Along with NFTs, the Metaverse has formed the trending theme of the past year. However, to realize the ideas that the metaverse is supposed to realize, there is still a lot to do. According to Mark Zuckerberg, connectivity is still far too weak. First, better Internet and mobile phone networks are needed.
2021: the metaverse becomes a trend
When NFTs made their breakthrough in 2021 and even caught the attention of mass media due to their sometimes extremely high prices, a series of channels emerged that had a lasting impact on the Facebook media group.
Not only have NFTs in the form of individual images, like CryptoPunks, benefited from a price explosion, but also projects that have shown that NFTs are more than digital art. Various things can be symbolized. The same goes for real estate, both in the digital world and in the physical world.
The video game Decentraland, which has its own currency with MANA as an ERC-20 token, started the beta phase in 2017 and has been selling digital lands ever since. The starting prices at that time were the equivalent of 20 euros. In 2021, those prices skyrocketed to six figures.
Over the long term, properties sold as NFTs in Decentraland have remained in the five-digit range. Many non-fungible tokens still reach ten thousand to thirty thousand euros per sale. There are individual outliers, especially towards the top.
Even celebrities jumped on the trend, acquiring NFTs and even landing Decentraland. One of the people is American rapper Snoop Dogg, whose neighboring property changed hands for US$450,000 just a few weeks ago due to its proximity to him.
Facebook turns to the metaverse
Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg have also caught wind of Decentraland’s rise. For the business conglomerate, the concept itself seemed extremely interesting. The prospect of new marketing opportunities was so tempting that Facebook dared to rename it Meta Platforms.
Facebook encounters dislike from Metaverse users
Although Mana and its competitor The Sandbox skyrocketed, the decision was not universally welcomed. Facebook is seen as a declared enemy by many on the scene. On the one hand, it is a centralized company, on the other hand, the platform is known to be heavily censored.
Just last week, Blockchainwelt reported on Facebook’s ideas for the metaverse. At the time, it was announced that an artificial intelligence capable of learning all the languages of the earth would be developed in the shortest possible time.
Meta Platforms develops its own translation AI for the Metaverse
This development should move the metaverse a lot further. In an interview with CNBC, CEO Zuckerberg explains more details.
Mark Zuckerberg: Internet must become much faster for Metaverse
The prevailing opinion is that a metaverse is supposed to replicate the physical world to perfection. This distinguishes the Digital Parallel Universe from other video games. In fact, Decentraland isn’t the first project to use the term self-promotion.
The first known metaverse was probably Second Life, which started as Linden World in 2003. Comparing the graphical representation of Second Life and Decentraland, there is no clear difference in perception.
Unlike Second Life, however, Decentraland is optimized for VR glasses. In the future, this technology must be combined with graphics closer to graphic hits like Crysis or Battlefield.
This requires a long video streaming of the highest quality, which in turn requires the internet with enormous speed. At least mobile networks haven’t been able to keep up with this requirement so far, says Dan Rabinovitsj, vice president of Meta Platforms.
If you look at the pace of innovation in the world of telecommunications, it is obvious that this industry is struggling to accelerate.
General Manager Mark Zuckerberg agrees. Improved technology in the metaverse allows the amount of data to grow enormously – but our current internet is just too bad for that.
Creating a true sense of presence in virtual worlds powered by AR glasses and VR headsets requires massive advances in connectivity.
Should the internet be reinvented for the metaverse?
The progress Zuckerberg expects must be greater than it has ever been. Although telecommunications expert Marc Allera expects the metaverse to become a real burden on the Internet, he believes that the developments needed in the next few years are realistic.
When you think about what you can do with a smartphone today compared to 10 years ago, it’s the result of the telecommunications industry and network operators investing huge sums of money without any contribution of the companies that ultimately benefit from it.
Allera considers Meta Platforms’ statements to be an insult.
I’m trying to figure out what role they play in supporting this ecosystem, outside of what we even do.
Does the Metaverse really have to be immersive and realistic? The Worldwide Webb 2D game takes a different approach.
2D NFT Worldwide Webb game explodes