From NFTs to the human side of the metaverse.

Intro

For several months now, we have been hearing about the metaverse: what was once a niche concept has quickly become a market trend, after Mark Zuckerberg, during the Facebook Connect 2021 convention on October 28, 2021, announced the creation of Meta, spoke about the new metaverse project, and presented the new version of Horizon Worlds.

Meta: Facebook’s VR metaverse

Zuckerberg has defined the metaverse as the successor to mobile internet. But what will Facebook’s 3D world be like? Meta will be a virtual reality with customizable spaces where each user will be connected to the rest of the world through a hologram with the help of technological devices (e.g. VR glasses). It will undoubtedly be an immersive experience, but still limited by the use of external support devices.

What is the metaverse?

The metaverse is a 3D virtual world that combines multiple environments into one and allows users to connect with each other in a less impersonal way than current digital experiences.

The metaverse is the result of a progressive need to transform our online experiences: by combining virtual, web, social networks, and real-life, the metaverse offers the opportunity to live increasingly immersive and engaging virtual experiences in the shoes of our 3D avatars. As a space for sharing with a virtual economy (based on NFTs and blockchain technology), it opens up new business opportunities.

The origins of the metaverse

The origin of the term metaverse dates back to Neal Stephenson’s cyberpunk science fiction novel, Snow Crash, from 1992. The term was coined by the author to indicate a virtual world, a reality shared through the internet, inhabited by 3D avatars of real people. Therefore, although one might mistakenly think that it is a recent concept, its origins date back some time ago.

“The people are pieces of software called avatars. They are the audiovisual bodies that people use to communicate with each other in the Metaverse.” Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash (1992)

The metaverse market

The estimated global size of the virtual experiences market was $94.04 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $504.76 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.7% (Source: Grand View Research, 2021).

Regarding the metaverse market, forecasts predict reaching $2.5 trillion by 2030 (Source: Bloomberg Intelligence, 2021).

Blockchain and NFTs

In close correlation with the constant expansion of the metaverse market, one of the growing tech trends in 2022 is NFT technology.

NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token, which refers to digital certificates guaranteed by blockchain technology of original content such as artwork, viral videos, 3D objects, memes, tweets, and images.

When someone buys an NFT, they are not buying the work itself, but simply the ability to demonstrate ownership of the purchased work, guaranteed by a smart contract. Non-fungible goods indicate that such goods are not replicable and replaceable because they possess a specific individuality, namely the digital mark. This technology seems tailor-made for the metaverse, where users can buy, trade, use, and display their NFTs.

It is undeniable that these tools represent the future: NFT technology, born as a natural development of blockchain, meets certain needs such as giving value to digital art and creators’ rights on it, but also ensuring social and economic recognition of people in the digital version of their identity.

Coderblock’s metaverse

Among the projects currently in development is the creation of the first shared metaverse in Italy: a large virtual world, an open world shared as a virtual city, where users can move around with their avatars and experience increasingly immersive interactive experiences with other users.

Coderblock’s technology adapts to continuous evolutions: the metaverse is accessible online without any external device. Environments connected to each other, entire cities, and even worlds and universes in their entirety, where you can make new encounters, purchase products or land, organize or participate in events: unique adventures that will increasingly unite the real and the virtual and give rise to infinite creative, business, social, and economic opportunities that will transform the way we connect and live in the digital world.

Among the features of Coderblock’s shared metaverse are:

• the implementation of various scenarios for virtual worlds with unique and peculiar characteristics;
  
• the development of a virtual economy on the platform (through blockchain and NFT technology);
  
• the creation of proprietary stores and various commercial activities;
  
• the implementation of purchasing and renting logic for virtual spaces and lands;
  
• the automated integration of DFP for the sale of advertising space.

This is a model that goes beyond augmented reality and looks to a new economy destined to enter all sectors, opening the doors to new B2B/B2C business opportunities.