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Yes, ok, we'll talk about the metaverse soon, but do you remember the golden days of the first internet? Roaring years, in which the World Wide Web was more mythological than ever: in Europe they arrived a little later, in the USA they already had their load of indie culture flowing into the masses. The year 1993 was crucial: the actual launch of the WWW. The year before, just by apparent coincidence, a film called “The Lawnmower” was released. Something that can't be seen, the classic film created to "anticipate problems". Yet he proposed things that still seem relevant today. Indeed, they seem premature even today.
The themes? Virtual reality as a place/non-place where you can lose your identity, and perhaps your reason. Nice, huh? Anyway, whether they were fears or great enthusiasms, there was nothing justified. It was still too early for both virtual reality and the internet, and the first disastrous “bubble” of technology companies would soon remind us of this. And today? Just as it was for the Web, we are asking the Metaverse the same question: “exactly what are you?”.
Just as it was for the web, it is something that is defined gradually, just as it is being built, but at least on a theoretical level it has fixed points. For this I can say with certainty (if the metaverse will assert itself as the web did) that it will be much more than a series of VR viewers and ridiculous avatars. But let's start with the few certainties we already have.
Metaverse: what is true
At the moment the metaverse is made up of a hodgepodge of ecosystems. There are no established entry points (like Google Chrome, so to speak) that help metazens move from one “virtual world” to another, as we move from one site to another today. Many believe that Meta is trying to gain control of the gateway, but has already lost the war, because much of the impetus for the creation of the metaverse comes from the decentralized foundation of the blockchain.
One of the fundamental principles established by many of the founders of the metaverse is that it will be governed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). To find out what it is you can read this article of mine from some time ago, or get a quick definition: a DAO, in short, is an entity without central leadership. Decisions are made bottom-up, governed by a community organized around a specific set of rules enforced on a blockchain.
In summary? DAOs are organizations managed and owned directly by their members. And decisions are made through proposals that the group votes on during a specific period. It's a bit like how a parliament would work if everyone could vote from time to time, and not just elected politicians.
The place in the metaverse that currently boasts the highest rate of “democracy” is called Decentraland. For those unfamiliar with it, Decentraland is a world that exists on the Ethereum blockchain, a cryptocurrency, and is controlled by individual players who can vote to change the policies that determine how the world behaves. At the moment, however, Decentraland is more of a democracy experiment than a decentralized universe. Its ecosystem is very, very limited and limiting.
Metaverse: what is crap
In Decentraland, avatars, “real estate” and other digital items (NFTs) do not transfer to other platforms. Very bad, because the decentralized philosophy says exactly the opposite: it should be possible to take custody of in-app elements and use them outside of their native platforms. The inability to freely trade items and use them across multiple games or platforms is something Decentraland will have to work on if it truly wants to be the gateway to the metaverse. This limit (like the limits of The Sandbox, the main antagonist of Decentraland) brings up an important point.
The metaverse does not exist, gentlemen. At least not yet, and not in the way a metaverse that meets whatever definition of “metaverse” you want should be. What we have today is not interoperable, it is not multiplatform. Only what will allow you to move from one virtual world to another will allow the structuring of the metaverse.
And this is where 'cross-chain bridges' come into play
Secondo Web3 Labs , “Cross-chain bridges will play an important role in enabling interoperability between heterogeneous networks. A truly global blockchain infrastructure and ecosystem will be connected via these bridges.”
Once cross-chain bridges, these sort of “exchange nodes,” are standardized and implemented across all platforms, the metaverse will become the vast interconnected network that many dream of.
An example that goes in the right direction? Ready player me. This is a cross-platform project for the metaverse that allows users to create 3D avatars of themselves. And it works on over 2.000 compatible apps and games. Any developer can integrate Ready Player Me into their apps and games using theAvatar SDK free from the company. Cross-platform innovations like these will help the metaverse materialize much more quickly.
Metaverse: how it will end
In a context of growing mistrust in big technologies and the demand for greater privacy, the metaverse will absolutely have to distinguish itself from what we know today as the Internet. Users will flee the metaverse (oh my, at least I hope) if they think that everything about their life will be recorded, monitored and exploited. It is not just about letting big operators know which site we visit, when we talk about metaverse: it is about letting them know what ACTIONS we take, even if we do them in virtual and non-real worlds. This, you will understand, is a fundamental difference.
To prevent this from becoming a dystopian nightmare, no single group of large operators should have control over it. It will take an innovative mindset to ensure the metaverse matures and develops its positive potential. An example above all: in Italy there is someone who is studying a decentralized, effective, very Italian access to the metaverse. An access that has, as in the plans of all current BigTechs, its portal in the form of an innovative viewer. Is called Joe Kage, and his "Glastech" project promises to add authentic strokes of genius to the features already feared for this technology... all tricolor. Ask its creator more if you are interested in information (or in financing the project). Find it here.
Closed, tightly controlled ecosystems like those imagined and built by companies like Meta, Google and others will have to be a thing of the past. To do this, the technologies that drive the metaverse will have to work in harmony rather than in competition, "content" with managing the substantial profits of the many possible activities, without imposing manipulations and violations of privacy.
Decentralized, multiplatform networks give users more control over their experiences, and take it away from those who have always put profit before privacy. The metaverse will pass through decentralized networks, or it will never exist. Because nothing else that is not truly decentralized can be called a “metaverse”.
If it truly exists, it will be a new dimension, full of possibilities.
