What the F**K is the metaverse anyway?
Recent comments from Vitalik Buterin suggest that one of the key issues of the metaverse is the lack of a clear definition. So, what the F**K is the metaverse anyway?
According to Vitalik Buterin, the inventor of Ethereum, the metaverse lacks a proper definition and as a result, people don’t know what it is, and we don’t know if anyone is building it correctly. The connection to Virtual Reality is often misconstrued according to Buterin who made his comments at BUIDL Asia this week.
“To me, metaverse is one of those things that are very poorly defined,”
We have to agree to a certain extent.
What we all have in mind is Ernest Cline’s Oasis from his novel Ready Player One (yes I said Novel - the book is WAY better than the film).
But the harsh truth is we’re a long way from that becoming a reality. Or are we?
The ReadyVerse, part of OPEN - the project that Ernest Cline is currently working on did drop a pretty incredible sneak peak video on YouTube 2 weeks ago. Check it out below.
You’ll recognise the lead character Wade Watts, or at least his avatar Parzival walking towards that famous TV from the last scenes of the movie, where he found the first easter egg ever made in a video game.
But, what this video made me think about was the IP issues and rights ownership in the Readyverse - which is looking just like the world Warner Bros. Pictures et al created.
How do you think this will play out? Let us know your thoughts on X (formerly Twitter).
In the meantime, whilst we may not know what the metaverse is, yet, The Sandbox continues to pump its version of the metaverse. Including recently announcing that there are now 1,000 user-generated experiences and 5.7 million all-time accounts created, 25,000 virtual landowners, 60,000 avatars sold, and 200,000 SAND wallets.
But is this the metaverse we need, the one we deserve, or are we still just at the very early stages of this technology’s development?
Below is the recent Experiences of the Week video. I want to know, have you played any of these experiences, and if not, would you? (Be honest).
In other news around the Metaverse, Quest’s recent game release The Pirate Queen is showing people what could be the future of educational VR games. Would you have preferred to learn in an immersive video game environment? We know we sure would!
Could Canon become the next big player in the VR space? Their recent new concept cameras are arriving in sync with the invigorated interest in VR headsets this year, spurred on by the Apple Vision Pro. David Parry, Canon’s Imaging Product Marketing Lead stated: “We’re heavily invested in Virtual Reality and want to get these products out there as soon as possible” and added, “VR is in its infancy and I don’t think we’ve seen half of what it's capable of”.
Until next time, keep exploring the limitless possibilities of the metaverse. Stay curious, stay connected - and let us know what you thought of this week’s newsletter.