Facebook will release in 2022. For example, Facebook has recently launched an AI integrated metaverse used as a work platform for people. People can virtually attend meetings, interact with each other and work without being physically present in a particular place. The same goes for Microsoft with Xbox and their upcoming Microsoft Mesh for Teams. The latest updates on gaming are available on the official website of XBOX. All you need to do is book your seat there and make sure you sign in when the event is on to experience the most of it. These events have also started taking place in business, real estate, entertainment, construction, etc. No matter which field you are in. These events will enrich your knowledge base and help you stay motivated. Therefore, you should always look forward to participating in these events for your benefit.
Final Takeaway
To conclude, we can say that from socializing to attending your favorite concerts in the virtual world to participating in a global meet without exposing yourself to the virus threat, the Metaverse has proved to be useful to people from all sectors. Whether a child who cannot attend his regular classes or a professional gamer, everyone can benefit when they enter the Metaverse. The Metaverse has brought the world to the next level and has given a platform to the people to create a world they have always aspired for. If you wish to experience a better world, then it’s an excellent idea to be a part of the Metaverse. You not only experience pleasure but being a part of the Metaverse also reduces your stress levels and helps you lead a beautiful life. It will take away your anxiety and help you deal with depression. The moment you enter the Metaverse, you most likely will see a smile appearing on your face.
Joe is is a professional software engineer, CTO and technology innovation leader residing in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta. He is a published author of game development books and a leader in the technical innovation space.
Tech Levitate 
Tech Levitate