Metaverse Archives - Exhibit Tech

The Virtual World: Is It The Future?

In recent years, technology has surged forward at an astonishing pace, ushering in a new era of interconnectedness and virtual experiences. One prominent innovation that has captured the imagination of millions is the concept of a virtual world. These digital realms, accessible through computers or immersive devices, offer users an unprecedented level of interaction, communication, and creativity. As we stand at the cusp of the third decade of the 21st century, the question arises: Is a virtual world the future we are moving towards?

The Rise of Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds have made remarkable strides in recent years, thanks to advancements in computer graphics, artificial intelligence, and network technologies. Platforms like Second Life, VRChat, and Roblox have already demonstrated the appeal of virtual environments, attracting millions of users worldwide. These digital landscapes transcend traditional gaming realms, providing spaces for social interactions, economic transactions, education, and even virtual tourism. As the technological infrastructure supporting these worlds continues to evolve, the potential applications and user experiences they offer are likely to multiply.

The Virtual Reality Revolution

One of the driving forces behind the increasing popularity of virtual worlds is the rapid development of virtual reality (VR) technology. VR enables users to immerse themselves fully in digital environments, blurring the lines between the physical and the virtual. With VR headsets becoming more accessible and affordable, the potential for widespread adoption of virtual worlds is on the horizon. From education and training simulations to therapeutic applications and remote workspaces, VR offers a myriad of possibilities to revolutionize various aspects of our lives.

Escapism vs. Real-World Impact

Young excited man in helmet experiencing virtual reality. Elements of this image are furnished by NASA

Critics argue that the proliferation of virtual worlds may exacerbate societal issues like social isolation and detachment from reality. They fear that individuals might resort to escapism, seeking refuge in virtual realms to avoid confronting real-world challenges. While this concern is valid, proponents of virtual worlds argue that they can have a positive impact by fostering global connectivity, breaking down physical barriers, and promoting cross-cultural understanding. Additionally, these platforms present opportunities for meaningful collaborations, creative expression, and entrepreneurial endeavours, which can translate into real-world benefits.

Environmental Impact and Sustainability

An area that warrants significant consideration is the environmental impact of virtual worlds. As these digital landscapes grow in scale and complexity, they demand substantial server power and energy consumption. Developers must prioritize sustainability, exploring energy-efficient technologies and renewable energy sources to mitigate the environmental footprint of these platforms. Moreover, as virtual worlds continue to flourish, regulations need to be in place to address potential issues such as digital privacy, security, and virtual property rights.

Education and Training in Virtual Realms

One of the most promising aspects of virtual worlds lies in their potential to revolutionize education and training. Immersive learning experiences can transport students to historical events, distant planets, or microscopic realms, making complex subjects more engaging and accessible. Training simulations in virtual environments can equip professionals with practical skills and expertise in various fields, such as medicine, aviation, and military operations, all while minimizing real-world risks. However, striking a balance between virtual education and face-to-face interactions remains crucial for comprehensive learning and human development.

The future undoubtedly holds intriguing prospects for virtual worlds. As technology continues to evolve, these digital realms will likely become more immersive, interactive, and impactful. Whether the world embraces virtual environments as a dominant mode of existence remains uncertain, but the potential for meaningful applications is undeniable. Striking a balance between utilizing virtual worlds to augment human experiences while maintaining meaningful connections to the real world will be key to harnessing their full potential responsibly. As we embark on this transformative journey, society must carefully navigate the ethical, social, and environmental implications of this bold digital frontier. Only then can we truly unlock the vast opportunities that virtual worlds present for the betterment of humanity.

The Quiet Death of Metaverse and the Future of VR: Uncertain Times

If you were on the internet in 2021 like most of us were thanks to the pandemic, then you know how crazy the hype around the metaverse was. Touted as the next big thing in the tech world, the metaverse promised an entirely immersive virtual world including futuristic avatars and wearable devices. It was back in October 2021 when Facebook made the announcement of changing its name to ‘Meta’ reflecting upon its goals to expand from a social media giant into the metaverse. Cut to 2023 where it looks like Meta’s dream has lost its momentum if not come to a complete stop. What was called by Mark Zuckerberg the ‘next chapter of the internet’ finds itself lost somewhere in the noise with little to no interest amongst the general public. So, is the metaverse dying?

Zuckerberg pulls the plug

Since 2021 when Zuckerberg announced the Facebook rebranding to Meta, the company has lost a big chunk of money. As per reports, meta lost as much as $20 billion as of December 2022 from its ‘Reality Labs’ segment since its start in 2021. The losses kept piling up to the point where investors started raising concerns about Mark’s approach to this business expansion. Brad Gerstner, whose Altimeter Capital fund owns hundreds of millions worth of Meta shares wrote an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg stating that the company had lost investors’ confidence. People and organizations with major stakes in the company expressed concern that Zuckerberg had lost the focus of his company’s core social media empire to pivot onto a concept that may take years to come to fruition.

As a result, Mark Zuckerberg had to issue a statement revealing that the metaverse was not the majority of what the company was doing. Mark revealed that about 80% of Meta’s investments are driven towards the core business and only about or less than 20% of its investments went towards Reality Labs. Meta’s core businesses include Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp Messenger. Mark then added that the vast majority of what Meta does will continue to go towards social media until the ‘metaverse becomes a larger thing’ Zuckerberg was insistent about the fact that communication in 2023 will be different than the computing devices used today. The Meta head had gone on record and stated that he is ‘very optimistic’ about the direction Meta was headed in. Well, that was until 2023 when the AI race took an interesting turn and Meta aims to strike gold in that arena.

It might have not come with major announcements or discourse on the internet, but Mark Zuckerberg has quietly pulled the plug on his metaverse dream. The Meta head quietly buried his ambitious project and redirected his attention towards artificial intelligence. Failures are quiet and success makes all the noise stand true in this case. Chatter on the web suggests that issuing a public announcement would force Mark to admit that he was wrong, which is a big price to pay amidst already plummeting stock value and backlash over mass layoffs. On the other hand, Meta’s attention shift to AI reflects upon the unparalleled potential of the technology to revolutionize the world. So what exactly is Meta’s focus now? Here’s what Mark Zuckerberg shared in a post on February 27 –

“We’re creating a new top-level product group at Meta focused on generative AI to turbocharge our work in this area. We’re starting by pulling together a lot of the teams working on generative AI across the company into one group focused on building delightful experiences around this technology into all of our different products. In the short term, we’ll focus on building creative and expressive tools. Over the longer term, we’ll focus on developing AI personas that can help people in a variety of ways. We’re exploring experiences with text (like chat in WhatsApp and Messenger), with images (like creative Instagram filters and ad formats), and with video and multi-modal experiences. We have a lot of foundational work to do before getting to the really futuristic experiences, but I’m excited about all of the new things we’ll build along the way.”

Meta Platforms Inc recently released a new large language model to researchers. The model, titled ‘LLaMA’ is intended to help scientists and engineers explore the application of AI such as answering questions and summarizing documents. The new model has been developed by Meta’s Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team which was established nearly a decade back in September 2013.

LLaMA is not ChatGPT or Bing Search alternative, which means it is not a system that users can hop on and have conversations with. Rather, it is a research tool which Meta believes will democratize access to AI in a fast-changing field. In simple terms, LLaMA has been made public to help experts dish out problems with AI language models in general. In recent times, there have been reports about Microsoft’s Bing search AI giving passive-aggressive and factually incorrect responses. LLaMA has been publicised to help solve issues like those.

Meta announced its new language model in a blog post writing – “We believe the entire AI community — academic researchers, civil society, policymakers, and industry — must work together to develop clear guidelines around responsible AI in general and responsible large language models in particular, given their centrality in many downstream language applications. A much broader segment of the AI community needs access to these models in order to conduct reproducible research and collectively drive the field forward.” This means that the company’s focus has definitely shifted towards the AI race from the metaverse.

While the metaverse has been put on the sidelines by Mark, the tech leader was quick to realize the paradigm shift with AI technology and pivoted immediately. In the general context, the metaverse could be signed off as Zuckerberg’s expensive fling that ran its course. However, what makes us curious now is the future of virtual reality which was the backbone of the metaverse.

Despite all the flashy and at times downright dystopian demos of VR implemented in the metaverse, Zucklerberg’s dream did not catch on as he would have expected. So, does the failure of the metaverse actually affect development in the VR space? We’d say yes, but only partially. Here’s why –

The Future of VR

While the metaverse vision relied solely on VR technologies to create an immersive experience for people in a digital dimension, the technology itself was never chained to that limitation. VR as a concept has been around since the mid-1980s when Jaron Lanier, founder of VPL Research started working to develop gear including a goggle and gloves to experience virtual reality. However, the VR headsets as we see them now in the mainstream were introduced by Oculus VR and are the brainchild of Palmer Lucky.

VR has been a growing field in the world of tech for over a decade now and has the potential to revolutionize various aspects of our lives be it entertainment, healthcare or education. The main reason why VR gained mainstream popularity is due to the availability of affordable VR headsets right now that allows people to have an immersive experience at a pocket-friendly price. I remember buying my first-ever VR headset for under Rs 2K from Amazon back in 2019 and watching Avengers: Endgame in 3D, it was an experience like no other!

Another reason why VR has shaped up to become the next big thing is due to its mindful implementation in gaming. VR unlocks the next level of immersive gaming allowing players that they are inside the game. There are a number of companies right now in the world which are working specifically on developing VR-centric games that are impressive, to say the least. VR has the potential to transform the gaming industry in its entirety. Players won’t experience the game as a character sitting in front of a screen but feel like they’re inside the game. This high level of immersive gaming experience could revolutionize gaming and change the way we enjoy games altogether.

Another end of the spectrum in entertainment. The theatrical exhibition of films has taken a hit in the past few years as the audience shifts to OTT platforms for their entertainment. This hints that the audience can and will adapt to changing patterns of consuming cinema including watching in VR. In the future, films could be produced specifically to cater to the VR audience creating an immersive experience of storytelling like no other. This level of stimulation will undoubtedly hook the movie-going audience who are always on the lookout for something new. VR could also help a lot when it comes to education as students could visit monuments across the world in virtual reality or learn about the human anatomy wearing a VR headset.

In conclusion, I would like to reinstate the fact that VR technology has been around well before the inception of the metaverse. While the metaverse depends on VR to thrive, no such limitations are present in VR technology. While the future of the metaverse looks dark, the same cannot be said for VR.

Meta Plus: Meta’s New Subscription Service Offers Exclusive Content and VR Experiences

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has recently launched its subscription service, Meta Plus. The service, priced at $11.99 a month, will offer users a range of additional features and benefits, including ad-free experiences, exclusive content, and access to virtual reality (VR) experiences.

Meta Plus represents a new revenue stream for the social media giant, which has traditionally relied on advertising to generate revenue. The service is expected to appeal to users who are willing to pay for a premium experience and who value privacy and control over their online experience.

One of the critical features of Meta Plus is the ability to access exclusive content, including articles, videos, and live events, from select partners. This content will be curated by Meta’s team of editors and offer users a unique and high-quality experience they cannot find elsewhere.

Another major draw of the subscription service is the ability to access VR experiences through the Oculus platform, which Meta owns. These experiences will include games, entertainment, and other interactive content and will offer users a new way to engage with the platform and each other.

In addition to these features, Meta Plus will offer users an ad-free experience and additional control over their news feed and privacy settings. This will appeal to users who are concerned about the impact of advertising and want more control over their online experience.

The launch of Meta Plus represents a significant shift for Meta, which has traditionally been a free platform. However, the company has been exploring alternative revenue streams in recent years, including through its Oculus VR platform and e-commerce initiatives.

The move to a subscription model also aligns with Meta’s broader strategy of focusing on privacy and user control as the company seeks to position itself as a more responsible and user-friendly platform. It remains to be seen how successful Meta Plus will be and whether users will be willing to pay for a premium experience on the platform.

Hello 2023: Emerging tech in the new year

The digital world evolves at a rapid pace. Only a few decades back, connecting to the internet required a dial-up modem and took a lot of time to load even the most basic website. Now people are constantly connected to the internet and practically live there thanks to social media and other engaging applications. As of now, with the help of UPI, even a local vegetable vendor is being able to support their business by connecting to high-end technology and big businesses definitely need to keep up with it to adapt to the rapid changes and stay competitive in the long run.

The major layoffs in the tech industry were clearly a hit to the advancement of new tech trends. However, the already-established tech trends are expected to thrive to a whole new degree in 2023. The latest and emerging technologies held more value than ever as the digital domain trumped over several others. Below is a list of what we believe will be the top tech trends of 2023 –

Smarter Devices

The computing prowess is growing at a rapid pace that enables us to create smarter devices. As of 2022, we have smart televisions, wearables, cars, and of course our beloved smartphones. However, there are also intelligent robots that work alongside humans to complete the majority of their tasks. Did you know that the Police Department of San Francisco, California has currently applied a proposal to deploy robots that are capable of deadly force including killing a person in extraordinary circumstances? Killer robots were only a thing we saw in sci-fi films but the proposal actually cements the fact that this technology is actually ready to be deployed! I do not intend to paint a dystopian picture where robots hold the strings to our lives but it is an interesting development nonetheless. In 2023, the momentum of smarter devices will only be moving forward at a rapid pace. The introduction of intelligent home robots is expected in 2023 which is yet another interesting development in the world of tech. Would you be interested in buying a smart robot for your home or do you think it’s too dystopian?

Metaverse

The metaverse has been quietly waiting for its time to become mainstream. If you ask me, the term metaverse in itself does not trigger my curiosity as much as the term ‘immersive technology’ does. We’re moving towards the next stage of internet usage where we work, play, socialize, maybe go on romantic dates, and do everything else on an internet platform. Forbes reports that the metaverse will be adding in $5 trillion to the global economy by 2030 and the next year is very crucial when it comes to the relevance and prominence of the metaverse for the next decade. As mentioned above, AR/VR technology has continued to advance at a rapid pace but the adoption of the metaverse is a key aspect for the technology to advance furthermore. The one arena where the metaverse will advance in 2023 will be more immersive meeting environments. People will be able to talk, meet, and co-create in a virtual environment. Microsoft and Nvidia are already working on creating individual metaverse platforms dedicated to collaborations on digital platforms. Another important aspect of the metaverse is the avatars present in the virtual world. If you’re familiar with the film ‘Ready Player One’ then you know the level of virtual avatars that are already present in pop culture and people expect something similar if not better. Sadly we’re not there yet. However, it looks like 2023 will mark the year when metaverse will be able to produce life-like avatars thanks to motion capture technology if it’s ever implemented at a larger scale for the general public to use.

Bringing together the digital and the real world

We are already at the state where we are seeing an increasing connection between the virtual and the real world. The one main component of bridging this gap has been virtual simulation technology known as digital twins. In this technology, real-world processes, operations, and products are rendered as virtual simulations to test new ideas in a much safer digital environment. Engineers use digital twins technology to recreate physical objects in the virtual world to test them under every possible outcome and condition without shelling out the big bucks of real-life experiments. In 2023, the digital twins technology will only be taking a more mainstream route and expanding into many industries like automobiles, machinery, cars, and precision healthcare.

Decentraland’s $1.2 Billion metaverse has only 38 ‘Daily Active’ users

It felt like for a while, everywhere you looked you were bombarded with metaverse-related content on the internet. Be it social media, digital news outlets, or your ‘Crypto-Bro’ friend, you could not miss out on the metaverse and everything around it even if you tried. So, what’s happening with the digital revolution which was touted to change the world as we experience it? Well, nothing much! One might ask what is happening with the metaverse these days only to find articles and discourse on the internet which do not lean towards the positive side. Now, it has been revealed that one of the high-budgeted metaverses, Decentraland, only had 38 daily active users!

Decentraland’s active users

I’ll come off clean here, I too had bought Decentraland’s crypto token, MANA, during its peak hype. I quickly sold the tokens off to shift to SHIBA INU and have been a SHIB loyalist ever since. Though I was skeptical about Decentraland’s ambitious metaverse ever becoming mainstream, this was not expected! DappRadar data aggregator recently released data that the Ethereum-based Decentraland only had 38 ‘active users’ over a period of 24 hours. This is a shockingly low number given the company’s market cap of a whopping $1.2 billion.

It is important to note that according to DappRadar, active users are counted based on unique wallet address’ interaction with Decentraland’s smart contract. This means that users making any purchase using SAND or MANA tokens in the platform only are counted as active users. People simply logging in to the metaverse to communicate with one another or roaming around the metaverse are not counted as active users. CoinDesk reached out to Sam Hamilton, the Creative Director at Decentraland, who clarified that DappRadar does not track the users in its entirety but only people who interact with their contracts. Sam added furthermore that there are currently 8,000 people on average in the Decentraland metaverse daily.

8,000 daily users off a $1.2 billion investment sounds…. tragic? This certainly does not prove whether or not the metaverse is the future. But we surely are off to a rocky start.

Meta reveals next generation Quest Pro VR Headset

It is not a secret that in the past years, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been pushing VR technology to make it mainstream. Meta surely believes that its metaverse is the next big breakthrough in technology that can allow our virtual lives to easily integrate with our real lives. While many feel skeptical about how mainstream the metaverse could become, Zuckerberg is doubling down on his vision to make it a success. Recently, at an online event held for developers, Meta Connect 2022, Mark revealed a new VR headset, the Quest Pro.

Quest Pro VR Headset

Meta has launched its new Quest Pro VR Headset which comes at a whopping price of $1499. This is almost four times the price of the company’s current headset the Quest 2 which starts at $399. The VR headset boasts thinner lenses, a curved battery, and also controllers equipped with self-track. The ‘Pro’ part of Meta’s new VR Headset is that it can allow users to see their real environment around the periphery of the screen. It comes with mixed capabilities, which means that digital content can be viewed overlaid in the real world.

Do you remember Google Lens which also had a similar functionality? Makes you think…

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also made an appearance at the event where he announced that the Office 365 platform will also be available on it. Meta has placed the mixed reality platform as not only a form of entertainment but also a work tool. Meta has also joined hands with Zoom to integrate its metaverse avatars into the video call platform. Meta Boss Mark Zuckerberg has touted the mixed reality approach to be the next major step for VR. The push for VR and the metaverse by the company is surely aggressive, however, the adoption of this new virtual world has been at a slower rate. The future of the metaverse depends upon how advanced the virtual world can get to stimulate people’s imaginations. My only reference point to the metaverse is the film Ready Player One, and we are nowhere near how good the technology was in that Spielberg flick!

Future knocks on the door as augmented reality contact lenses make an appearance

The way humans interact with technology is ever-changing. With the inception of VR and AR tech, humanity received a chance to experience the digital world immensely close. While many industry giants claim that the metaverse is the next big leap in technology, the way humans interact with the metaverse is still limited to clunky VR and AR hardware. However, it looks like it is all about to change with a tiny lens enabling tech enthusiasts and the general public to access AR graphics right before their eyes. Read below to know more about the lenses which, in concept are as remarkable as science fiction:

The Mojo Lens

In July, the CEO of Mojo Vision, Drew Perkins, shared his experience of the first “on-eye demonstration” of the Mojo lens. In its initial stage, Drew wore the contact lens in only one eye for an hour; however, Mojo Vision aims for the users to wear two lenses simultaneously for longer durations to experience 3D visual overlays. The lenses developed by Mojo Vision are undoubtedly a technological marvel, something only expected from sci-fi characters like Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. To achieve the feat of developing ‘smart lenses’, the company had to develop its own plastic and chemical components in order to allow an eyeball to be breathable through an electronic lens.

The designed lenses are thick enough to cover up the human eyes’ outer whites partially but are not uncomfortable, as claimed by the project’s senior director of product management David Hobbs. The lens also houses a flexible circuit no wider than the human hair couples with nine pacemaker-style titanium batteries to supply power and data. The pixels of the lens have been squeezed into a space of only 2 microns.

The AR hype

It would be an understatement to call the Mojo lenses an ambitious project. Many companies before Mojo Vision have attempted to bring AR to the mainstream but have failed to do so. A few projects in the pipeline surrounding wearable AR tech have either been delayed indefinitely or failed to live up to the hype like the Google Glass. The complexities of AR technology root in the melding of digital elements and constantly moving physical objects. Whether AR bridges the gap between the digital world and the physical world is yet to be seen.

Mahindra Launches TechMVerse

Tech Mahindra makes its debut in the metaverse world by launching TechMVerse. The platform will give its users interactive and immersive experiences. Aiming to deliver tangible business outcomes, Tech Mahindra will support its infrastructure capabilities and networks. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Blockchain, 5G, and Quantum Computing are the foundational technological capabilities to build B2B cases across sectors.

“It will offer immersive digital and professional experience services around design, content, as well as low code plug and play Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Blockchain platforms, while also aligning the metaverse strategy with Tech Mahindra’s digital and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals,” Tech Mahindra said in a statement. Having collaborated with Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, Tech Mahindra will be offering exclusive Digital Collectibles starting with series from the former’s stable.

The collection will be available on sale through Tech Mahindra’s leading NFT Marketplace platform. “Metaverse has the power to disrupt our reality, as well as the future, for good. At Tech Mahindra, we have always been at the forefront of 5G, and our entry into the Metaverse is yet another milestone in our journey of catalyzing future readiness and disrupting and transforming customer experiences. The fundamental layers of Metaverse are very well integrated within Tech Mahindra and its competencies.

From infrastructure to experience, from spatial computing to now commerce, TechMahindra’s platform, the TechMverse, would enable seamless integration between our known expertise in 5G with our skills in AI, AR/VR, and blockchain. We would be training a workforce of 1000 engineers to ensure they are ready to solve complex business challenges and imagine new worlds for our customers and society,” CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra, said in a statement.

Initially, the organization is used to exploit the Metaverse’s advantages through various utilization cases, including DealerVerse, a metaverse-based vehicle showroom, Middlemist, a non-monetary exchange commercial centre, MetaBank, a virtual bank, and a gaming place.

Say Hello to the Future of Dating – The Metaverse

Back then, life was a bit challenging, especially in terms of dating because asking someone out in person is not everybody’s cup of tea, then and even now. About 25 years ago, entrepreneurs Gary Kremen and Peng T. Ong decided to come up with a solution and launched the first dating site in the form of Match.com. Since then, the online dating world has evolved dramatically, as it changed the course of dating and brought everything on our plate within one click.

We enjoyed the online dating phase on websites, going ahead with time, several marriage sites launched to help people find the right partner and then the app culture arrived, which turned out to be a milestone in the dating universe. We were swapping right-left all the time, and then the COVID-19 pandemic swapped right on us. So, dating companies started figuring out a solution to help singles and this time, they came up with something unbelievable.

Imagine you’re sleeping on a couch while your TV is on, and your dog is wagging his tail near you because your phone is vibrating. Suddenly, you woke up from a nap only to realize you’ve promised someone a date. Now, she’s already there, waiting for you, and you’re still in your shorts, thinking about a reason to convince her. Well, in real life, this kinda situation might lead to a quick argument, but when the metaverse dating arrives, you will endure the situation. Let me tell you how?

But first understand, what is Metaverse?

You’ve probably heard a lot about the metaverse already, but most of us didn’t care to know what it is actually? The term metaverse first occurred in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. In simple language, the metaverse is a shared digital reality where users can connect to each other, build economies and interact in real-time. It’s the future of the internet, where anything can be done, but it remains to be seen like AI and blockchain.

All the top companies worldwide are investing tons of money in the metaverse, from Facebook to Nike, everyone wants to be a part of it. If you ask about dating companies, tinder’s parent company Match Group is already working on building a dating metaverse. For now, I’ll suggest, don’t dive deep to learn more about the metaverse because it’s way too complex, and the term doesn’t refer to any specific type of technology.

What will dating be like in the Metaverse?

I hope you’ve visualized yourself in the above scenario where the guy in shorts is thinking about what to say to his date? You might suggest convincing her with truth or perhaps with a lie. Now, I’ll tell you how metaverse dating will help you duck a similar situation? First and foremost, such concerns will not even occur in metaverse dating because here, you’re a 3D avatar, and to activate it, you only have to wear the necessary Virtual Reality (VR) gear.

You don’t have to leave your couch, you don’t have to drop your dog at your friend’s apartment, and you don’t even have to take a shower because you’re going on a date in metaverse where none of these things matter. Your metadate will look like this: You both have to wear VR headsets to track eye movements and facial expressions. Besides VR gear, both of you will have to wear haptic gloves, a wearable device that mimics tactile sensations of virtual objects.

You can decide any place that exists in the metaverse to meet each other. Now, imagine you’re waiting for your date in an outdoor cafe, and then a date tracker notifies you that your date is about to reach. You put your headphones on to avoid anxiousness, but you’re having a hard time focusing. And then you look up and see a beautiful girl in a skirt with a button-up shirt walking towards you. She has what we call a perfectly toned figure and eyes like pearls that shine like stars. She waves at you and joins you for an ice-cream date. You both are having a good time, and then the waiter shows up with a bill. You’re about to pay, and then your subconscious warns you, “Split it bro! She might like it if you allow her to pay her part” And “What if she didn’t like the gesture?” says the other one.

Finally, you prefer to wait, and she puts her hand on yours, of course through the haptic gloves (don’t worry, you’ll get the same feelings) and says, “Let’s split it for now”, and then both of you pay your share of the bill with tinder/bumble coins. While walking her out, you plan to ask her for another date, this time – a real one, but again your subconscious stops you by saying, “Don’t rush the things, wait for her message and what if she’s not this captivating in real life?”, and you drop the idea.

The benefits of dating in the Metaverse

What do we do while preparing for a first date? We think, we think a lot and then overthinking kills us; sometimes, it even adds pimples to make it worse. We usually look for a nice outfit, we make sure that we’re behaving well, we rehearse all the table manners, and many more things. While in metaverse dating, you don’t have to follow these old-school rules. In meta dating, you set your own rules, you choose your looks. Basically, you have a right to do whatever you want!

When meta dating will come into our lives, please don’t overdo anything. Choose your avatars carefully, and try to create an avatar that really matches your persona. Otherwise, you might end up dealing with rejection on your actual date with that special someone. Metaverse dating is beneficial for every one of us as it will allow us to meet our date in a virtual world where you can get an unbelievable amount of information about how your date feels about you without them saying a word.

Did you know?

On 5th Feb, a Bhopal-based couple, Abhijeet Goel, a tech entrepreneur and Dr Sansrati Jain, a pedodontist, tied a wedding knot and became the first couple in India to marry in the 3D Metaverse. The couple created a scenic beachside environment to host their wedding, where the guests also joined in via their digital avatars. The virtual wedding took place on Yug Metaverse, an Indian company that creates a metaverse for marriages, virtual events, exhibitions, business meetings, and conferences. The wedding was associated with two media agency brands, Wavemaker India for ITC Ltd. and Matrimony.com. Who conceptualised, organised and executed the wedding.

Facebook Changed Its Name To ‘Meta’. But Why Though?

One of the biggest news of this year has to be Facebook changing its name. Since the company’s launch in 2004, Facebook has changed the way people interact on the Internet and connected people through all walks of life. It also purchased other social media giants such as Instagram and Whatsapp and further invested and broadened its reach in a digital wallet and Virtual Reality Systems.

What is The New Name?

Facebook has changed its corporate name to ‘Meta’ as part of a major rebrand. The name, however, does not apply to its social media platforms like the Facebook app, Instagram, and Whatsapp, but only the parent company. It has also adopted a new logo that looks like infinity.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, announced the new name as he unveiled plans to build a ‘metaverse’. We will talk about the Metaverse part in the latter part of the article.

Imagine telling people you are on Meta. They will be alarmed if you are on some sort of drug. They might even ask you to consider rehabilitation. Here’s the funny part, with all the legal abuses that Facebook has had under its belt, it should actually consider a rehab….there I said it.

Why The New Name?

In a 75-minute online presentation, Mark Zuckerberg urged users to adjust their thinking about the company since he had outgrown its problematic social media network.

The company has had multiple hits on its reputation. The move to change the name comes after multiple allegations over privately and meticulously tracking real-world harms aggravated by its platform, ignored warnings about the risk of their design decisions, and exposed vulnerable communities worldwide to a set of dangerous and harmful content.

The Washington Post also reported that internal documents leak suggested that Facebook hid facts and critical information of the vaccine during the Covid outbreak. The company also sat on research that found Instagram as a leading cause of harming the mental health of teenagers and its inability to remove hate speech from its platform.

It’s like Rakesh committed all the crimes in the world, and when his secret was unveiled in front of the world, he announced that he would be called Mahesh from now onwards. Imagine someone confronting Mahesh for his heinous deeds, and he goes like… Nah bro, that was Rakesh.

However, these are the speculations and possibilities on why Facebook made this sudden move of rebranding its company. According to Zuckerberg, it is done because Facebook wants to create a Metaverse and that the company has grown above being just a social networking platform.

What is Metaverse?

Some are considering it as the future of the Internet. But what exactly is a Metaverse?

A few years back, did it ever cross your mind that a thing called Virtual Reality could allow you to experience games and movies in a way that was happening right in front of your eyes? A metaverse is just an enhanced version of this virtual reality.

You could use a headset to enter a virtual world connecting all sorts of digital environments. This virtual world could be used for practically anything- work, play, concerts, movie theatres, or just hanging out. It is like a universe in itself that is quite vacant but ships everyone virtually. You could have a 3D avatar – a representation of yourself – as you use it.

Quite exciting and scary. Isn’t it? Am I seeing a future where everyone has lost a sense of reality and is as good as their Internet connection? I don’t know. This is just an idea of this whole thing and contains no agreed definition of Metaverse.

Companies Changing Names

Interestingly, Philip Morris Co. Inc., makers of cigarette brands like Marlboro and Chesterfield, changed its name to the anodyne Altria Group to avoid press nightmares. The company was accused of rising tobacco-related deaths. Instead of making customers forget about Philip Morris, Altria’s new name just reminded them that the company wanted to avoid being blamed for the adverse health effects caused by its tobacco products.

ValuJet couldn’t shake the bad reputation it got after flight 592 crashed in the Everglades in 1996. All 110 passengers died in the horrific incident. An investigation revealed SabreTech, the airline’s maintenance contractor, was responsible for the accident due to unsafe cargo conditions. ValuJet merged with AirTran in 1997, giving up its name in the process.

In 2015, Google decided that it would change its name to Alphabet. The reasons provided had mainly to do with clarity for investors. Google’s more controversial projects, such as its efforts to expand its reach with accident-prone drones and sensitive health care technology, no longer have Google’s name on them. They’re now owned by Alphabet, an innocent-sounding company you’ve probably never heard of. If you pick up a random stranger on the streets and ask him what Alphabet is, you will likely receive all sorts of naive and dumb answers.

Conclusion

The thing is, Facebook is not the first company that opted for rebranding after it was covered in a blanket of controversies. This has been done for ages, and sometimes it works, and other times it fails to save the image of the associated company. Only time will tell what lies ahead for Facebook, um, I mean Meta.