Enjoyed Music, Attended Conferences, Slapped with Fines

Gloomy weather, simple architecture, and a room filled with avatars – the virtual world seemed as magnificent as the real world. While users interacted real time through the chatbox, the avatars were immersed in their own world. From a meditation center at the corner of the screen to a rock concert happening at another end, a day in Metaverse is quite happening! And, if not careful, you could be slapped with fines via individual tokens for not following the code of conduct. 

The same virtual world is Decentraland, a 3D browser-based platform, where users are allowed to buy virtual plots of land using the Ethereum blockchain as NFTs via the MANA cryptocurrency. Interestingly, prime plots of land on the platform have sold for up to $1 million.

Just like any other virtual world, Decentraland’s is built around the existence of other players, along with witnessing the creativity of human potential. Every single piece of content in the game is completely owned by the players. 

Here’s a view of the virtual world from an avatar we created. 

Source: Decentraland

Source: Decentraland

Users will be able to explore various events and interact with other players in real time. There are many such platforms that offer the same experience, such as Horizon Worlds and VChat. 

Will virtual worlds come to inherently dominate reality? The idea seems far-fetched, but some metaverse architects think otherwise. It’s been just a year since non-fungible tokens (NFTs) became an important part of the global lexicon but has shaped industries beyond art and technology. 

Experiencing reality ‘virtually’

A replicated digital twin of the world’s tallest building – Burj Khalifa – has also landed on the metaverse. AI platform Eventcombo claims that the experience is accessible with a regular device and a keyboard. This means, users will not require headsets, gloves or any VR hardware to watch the iconic skyscraper in the virtual world.

Moreover, Meta Platforms has recently collaborated with tech giant Microsoft to integrate its products and services into Meta’s virtual reality (VR) platform. But this doesn’t stop users and individuals from exploring the new world. 

Most millennials have spent their childhood playing video games to experience the joy of the virtual world. One such game was Will Wright’s ‘The Sims’ by EA (Electronics Art), where users were able to create an avatar and fulfill their wishes. 

Ironically, Wright was inspired to create this ‘virtual doll house’ after having lost his abode in the Oakland firestorm of 1991.  

The Sims creator clearly stated that the game was meant to be a satire on the US consumer culture. Ideas were taken from the 1977 ‘A Pattern Language’ and Abraham Maslow’s 1943 paper ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’ that described the hierarchy of needs. Moreover, Charles Hampden-Turner’s ‘Maps of the Mind’ was mainly used to develop the game’s AI model. 

What was known as ‘cyberspace’ a decade ago, stands as the ‘metaverse’ today. As to how exactly the word was coined, choosing a single, definitive answer would be troublesome. 

Today, virtual worlds have left users with a sense of liberation. Right from the inception, users in their avatars have not been limited by their physical representations, projecting on how they really want to be ‘seen’. Hierarchies fell apart and boredom got vanquished with users living in the new exciting world. But seriously, what is the metaverse? 

What a Meta architect says

Thanks to surprising bids at NFT auctions from a cluster of musicians and celebrities, the discourse on how we interact with art has changed. One such NFT artist in India is Abhishek Bhaskar, who immersed himself in the world of Web 3, blockchain, cryptocurrency, and non-fungible tokens since 2016. Bhaskar is now a metaverse architect who builds and designs structures in virtual worlds for individuals and enterprises. 

Bhaskar is the first beatboxer to ever perform in the metaverse. He is also the creator of ‘The Metavoice Project’, the world’s first-ever beatboxing-generated digital art NFT series. “It is a research project from 2016 that turned into NFT in 2020,” he said.

Abhishek Bhaskar, NFT Artist and creator of ‘The Metavoice Project’

Bhaskar spent a whole month of January this year on decentraland and Crypto voxels. In an exclusive interaction with Analytics India Magazine, he said, “The core intent was to understand what happens to the human mind. Ultimately, if we are looking at complete immersion in the metaverse, the question arises on how we can prepare for this mentally.”

The metaverse architect said there are things we can do in the metaverse, which simply cannot happen in real life. “I could be standing next to millionaires at these events and you will never know because everyone is equal in the metaverse.”

‘Humans are avatars in the world of metaverse’

A study by McKinsey revealed that over 1,000 consumers aged 13-70 expect to make a transition from the laptop- and smartphone-dominated world to the next level, which is wearable devices used in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). 

Bhaskar considers himself an advocate of simulation, trying to find glitches in the virtual world. When asked to define metaverse, he said, “Let’s break down the term. Meta means ‘beyond’, and ‘verse’ refers to the universe – so metaverse is a universe beyond ours that we have created.” 

He says that users have generated a 3D world that allows you to control every single aspect in it. “Our Earth can be a metaverse in itself. At the end of the day, we become the avatars with all our variables controlling us.”