metaverse

File:Un enfant portant un casque de réalité virtuelle (Exalto, Villeurbanne).jpg to explore the metaverse.]]

Components of metaverse technology have already been developed within online video games.{{Cite web |last=Orland |first=Kyle |date=November 7, 2021 |title=So what is 'the metaverse', exactly? |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/11/everyone-pitching-the-metaverse-has-a-different-idea-of-what-it-is/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109041036/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/11/everyone-pitching-the-metaverse-has-a-different-idea-of-what-it-is/ |archive-date=November 9, 2021 |access-date=November 9, 2021 |website=Ars Technica}} The 2003 virtual world platform Second Life is often described as the first metaverse,{{Cite news |last=Tidy |first=Joe |date=November 5, 2021 |title=Zuckerberg's metaverse: Lessons from Second Life |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59180273 |url-status=live |access-date=November 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113200715/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59180273 |archive-date=November 13, 2021}}{{cite news|last=Maney|first=Kevin|date=February 4, 2007|title=The king of alter egos is surprisingly humble guy|newspaper=USA Today|url=https://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20070205/secondlife_cover.art.htm|access-date=February 20, 2007|archive-date=February 18, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218101947/http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20070205/secondlife_cover.art.htm|url-status=live}} as it incorporated many aspects of social media into a persistent three-dimensional world with the user represented as an avatar, but historical claims of metaverse development started soon after the term was coined. Early projects included Active Worlds{{Cite web |title=Active Worlds for Windows (1995) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/active-worlds |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111080607/https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/active-worlds |archive-date=November 11, 2021 |access-date=November 3, 2021 |website=MobyGames}} and The Palace.

Popular games described as part of the metaverse include Habbo Hotel, World of Warcraft,{{cite web |last=Woods |first=Bob |date=May 7, 2022 |title=In Microsoft's Activision deal, it's not just stock prices but a future world at stake |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/07/in-microsofts-activision-deal-a-future-world-is-at-stake.html |work=CNBC |accessdate=May 8, 2022}} Minecraft, Fortnite,{{cite web |last=Webster |first=Andrew |date=March 18, 2021 |title=Fortnite's Experimental Story Is An Attempt To Create 'The Entertainment Experience Of The Future' |url=https://www.theverge.com/22338403/fortnite-story-narrative-interview-donald-mustard-epic-games |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503145155/https://www.theverge.com/22338403/fortnite-story-narrative-interview-donald-mustard-epic-games |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |access-date=May 3, 2021 |work=The Verge}} VRChat,{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PHT-zBxKQQ |title=Making Sense of VRChat, the 'Metaverse' People Actually Like |date=May 17, 2022 |last=Smith |first=Quinton |type=Video |publisher=People Make Games |others=Design and art direction by Anni Sayers |access-date=June 24, 2022 |via=YouTube}} and game creation platform Roblox.{{Cite news |last=Wakefield |first=Jane |date=March 10, 2021 |title=Roblox: How the children's game became a $30bn bet on the Metaverse |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56345586 |access-date=January 9, 2022}}{{Cite web |last=Sidhwani |first=Priyansh |date=March 12, 2021 |title=The History Of Roblox : From 2004 Until Now |url=https://techstory.in/the-history-of-roblox-from-2004-until-now/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420215249/https://techstory.in/the-history-of-roblox-from-2004-until-now/ |archive-date=April 20, 2021 |access-date=November 3, 2021 |website=TechStory}}{{cite web |title=Nike gets ahead of the Metaverse and creates 'Nikeland', its own virtual world on Roblox |url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/398619 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126054401/https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/398619 |archive-date=November 26, 2021 |access-date=November 26, 2021 |website=entrepreneur.com}}{{Cite web |last=Kastrenakes |first=Jacob |date=November 19, 2020 |title=Roblox goes public so that it can build a bigger metaverse |url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/19/21578491/roblox-ipo-announced-dau-increase-pandemic |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201062700/https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/19/21578491/roblox-ipo-announced-dau-increase-pandemic |archive-date=December 1, 2021 |access-date=December 1, 2021 |website=The Verge}} In a January 2022 interview with Wired, Second Life creator Philip Rosedale described the metaverse as a three-dimensional Internet that is populated with live people.{{Cite magazine |last=Edelman |first=Gilad |date=January 27, 2022 |title=How to Build a Better Metaverse |url=https://www.wired.com/story/metaverse-philip-rosedale-second-life/ |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028 |access-date=January 27, 2022}} Social interaction and 3D virtual worlds are often an integral feature in many massively multiplayer online games.

In 2017, Microsoft acquired the VR company AltspaceVR,{{Cite web |last=Langston |first=Jennifer |date=March 2, 2021 |title='You can actually feel like you're in the same place': Microsoft Mesh powers shared experiences in mixed reality |url=https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/microsoft-mesh/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103093804/https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/microsoft-mesh/ |archive-date=November 3, 2021 |access-date=November 3, 2021 |website=Innovation Stories}} and implemented virtual avatars and meetings held in virtual reality into Microsoft Teams.{{Cite web |last=Warren |first=Tom |date=November 2, 2021 |title=Microsoft Teams enters the metaverse race with 3D avatars and immersive meetings |url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/2/22758974/microsoft-teams-metaverse-mesh-3d-avatars-meetings-features |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117090313/https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/2/22758974/microsoft-teams-metaverse-mesh-3d-avatars-meetings-features |archive-date=November 17, 2021 |access-date=November 17, 2021 |website=The Verge}} Microsoft shut-down AltspaceVR in March 2023.{{Cite web |last=AltspaceVR |first=Team |date=2023-01-20 |title=AltspaceVR to Sunset the Platform on March 10, 2023 |url=https://altvr.com/sunset/ |access-date=November 23, 2024 |website=AltspaceVR |language=en-US |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310100938/https://altvr.com/sunset/ |archive-date=March 10, 2023}}

In 2019, the social network company Facebook launched a social VR world called Facebook Horizon.{{Cite web |last=Constine |first=Josh |date=September 25, 2019 |title=Facebook announces Horizon, a VR massive-multiplayer world |url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/25/facebook-horizon/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207063211/https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/25/facebook-horizon/ |archive-date=December 7, 2021 |access-date=November 3, 2021 |website=TechCrunch}} In 2021, the company was renamed "Meta Platforms" and its chairman Mark Zuckerberg{{Cite news|last=Roose|first=Kevin|date=October 29, 2021|title=The Metaverse Is Mark Zuckerberg's Escape Hatch|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/29/technology/meta-facebook-zuckerberg.html|access-date=October 30, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=October 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030001124/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/29/technology/meta-facebook-zuckerberg.html|url-status=live}} {{subscription required}} declared a company commitment to developing a metaverse.{{Cite news |last=Milmo |first=Dan |date=October 28, 2021 |title=Enter the metaverse: the digital future Mark Zuckerberg is steering us toward |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/28/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-meta-metaverse |access-date=December 13, 2021}} Many of the virtual reality technologies advertised by Meta Platforms remain to be developed.{{cite web|last1=Griffin|first1=Andrew|date=October 28, 2021|title=Facebook changes name to 'Meta' as it focuses on metaverse and tries to move on from controversies|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/facebook-meta-name-new-metaverse-b1947245.html|access-date=October 28, 2021|website=The Independent|location=London|archive-date=October 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028183501/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/facebook-meta-name-new-metaverse-b1947245.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=Thomas |first=Daniel |date=October 28, 2021 |title=Facebook changes its name to Meta in major rebrand |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59083601 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028183649/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59083601 |archive-date=October 28, 2021 |access-date=October 28, 2021 |website=BBC News}}{{cite web|last1=Paul|first1=Kari|date=October 28, 2021|title=Facebook announces name change to Meta in rebranding effort|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/28/facebook-name-change-rebrand-meta|access-date=October 28, 2021|website=The Guardian|location=London|archive-date=October 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028183343/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/28/facebook-name-change-rebrand-meta|url-status=live}} Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen criticised the move, adding that Meta Platforms' continued focus on growth-oriented projects is largely done to the detriment of ensuring safety on their platforms.{{Cite web |last=Hamilton |first=Isobel Asher |date=October 26, 2021 |title=Whistleblower Frances Haugen says Facebook's investment in the 'metaverse' shows how its priorities are all wrong |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-metaverse-frances-haugen-whistleblower-shocked-by-investment-2021-10 |access-date=December 30, 2021 |website=Business Insider}} Meta Platforms has also faced user safety criticism regarding Horizon Worlds due to sexual harassment occurring on the platform.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Stephen |date=December 17, 2021 |title=Meta launched an investigation after a woman said she was groped by a stranger in the metaverse |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-investigated-woman-claims-she-was-groped-in-metas-metaverse-2021-12 |access-date=December 30, 2021 |website=Business Insider}}{{Cite web |last=Mahdawi |first=Arwa |date=December 18, 2021 |title=Metaverse is just a new venue for the age-old problem of sexual harassment |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/18/metaverse-new-venue-sexual-harassment-facebook |access-date=December 30, 2021 |website=The Guardian}}{{Cite web |last=Sundaravelu |first=Anugraha |date=May 31, 2022 |title=Woman's avatar raped within an hour of signing into the metaverse |url=https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/31/another-womans-avatar-has-been-sexually-assaulted-in-the-metaverse-16737575/ |access-date=June 1, 2022 |website=Metro}} In 2021, Meta made a loss of over $10 billion on its metaverse development department, with Mark Zuckerberg saying he expected operating losses to "increase meaningfully" in 2022.{{Cite web |last=Kovach |first=Steve |date=February 2, 2022 |title=Mark Zuckerberg's 'metaverse' business lost more than $10 billion last year, and the losses keep growing |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/02/meta-reality-labs-reports-10-billion-loss.html |access-date=May 13, 2022 |website=CNBC}} In February 2023, Zuckerberg wrote a Facebook post announcing the company's pivot away from the metaverse to focus on AI.{{Cite web |date=2023-03-07 |title=Meta's "year of efficiency" means job cuts, less metaverse, and more generative AI |url=https://qz.com/meta-layoffs-2023-jobs-metaverse-ai-1850196575 |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=Quartz |language=en}}

Some metaverse implementations rely on digital currencies, and often cryptocurrency. Assets within the metaverse are sometimes traded as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and track ownership using blockchain technology.{{cite web |last=Page |first=Thomas |date=September 23, 2022 |title=Pixel pushers: How the metaverse became real estate's new frontier |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/metaverse-real-estate-market-2022-spc-intl/index.html |accessdate=October 2, 2022 |work=CNN}}

Proposed applications for metaverse technology include improving work productivity,{{Cite web|first=Veronica|last=Combs|date=October 29, 2021|title=The metaverse: What is it?|url=https://www.techrepublic.com/article/metaverse-what-is-it/|access-date=November 1, 2021|website=TechRepublic|archive-date=October 31, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031202202/https://www.techrepublic.com/article/metaverse-what-is-it/|url-status=live}} interactive learning environments, e-commerce,{{Cite web |date=May 30, 2022 |title=Despite metaverse buzz, 60% of consumers have zero interest in virtual shopping |url=https://venturebeat.com/2022/05/30/despite-metaverse-buzz-60-of-consumers-have-zero-interest-in-virtual-shopping/ |access-date=June 1, 2022 |website=VentureBeat}} mass-audience interaction,{{Cite web |last=Takahashi |first=Dean |date=November 3, 2022 |title=Why Improbable's Herman Narula believes virtual society will foster transhumanism |url=https://venturebeat.com/games/why-improbables-herman-narula-believes-virtual-society-will-lead-us-to-transhumanism/ |access-date=November 8, 2022 |website=VentureBeat |quote=The sleeping giants of the metaverse are massive communities – celebrities are a great example – who don't monetize those communities very well. They can't engage with them very easily. They want a new way of doing that. That is who the metaverse is going to unlock value for.}} healthcare{{Cite journal |last1=Curtis |first1=Caitlin |last2=Brolan |first2=Claire |date=November 27, 2022 |title=Health care in the metaverse |journal=Medical Journal of Australia |volume=218 |issue=1 |page=46 |doi=10.5694/mja2.51793|pmid=36437589 |s2cid=254042167 |doi-access=free |pmc=10952226 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |last2=Badal |last3=Jia |last4=Maltz |last5=Mueller |last6=Myers |last7=Niu |last8=Vannier |last9=Yan |last10=Yu |last11=Zeng |date=Nov 25, 2022 |title=Development of metaverse for intelligent healthcare |journal=Nature Machine Intelligence |volume=4 |issue=11 |pages=922–929 |doi=10.1038/s42256-022-00549-6|pmid=36935774 |pmc=10015955 |s2cid=253564988 }} and real estate.

Access points for the metaverse includes general-purpose computers and smartphones, augmented reality, mixed reality, and virtual reality.

Dependence on VR technology has limited metaverse development and wide-scale adoption. Limitations of portable hardware and the need to balance cost and design have caused a lack of high-quality graphics and mobility. Lightweight wireless headsets have struggled to achieve retina display pixel density needed for visual immersion.{{Cite web |last1=Wood |first1=Rhys |date=October 14, 2021 |title=This Oculus VR headset could feature lifelike resolution – here's why that matters |url=https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/this-oculus-vr-headset-could-feature-lifelike-resolution-heres-why-that-matters |access-date=January 9, 2022 |website=TechRadar}} Another issue for wide-scale adoption of the technology is cost, with consumer VR headsets ranging in price from $300 to $3500 as of 2022.

Current hardware development is focused on overcoming limitations of VR headsets, glasses, sensors, and increasing immersion with haptic technology.{{Cite news|last1=Lewis|first1=Leo|last2=Davies|first2=Christian|last3=Jung-a|first3=Song|date=January 5, 2022|title=Investors gear up for 'gold rush' in metaverse hardware|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/182bb2a7-b4e4-4d0d-8178-4cd9b4c225c4|access-date=January 8, 2022}}

There has been no wide-scale adoption of a standardized technical specification for metaverse implementations, and existing implementations rely primarily on proprietary technology. Interoperability is a major concern in metaverse development, stemming from concerns about transparency and privacy.{{Cite magazine |last=D'Anastasio |first=Cecilia |date=November 4, 2021 |title=The Metaverse Is Simply Big Tech, but Bigger |url=https://www.wired.com/story/big-tech-metaverse-internet-consolidation-business/ |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028 |access-date=January 8, 2022}} There have been several virtual environment standardization projects.{{cite web|title=The Metaverse Roadmap|url=http://metaverseroadmap.org/|access-date=October 8, 2011|publisher=Acceleration Studies Foundation|archive-date=May 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517174255/http://metaverseroadmap.org/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=X3D Specification, ISO/IEC 19775-1:2004 -- Part 1: Architecture and base components|url=https://www.web3d.org/documents/specifications/19775-1/V3.0/Part01/Architecture.html|access-date=November 3, 2021|website=www.web3d.org|archive-date=November 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111080617/https://www.web3d.org/documents/specifications/19775-1/V3.0/Part01/Architecture.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Virtual World Region Agent Protocol (VWRAP)|url=http://tools.ietf.org/wg/vwrap/|access-date=October 8, 2011|publisher=IETF|archive-date=August 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811063020/http://tools.ietf.org/wg/vwrap/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Immersive Education Technology Group (IETG)|url=http://mediagrid.org/groups/technology/grid.ied/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908045542/http://mediagrid.org/groups/technology/grid.ied/|archive-date=September 8, 2011|access-date=October 8, 2011|publisher=Media Grid}}{{Cite web |title=Immersive Web Working Group |url=https://www.w3.org/groups/wg/immersive-web |access-date=March 1, 2022 |website=www.w3.org}}

Universal Scene Description is a specification for 3D computer graphics interchange created by Pixar and supported by Blender, Apple's SceneKit and Autodesk 3ds Max. The technology company NVIDIA announced in 2021 they would adopt USD for their metaverse development tools.{{Cite web |last=Caulfield |first=Brian |date=April 27, 2021 |title=Universal Scene Description Key to Shared Metaverse, GTC Panelists Say |url=https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/04/27/usd-metaverse-gtc/ |access-date=December 24, 2021 |website=The Official NVIDIA Blog}}

glTF is a specification for the efficient transmission and loading of 3D scenes and models by engines and applications created by the Khronos Group, an industry consortium developing royalty free open standards. In August 2022 it was announced that glTF 2.0 had been released as the ISO/IEC 12113:2022 International Standard.{{Cite web|date=July 26, 2022|title=ISO/IEC 12113:2022 Information technology — Runtime 3D asset delivery format — Khronos glTF 2.0|url=https://www.iso.org/standard/83990.html|website=The Official ISO Website}}

OpenXR is an open standard for access to virtual and augmented reality devices and experiences. It has been adopted by Microsoft for HoloLens 2,{{Cite web |last=Edicott |first=Sean |date=July 23, 2019 |title=OpenXR now available on the Microsoft Store for Windows Mixed Reality |url=https://www.windowscentral.com/openxr-now-available-microsoft-store-windows-mixed-reality |access-date=January 8, 2022 |website=Windows Central}} Meta Platforms for the Oculus Quest,{{Cite web |last=Heaney |first=David |date=September 13, 2019 |title=Oculus Rift Has Hidden Preliminary Support For OpenXR |url=https://uploadvr.com/oculus-rift-basic-openxr-support/ |access-date=January 8, 2022 |website=UploadVR}} HTC for the HTC Vive,{{Cite web |last=Heaney |first=David |date=April 14, 2022 |title=HTC's Vive Focus 3 Standalone Headset Gets Beta OpenXR Support |url=https://uploadvr.com/vive-focus-3-openxr-beta/ |website=UploadVR}} Qualcomm for the Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform,{{Cite web |last=Sprigg |first=Sam |date=June 1, 2021 |title=Qualcomm announces global availability of its Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform |url=https://www.auganix.org/qualcomm-announces-global-availability-of-its-snapdragon-spaces-xr-developer-platform/ |website=Auganix}} and Valve for SteamVR.{{Cite web |date=August 18, 2022 |title=Conformant Products |url=https://www.khronos.org/conformance/adopters/conformant-products/openxr |publisher=Khronos Group}}{{Cite web|date=February 24, 2021|title=Steam :: SteamVR :: Introducing SteamVR 1.16|url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/250820/view/3044967019267211914|access-date=January 8, 2022|website=store.steampowered.com}}

In a February 2022 article for The New York Times, Lauren Jackson argued that the metaverse is "stalled from achieving scale by a lack of infrastructure for both hardware and software, a monopolistic approach to platform development, and a lack of clear governance standards."{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=Lauren |date=February 12, 2022 |title=Is the Metaverse Just Marketing? |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/podcasts/metaverse-marketing.html |access-date=February 17, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}

In December 2021, Raja Koduri, senior vice president of Intel, claimed that "Truly persistent and immersive computing, at scale and accessible by billions of humans in real time, will require even more: a 1,000-times increase in computational efficiency from today's state of the art."{{Cite web |last=Koduri |first=Raja |author-link=Raja Koduri |date=December 14, 2021 |title=Powering the Metaverse |url=https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/newsroom/opinion/powering-metaverse.html |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=Intel}}

In an article for The New York Times on October 26, 2022, Ryan Mac, a technology reporter, claimed that for the past year, Mark Zuckerberg has struggled to find the best way to achieve the metaverse. He has yet to succeed.{{Cite news |last=Mac |first=Ryan |date=October 26, 2022 |title=Meta's Profit Slides by More Than 50 Percent as Challenges Mount |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/26/technology/meta-facebook-q3-earnings.html |access-date=November 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}

Information privacy is an area of concern for the metaverse because related companies will likely collect users' personal information through interactions and biometric data from wearable virtual and augmented reality devices.{{Cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Lik-Hang |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355172308 |title=All One Needs to Know about Metaverse: A Complete Survey on Technological Singularity, Virtual Ecosystem, and Research Agenda |last2=Braud |first2=Tristan |last3=Zhou |first3=Pengyuan |last4=Wang |first4=Lin |last5=Xu |first5=Dianlei |last6=Lin |first6=Zijun |last7=Kumar |first7=Abhishek |last8=Bermejo |first8=Carlos |last9=Hui |first9=Pan |date=October 11, 2021 |doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.11200.05124/8 |doi-access=free |arxiv=2110.05352}} Meta Platforms (previously Facebook) is planning on employing targeted advertising within their metaverse, raising further worries related to the spread of misinformation and loss of personal privacy. In 2021, David Reid of Liverpool Hope University argued the amount of data collection in the metaverse would be greater than that on the internet stating "If you think about the amount of data a company could collect on the World Wide Web right now, compared to what it could collect with the metaverse, there is just no comparison."{{Cite web |date=April 11, 2021 |title=Who is Going to Police the 'Metaverse'? |url=https://www.hope.ac.uk/news/allnews/who-is-going-to-police-the-metaverse.html |access-date=January 19, 2022 |website=www.hope.ac.uk}} In fact, the current metaverse technology is very immature. Abdulsattar Jaber, a professor at Iraq's Middle Technical University, found that the new technology used by the metaverse may cause many problems related to the security and privacy of system users.{{Cite journal |last=Abdulsattar Jaber |first=Tanya |date=July 11, 2022 |title=Security Risks of the Metaverse World |url=https://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jim/article/view/33187 |journal=International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies |volume=16 |issue=13 |pages=4–14 |doi=10.3991/ijim.v16i13.33187 |s2cid=250467972 |issn=1865-7923|doi-access=free }}

User addiction and problematic social media use is another concern. Internet addiction disorder, social media, and video game addiction can have mental and physical repercussions over a prolonged period of time, such as depression,{{Cite web |last=Huddleston |first=Tom |date=January 31, 2022 |title='This is creating more loneliness': The metaverse could be a serious problem for kids, experts say |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/31/psychologists-metaverse-could-be-a-problem-for-kids-mental-health.html |access-date=February 2, 2022 |website=CNBC}} anxiety, and various other harms related to having a sedentary lifestyle such as an increased risk for obesity and cardiovascular disease. Experts are also concerned that the metaverse could be used as an 'escape' from reality in a similar fashion to existing internet technologies.{{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Woody |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tpRlAgAAQBAJ&dq=woody%20evans&pg=PA95 |title=Information Dynamics in Virtual Worlds |date=2011 |publisher=Chandos |isbn=9781780632742 |access-date=November 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207063211/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Information_Dynamics_in_Virtual_Worlds/tpRlAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=woody+evans&pg=PA95&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=December 7, 2021 |url-status=live}}

Virtual crimes like sex abuse, child grooming, and harassment are significant challenges within existing virtual reality social platforms, and may be similarly prevalent in the metaverse.{{Cite web |last=Basu |first=Tanya |date=December 16, 2021 |title=The metaverse has a groping problem already |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/12/16/1042516/the-metaverse-has-a-groping-problem/ |access-date=January 19, 2022 |website=MIT Technology Review}}{{Cite magazine |last=Chalmers |first=David |date=January 28, 2022 |title=What Should Be Considered a Crime in the Metaverse? |url=https://www.wired.com/story/crime-metaverse-virtual-reality/ |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028 |access-date=January 28, 2022}}{{Cite web |last=Baker-White |first=Emily |date=February 11, 2022 |title=Meta Wouldn't Tell Us How It Enforces Its Rules In VR, So We Ran A Test To Find Out |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilybakerwhite/meta-facebook-horizon-vr-content-rules-test |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=BuzzFeed News}}{{Cite news |last=Oremus |first=Will |date=February 7, 2022 |title=Kids are flocking to Facebook's 'metaverse.' Experts worry predators will follow. |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/02/07/facebook-metaverse-horizon-worlds-kids-safety/ |access-date=February 18, 2022}} In February 2022, investigations by BBC News and The Washington Post found minors engaging in adult activities in applications such as VRChat and Horizon Worlds despite an age requirement of 13 years or older.{{Cite news |last1=Crawford |first1=Angus |last2=Smith |first2=Tony |date=February 23, 2022 |title=Metaverse app allows kids into virtual strip clubs |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-60415317 |access-date=March 6, 2022}}

In an October 2022 interview, Roblox Chief Scientist Morgan McGuire stated that it is "a challenge to moderate 3D", and also compared moderating Roblox to shutting down speakeasies.{{Cite news |last1=Chmielewski |first1=Dawn |last2=Dastin |first2=Jeffrey |date=October 11, 2022 |title=Roblox says policing virtual world is like 'shutting down speakeasies' |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/reuters-momentum-roblox-says-policing-virtual-world-is-like-shutting-down-2022-10-11/ |access-date=October 12, 2022}}

With the emergence of the metaverse, many are calling for new regulations to protect users when they interact in the virtual world and to ensure that intellectual property (IP) laws are extended to both physical and virtual objects, respecting the rights of inventors, designers, and owners of trademarks, just as they would in the real world.{{Cite web |date=June 2022 |title=The metaverse, NFTs and IP rights: to regulate or not to regulate? |url=https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2022/02/article_0002.html |website=WIPO Magazine}}

Metaverse development may magnify the social impacts of online echo chambers and digitally alienating spaces{{Cite magazine |last=Shou |first=Darren |title=I Want My Daughter to Live in a Better Metaverse |url=https://www.wired.com/story/i-want-my-daughter-to-live-in-a-better-metaverse/ |url-status=live |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910165607/https://www.wired.com/story/i-want-my-daughter-to-live-in-a-better-metaverse/ |archive-date=September 10, 2021 |access-date=November 1, 2021}} or abuse common social media engagement strategies to manipulate users with biased content.{{Cite journal |last=Peck |first=Andrew |date=2020 |title=A Problem of Amplification: Folklore and Fake News in the Age of Social Media |journal=Journal of American Folklore |volume=133 |issue=529 |pages=329–351 |doi=10.5406/jamerfolk.133.529.0329 |issn=1535-1882 |s2cid=243130538}} Keza MacDonald of The Guardian criticized the utopianism of technology companies who claim that a metaverse could be a reprieve from worker exploitation, prejudice, and discrimination. MacDonald stated that they would be more positive towards metaverse development if it was not dominated by "companies and disaster capitalists trying to figure out a way to make more money as the real world's resources are dwindling."{{Cite web |last=MacDonald |first=Keza |date=January 25, 2022 |title=I've seen the metaverse – and I don't want it |url=https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/jan/25/ive-seen-the-metaverse-and-i-dont-want-it |access-date=January 27, 2022 |website=The Guardian}} Marketing professor Andreas Kaplan, citing their experience studying Second Life users, argues that the metaverse may have a generally negative societal impact due to their strongly addictive potential.{{Cite web|last=Kaplan|first=Andreas|date=November 2, 2021|title=Facebook's Metaverse: A nightmare turning into reality?|url=https://thechoice.escp.eu/tl-dr/facebooks-metaverse-a-nightmare-turning-into-reality/|access-date=March 10, 2022|website=ESCP}} People with physical disabilities like deafness or blindness are disadvantaged without technologies addressed to accessibility.{{Cite journal |last1=Allam |first1=Zaheer |last2=Sharifi |first2=Ayyoob |last3=Bibri |first3=Simon Elias |last4=Jones |first4=David Sydney |last5=Krogstie |first5=John |date=July 8, 2022 |title=The Metaverse as a Virtual Form of Smart Cities: Opportunities and Challenges for Environmental, Economic, and Social Sustainability in Urban Futures |journal=Smart Cities |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=771–801 |doi=10.3390/smartcities5030040 |issn=2624-6511 |doi-access=free|hdl=11250/3051264 |hdl-access=free }}

{{As of|2023}}, there has been little adoption of Metaverse technology, with Decentraland, a platform claiming to be the metaverse, reporting that it had 8,000 daily users or fewer.{{Cite web |last=Lawler |first=Richard |date=2022-10-13 |title=Decentraland's billion-dollar "metaverse" reportedly had 38 active users in one day |url=https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/13/23402418/decentraland-metaverse-empty-38-users-dappradar-wallet-data |access-date=2023-05-09 |website=The Verge |language=en-US}} Ed Zitron in Business Insider and Marc Olinga in The Street declared the Metaverse a fad that was "dead", having been displaced by artificial intelligence as the current hot new trend in computing.{{Cite web |last=Zitron |first=Ed |author-link=Ed Zitron |title=RIP Metaverse, we hardly knew ye |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/metaverse-dead-obituary-facebook-mark-zuckerberg-tech-fad-ai-chatgpt-2023-5 |access-date=2023-05-09 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Olinga |first=Marc |date=18 March 2023 |title=Mark Zuckerberg Quietly Buries the Metaverse |url=https://www.thestreet.com/technology/mark-zuckerberg-quietly-buries-the-metaverse |access-date=2023-05-09 |website=The Street}}

{{quote box|So Hiro's not actually here at all. He's in a computer-generated universe that his computer is drawing onto his goggles and pumping into his earphones. In the lingo, this imaginary place is known as the Metaverse. Hiro spends a lot of time in the Metaverse. It beats the shit out of the U-Stor-It.

| author = Neal Stephenson

| source = Snow Crash (1992).{{cite book |title=Snow Crash |first=Neal |last=Stephenson |author-link=Neal Stephenson |date=1992 |isbn=9780553351927 |publisher=Bantam Books |page=22}}

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}}

The term metaverse was coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, where humans, represented by computer-generated avatars, interact with each other and software agents, in a three-dimensional virtual space that uses the metaphor of the real world.{{Cite book|last=Grimshaw|first=Mark|title=The Oxford Handbook of Virtuality|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=9780199826162|location=New York|page=702}} Stephenson used the term to describe a virtual-reality-based successor to the internet.In the acknowledgments section following the text of Snow Crash, Stephenson writes: The words "avatar" (in the sense it is used here) and "Metaverse" are my inventions, which I came up with when I decided that existing words (such as "virtual reality") were simply too awkward to use.

Neal Stephenson's metaverse appears to its users as an urban environment developed along a 100-meter-wide road, called the Street, which spans the entire 65,536 km (2¹⁶ km) circumference of a featureless, black, perfectly spherical planet. The virtual real estate is owned by the Global Multimedia Protocol Group, a fictional part of the real Association for Computing Machinery, and is available to be bought and buildings developed thereupon.{{Cite book|last=Neal.|first=Stephenson|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/799825166|title=Snow crash|date=2007|publisher=Rizzoli|isbn=978-88-17-01682-7|oclc=799825166}}

Users of the metaverse access it through personal terminals that project a high-quality virtual reality display onto goggles worn by the user, or from grainy black and white public terminals in booths. The users experience it from a first-person perspective. Stephenson describes a sub-culture of people choosing to remain continuously connected to the metaverse; they are given the sobriquet "gargoyles" due to their grotesque appearance.

Within the metaverse, individual users appear as avatars of any form, with the sole restriction of height, "to prevent people from walking around a mile high". Transport within the metaverse is limited to analogs of reality by foot or vehicle, such as the monorail that runs the entire length of the Street, stopping at 256 Express Ports, located evenly at 256 km intervals, and Local Ports, one kilometer apart.

Ready Player One is a dystopian science fiction franchise created by Ernest Cline which depicts a shared VR landscape called "The OASIS". The first novel was released in 2011, with a 2018 film adaptation, and second novel in 2020. The franchise depicts the year 2045 as being gripped by an energy crisis and global warming, causing widespread social problems and economic stagnation. The primary escape for people is a shared VR landscape called "the OASIS" which is accessed with a VR headset and wired gloves.{{Cite web |last=Grady |first=Constance |date=March 26, 2018 |title=The Ready Player One backlash, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/3/26/17148350/ready-player-one-book-backlash-controversy-gamergate-explained |access-date=January 4, 2022 |website=Vox}} The OASIS functions both as a massively multiplayer online role-playing game and as a virtual society.{{cite web |date=December 24, 2021 |title=Books about metaverse to binge read over Christmas holidays |url=https://www.cnbctv18.com/technology/books-about-metaverse-to-binge-over-christmas-holidays-11928062.htm |access-date=February 19, 2022 |website=cnbctv18.com}}

{{wiktionary}}

• Closed platform
• Cyberspace
• Multiverse (video games)
• Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
• Nvidia Omniverse
• Spatial computing

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite report |url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R47224.pdf |title=The Metaverse: Concepts and Issues for Congress |date=August 26, 2022 |publisher=Congressional Research Service}}

{{Mixed reality}}

{{Meta-prefix}}

Category:Science fiction themes

Category:Fiction about virtual reality

Category:1992 neologisms

Category:Futurism