Proponents and creators of the metaverse told ET that there were endless unrealised use cases for monetising and living in virtual worlds. Just as no formal change marked the transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, the development of the metaverse will occur naturally as people spend more time online and link more of their identities to their digital lives. At no point will the Metaverse be switched on, but rather the Metaverse will come about gradually, as cultural changes and technological upgrades give Internet users the ability to move more and more freely and to more easily create and share bespoke content on the web. In addition, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) would allow users in the Metaverse to own unique and bespoke objects, just as in the real world, and cryptocurrencies provide a roadmap for how a Metaverse economy could take shape.
Roblox, a platform where independent developers create games popular with children, may be the closest and most expansive vision of the metaverse. Heyning, 45, has joined with volunteers to form the Open Metaverse Interoperability Group, which aims to establish technological standards for "linking virtual worlds, in the hope that metaverse players will adopt them". Without the oversight of a metaverse government or other regulatory body, blockchain technology would ensure that transactions and identities in the metaverse are secure and public. Where technology is sufficient, broad cultural changes are needed to drive the development of a true Metaverse.
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.
