For many people, the word “metaverse” has been tainted with negative connotations, conjuring images of cartoonish worlds filled with creepy avatars or opportunistic platforms selling “virtual real estate.” For others, the word inspires a mild shrug followed by questions like — “Why would I want to spend time doing that?”
Personally, I believe it’s way too early to write-off the metaverse but we have work to do. The industry needs to deploy experiences that are more realistic, more artistic, and unleash genuine creativity and productivity. We also need to correct the biggest misconception about the metaverse: the flawed notion that virtual worlds will replace our physical lives.
This is not how the metaverse will unfold.
Don’t get me wrong, there will be popular virtual worlds that are fully simulated, but these will be temporary “escapes” we sink into for a few hours at a time, similar to how we watch movies or play video games today. But the real metaverse, the one that deeply impacts our daily life, will not remove us from our physical surroundings.