(GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER) Web 3.0 & Metaverse: Is this the future of the Internet?

[AUGUST-2022]

Exactly thirty years ago, American writer Neal Stephenson published a science fiction novel titled Snow Crush, where for the first time he used a term, ‘Metaverse’ to denote a virtual digital world that coexists with the real world. People could assume virtual avatars and move smoothly from their real to their digital forms.
In 1992, the Internet was still a hazy concept, less than a year old, so Stephenson had no way of knowing that decades hence his idea of the Metaverse would emerge in a shape startlingly similar to his concept, to be hailed ‘the future of the Internet’ – its next iteration as a connected network of three-dimensional virtual worlds.
It seems fiction has finally morphed into fact – and the Metaverse is rapidly becoming the hottest new technology trend of 2022. Unfortunately, the word is being bandied about and widely misused in the media, resulting in much confusion about what it will actually do for you and me.
The broad consensus is that Metaverse is a place that is parallel to the physical world, where users can meet, work, play and socialize in 3-D spaces. Every participant has an avatar and interacts with others through their avatars, having the ability to do pretty much anything – host or attend parties and concerts, switching at will, from the role of audience to artiste; buy or sell digital land or properties; shop in virtual malls; try on a dress or suit virtually; join in ceremonies like weddings as a guest etc.