The Metaverse, with a capital M, is the idea that there will be a single virtual reality in which humans will become avatars. In this shared virtual reality space, they will talk to each other, hang out, play games, watch movies and even surf the web. NVIDIA, a company whose investment in the metaverse has led some to predict that it will one day surpass Apple, is just one of many companies fighting to gain a foothold in the metaverse fever. Many blockchain-based metaverse platforms continue to develop augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology that will allow users to fully interact in the space.
Roblox, a platform where independent developers create games popular with children, may be the closest and broadest vision of the metaverse. Heyning, 45, has joined with volunteers to form the Open Metaverse Interoperability Group, which aims to establish technology standards for "linking virtual worlds, in the hope that metaverse players will adopt them". What is not yet clear is to what extent the growth and inflation of Metaverse assets is a function of record levels of liquidity in the global financial system; I suspect it is, and that the real tests of the Metaverse may come when, and if, the Federal Reserve raises interest rates.
