Welcome to the metaverse | Press

What is the metaverse? This is important enough that Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg decides to change the name of his company and invest 10 billion in its development. And yet, most of us had never even heard the word… Explanation.

Be in the internet

We can describe the metaverse with an image. Instead of seeing the internet on a computer screen, tablet or on your laptop, with the metaverse, you are in the internet thanks to a virtual imaging headset, which allows you to move around in this digital world and interact by creating a character that represents us, an avatar. You can play, but also work, have a drink with friends, attend shows, shop online and a host of other things.

An invented word

The term, taken from the English metaverse, is a contraction of “meta” (from the Greek: beyond) and “universe”. The word was coined by writer Neal Stephenson in his novel Snow crash published in 1992. In French, it gives “métavers”. And even if this idea of ​​a writer is now concrete, to understand what it can give, the best way is to rely on science fiction movies or TV shows.

A dream life

The novel Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, adapted for theaters in 2018 by Steven Spielberg, gives a great insight into the metaverse. The action takes place in 2045 in a world on the verge of chaos. To escape it, humans take refuge in a virtual universe, the OASIS, created by an eccentric and very rich being. With a virtual reality headset on their head, sitting in their insanitary housing, people forget their condition by living the life of their dreams.

Several observers, including Zuckerberg, believe that one day everyone will have a second life in a digital universe.

Immersive experiences

We can also get an idea of ​​what immersion in an imaginary world gives with virtual reality experiences where the spectator, wearing a helmet, is at the heart of the image and can sometimes move around in the environment. In Montreal, for example, we were able to experience the space shuttle and space with Infinity, or that of migrants attempting to enter the United States with Carne y arena, by filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Vision

After announcing the name change of his company to Meta – an operation also seen as a diversionary maneuver to make people forget recent revelations about the company’s reprehensible practices – the founder and CEO of Facebook described his vision:

Visit Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook page

The world of games

In the meantime, it’s video games and platforms like Second life, Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite, in which players can build their own worlds, which come closest to the idea of ​​the metaverse.

Already millions of followers

Roblox, which is a gaming platform and tool for designing and delivering games online, attracts over 43 million players every day.

Fortnite, for its part, has 350 million followers worldwide. The game offers different modes, including Battle Royale, which pits 100 players against each other until only one remains. At the end of April, rapper Travis Scott gave five virtual concerts on this platform, through his avatar. In early August, singer Ariana Grande also performed on Fortnite.

Roblox and Minecraft sometimes also organize 100% virtual concerts.

A real market

In May, a digital Gucci bag sold for over $ 4,000 on the Roblox platform, beating the price of the actual item.

Emotional ties

Video game specialist Maude Bonenfant, professor at UQAM, explains that the player develops an attachment for his avatar.

“It’s our identity online. So we don’t want to look like 18 avatars who are in the same room, she said. We will personalize it with what characterizes us. We are ready to spend money on costume elements that are often just aesthetic, which do not necessarily have power. It is a question of individual identity, but within a group to which one belongs. ”

An opportunity for Quebec

Here too, companies are working on the construction of the metaverse. This is particularly the case with the contemporary circus company Les 7 Doigts, a team of which is already devoting time and money to the vast project of designing the virtual world of tomorrow.