Let’s talk about the “metaverse.”
By now, you’ve heard me throw the word around here and there.
But my guess is that many readers still aren’t quite sure exactly what it is.
Even if you do, I want to provide my take on it in today’s article.
Basically, the metaverse is a network of real-time rendered 3D virtual worlds with an unlimited number of users.
If you saw the movie, “Ready Player One,” you have an idea what I’m talking about.
Think about Roblox or Minecraft or any other virtual-world gaming experience.
Think about your avatar, or character, and what he or she is wearing, its attributes and any digital assets it possesses.
Now, imagine if you could walk from one game to another… from one virtual world to another.
Anything’s Possible in the Metaverse
In the metaverse, you will be able to seamlessly travel from a game you are playing in Roblox…
To your digital house in “Decentraland” — another decentralized 3D virtual reality platform…
To the online DMV to renew your driver license…
And then to a live but virtual appointment with your doctor.
With a virtual reality (VR) headset and controller, you might even take a virtual boxing class or sword-fighting lesson from a professional instructor on the other side of the globe.
And all of this can happen without ever switching from one platform to another or even getting off of your couch.
Where Software and Hardware Come Together
Meanwhile, you own all of your own data.
There is no central source of servers like those operated by Facebook (FB) or Google (GOOGL) that is collecting information on where you go and what you do in order to target advertising toward your activities.
Now add in another layer — physical hardware.
With a VR headset, the whole experience will look like real life.
Haptic gloves, vests and other devices would allow you to feel another person brushing against your shoulder or the wind blowing across your hand.
To most, this sounds like science fiction. But it could soon be your reality.
The Coming Reality
Microsoft (MSFT) is releasing “Mesh” — a collaborative platform for virtual experiences inside Microsoft Teams, next year.
Companies will be able to host virtual meetings via 3D avatars to bring new life to traditional video calls.
By 2023, Seoul, South Korea hopes to create a metaverse “allowing citizens to conveniently meet with avatar officials to deal with civil complaints and consultations, which are currently handled only by visiting municipal offices.”
Disney (DIS) plans to connect the physical and digital worlds, “allowing for storytelling without boundaries in our own Disney Metaverse,” according to CEO Bob Chapek.
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) is leading the development front with its “Omniverse” platform, an open-source tool that allows users to build virtual worlds.
CEO Jensen Huang says, “we’ll have millions of robots in the physical world, but we’re going to have billions of robots in the Omniverse worlds… these billions of robots are learning to be physical robots — you could have a million of them learning how to be one good robot.”
How to Profit
The investment opportunity is enormous.
Huang went on to say, “The metaverse is going to be a new economy that is larger than our current economy.”
And Matthew Ball, CEO of venture capital firm Epyllion believes the metaverse represents a $30 trillion opportunity in the next 15 years.
There are a lot of ways to play this.
And no single company is going to own the whole thing (even though Mark Zuckerberg would love to).
I will go more in depth on the ins and outs of the metaverse in future posts.
But for now, start to think about the enormous opportunity this presents and what you will do when the metaverse is here to stay.
Embrace the surge,
Ross Givens
Editor, Stock Surge Daily
