The biggest tech giants are fighting to establish themselves as leaders in Metaverse. Find out the different methods that Meta and Microsoft are adopting.
Innovative barriers are happening at a rapid pace, and it is expected that the line between real life and virtual reality (VR) will become even more blurred in the very distant future. We’re going through a significant technological transformation, with familiar concepts like augmented reality (AR), VR, artificial intelligence (AI) and the next iteration of the Internet – Web 3.0 – taking our lives in a way that has never been seen before.
Although a number of crypto-native firms have been working on various components of Metavers over the past few years, tech giants such as Meta, formerly known as Facebook, and Microsoft have spent significant amounts of time working on this new future. We are working to see who will realize Metaverse’s vision and succeed with it first.
What Is the Metaverse?
A metaverse is an endless online virtual environment that encompasses a wide range of Internet functions. In the future, the term is often described as a hypothetical repetition of the Internet as a virtual world facilitated by the use of virtual and augmented reality headsets.
Metaverse will create a digital environment where individuals can do whatever they want in the real world while removing boundaries. Activities like digital land ownership, attending meetings at work, partying in concerts, hanging out with friends, and even planning trips will be possible. You can quickly move into a virtual environment, such as your home, office, retail mall, amusement park and much more. In some versions of Metaverse, this can be done after a VR headset.
Metaverse is part of the larger Web 3.0 – the next generation of the Internet where information will be processed in a smart, human-like manner and users will be more engaged than ever before. Metaverse will provide a 3D environment where you can move around in your virtual nature and interact with other virtual avatars; Virtual economy facilitates virtual product business, community building, working and game play.
Who Owns the Metaverse?
Metavers can be hosted on a decentralized network or centralized server. In popular blockchain-based metavores such as The Sandbox and Decentland, users can buy digital real estate at Metavars, which effectively means they own that part of the metavars. However, what Meta and Microsoft are creating for Metavers is owned by these corporations. For example, VR Metavers – Horizon Worlds which is launching Meta. This makes it a centralized entity, much like the apps in the Facebook suite that we use today.
If you want to get involved with technology, you need to invest in Metaverse’s architecture, development and services. But as it stands, most of the metavers are still in the early stages. A popular metaverse, including Sandbox, Digital Land, and Play-to-Arm games, recently launched its Alpha Phase. Meta has launched its Metaverse app Horizon Worlds for users in the United States and Canada.
How Are Meta and Microsoft Approaching Metaverse?
According to both Microsoft and Meta, users will be able to create digital replicas of themselves (also known as avatars) that can wander freely throughout virtual worlds. Workers can attend meetings, have casual conversations with coworkers, or visit “digital twins” of real-world businesses and factories.
Meta is in the lead as far as VR devices are concerned. Technology from the Oculus, which Meta acquired for $2 billion in 2014, allowed them to launch their Horizon Worlds ahead of the competition. Horizon promotes itself as a collaborative VR world where creators can build their own vision and see it come to life in the virtual world. On Aug. 27, 2020, Horizon Worlds launched a beta, invite-only version of the app to select users.
More recently, on Dec. 9, 2021, they launched Horizon Worlds to all users in the U.S. and Canada who are above 18. There are thousands of worlds built by creators to explore — from a retro arcade, a town with magic brooms, to a riverboat ride. They also announced a $10 million creator fund to boost the development of more VR worlds and social spaces. Besides this fund, Meta said they would spend $10 billion in 2022 to develop tools for building the metaverse.
However, Microsoft’s metaverse concept is headed in a slightly different direction. Instead of VR, they are using a mixed-reality approach. With its HoloLens 2 and “holoportation,” users can project a life-like hologram of themselves or an avatar to interact as if they are physically there. While this sounds very sci-fi, they are also implementing the Mesh app on normal VR headsets and hardware that are currently more utilized, such as tablets, mobile phones, or PCs. While Meta’s Horizon Worlds appears to be bringing social spaces to VR, Microsoft is focusing more on collaborative, work-related tools.
Microsoft plans to roll out Mesh for Microsoft Teams in 2022, an immersive workplace on the metaverse where employees’ avatars can collaborate and join virtual meetings. Accenture, which worked with Microsoft to build out Mesh products, has onboard tens of thousands of new hires on Mesh after the pandemic hit. They even have two digital workplaces — One Accenture Park and a digital replica of its One Manhattan West office in New York.
Data Privacy in the Metaverse
The biggest issue in the debate is privacy. One could argue that Microsoft is considered better at guaranteeing data privacy, especially after lawsuits and hearings against Facebook. Therefore, it will be fairly easy to convince users that their data will be secure.
Meta, on the other hand, reiterated its commitment to data privacy in Metaverse, noting that it would reduce data collection activities to protect users and their data, and give people transparency and control over their data, leaving most future users distrustful. . However, previous breaches of data stories are enough to leave users with a heavy dose of suspicion. In terms of privacy, it ranks 21st among the top 35 technology giants. Despite the big data breach, the app’s Facebook ecosystem has always been desirable to its customers – with 1.93 billion daily active users.
Who Will Win the Race?
Meta’s vision is even more consistent with the future world we see in science fiction, in which people spend most of their time in the virtual world. Although this trend may be accelerated by the epidemic, will it continue as the world (finally) opens?
Microsoft has long been a powerful enterprise player, and its collaboration and productivity solutions are still the most popular in the office. Adding more immersive collaboration features to their current model is soon understood, especially since many people are currently in remote work or hybrid systems in the ongoing epidemic.
However, with the advent of technology, one can only guess who will be the ultimate winner. In 2011, smartphone adoption in the United States was 35%, according to Pew Research. Now, 10 years later, it is at 85%. Will it be the same for VR and mixed-reality headsets? Only time will tell.
