Mark Zuckerberg and his team are hardly the only tech visionaries with ideas on how the metaverse

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been a leading voice on the hype of the "metaverse," a virtual reality version of the internet that the tech giant sees as the future. The metaverse, short for "meta-universe," is a digital world where the real and virtual merge into a vision of science fiction and allows people to move between different devices and communicate in a virtual environment. Mark Zuckerberg and his team are hardly the only tech visionaries with ideas on how the metaverse, which will employ a mix of virtual reality and other technologies, should take shape. And some who've been thinking about it for a while have concerns about a new world tied to a social media giant that could get access to even more personal data and is accused of failing to stop the proliferation of dangerous misinformation and other online harms that exacerbate real-world problems.

What is the metaverse?

Think of it as the internet brought to life, or at least rendered in 3D. Zuckerberg has described it as a "virtual environment" you can go inside of — instead of just looking at on a screen. Essentially, it's a world of endless, interconnected virtual communities where people can meet, work, and play, using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphone apps, or other devices.

What is AR/VR Technology?

Almost any person with a smartphone can get access to augmented reality, making it more efficient than VR as a branding and gaming tool. AR morphs the mundane, physical world into a colorful, visual one by projecting virtual pictures and characters through a phone's camera or video viewer. Augmented reality is merely adding to the user's real-life experience.

Virtual reality takes these same components to another level by producing an entirely computer-generated simulation of an alternate world. These immersive simulations can create almost any visual or place imaginable for the player using special equipment such as computers, sensors, headsets, and gloves.

What will a person be able to do in the metaverse?

Things like going to a virtual concert, taking a trip online, viewing or creating artwork, and trying on or buying digital clothing. The metaverse also could be a game-changer for the work-from-home shift amid the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of seeing co-workers on a video call grid, employees could join them in a virtual office. Facebook has launched meeting software for companies, called Horizon Workrooms, to use with its Oculus VR headsets, though early reviews have not been great. The headsets cost US$300 or more, putting the metaverse's most cutting-edge experiences out of reach for many. For those who can afford it, users would be able, through their avatars, to flit between virtual worlds created by different companies.

Is Facebook going all-in on the metaverse?

Mark Zuckerberg is pulling out all the stops on what he sees as the next generation of the internet since he believes it's going to be a big part of the digital economy. Critics keep thinking about whether the potential turn could be a work to occupy from the organization's emergencies, including antitrust crackdowns, a declaration by whistleblowing previous representatives, and concerns about its handling of misinformation.

Former employee Frances Haugen has blamed Facebook's platforms for harming children and inciting political violence after copying internal research documents and turning them over to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. They also were provided to a group of media outlets, including The Associated Press, which reported numerous stories about how Facebook prioritized profits over safety and hid its research from investors and the public.

Why won't it work?

People have been talking about this future for decades and it never really comes close to what anyone has envisioned. The question is, why is there a renewed focus? It comes down to this: If we had a metaverse that dictated our relationships, a place where we kept assets and interacted with politics, then whoever controls that metaverse is the closest thing we have to a scientific god. The reason this is getting so much attention is that everyone is freaked out by the idea of a scientific god named Mark Zuckerberg.

There are some very uncomfortable things about all of this. We live in a capitalist society — money equals options. The people with the most options in the world, specifically Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg, either want to be off the planet or they want to create a different universe on this planet. It feels like the mother of all abdications. "We don't want to improve the world, we want to go to a different world." It seems somewhat nihilistic and strange.

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