Thread by @PastryETH

A pastry’s guide to the Metaverse..

By now, I’m sure most people reading this have heard the term “Metaverse” before, but what exactly is it, & what are its implications?

In today’s thread, I will attempt to explain how blockchain & AR/VR tech are pioneering the largest renaissance in history..

The term “Metaverse” originates from Stephenson’s 1992 novel ‘Snow Crash’, which portrays the life of a pizza delivery driver who spends his free time plugging into a simulated world that allows ppl to carry out daily activities & live as whoever they designed their avatars to be

It was popularized among Sci-Fi literature & cyberpunks, but has recently made its way into pop culture with movies like ‘Ready Player One’, & video games such as Roblox, & Fortnite even displaying miniaturized versions of what the Metaverse could consist of.

The seeds for a Metaverse have existed for decades, but COVID & its quarantine have hastened development.

In the past year alone, there has been a major pivot from in person work & socialization to online life, as well as willingness to participate in an all digital world

While generations before us carried out most of their social life’s in person, younger generations are spending increasing amounts of time & transacting the majority of their value online.

In fact, the average youth spends up to 10k hrs playing video games before their 21st bday

For this reason, the Metaverse has become the newest macro-goal for many of the world tech giants.

Facebook has invested $5B into this new tech developing VR platform Oculus Rift, while Epic Games, has received over $1B in funding for their development of the Unreal Engine 5

What we are seeing is a massive overhaul in the way people spend their time as well as in the way value is transacted.

However, before I get too ahead of myself I’d like to go over what exactly the Metaverse is, and what it entails for our future..

The "Metaverse" is a virtual space created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality, AR & the internet

Our current 2D search based version of the internet is giving way to a fully 3D immersive reality

Listen to Tim Sweeney, CEO of Fortnite describe it below:

The Metaverse is always “on” & is beyond the control of any individual.

It exists in real time, can host any size audience, has a functioning economy, spans across platforms, provides interoperability for digital assets, & consists of the content and experiences its users create

Unlike the modern internet, Metaverse users will experience changes in real time by all users. If a user makes any kind of change to the Metaverse, that change will be permanent & immediately visible to everyone else.

Think of it as a virtual theme park with no limits on its size or creativity.

The engines behind this new world will facilitate a Co-existence of hundreds of millions of avatars capable of attending events in the millions without the need of multiple servers.

Imagine being able to move seamlessly from, say, a virtual them park, to a virtual concert with attendance in the hundreds of thousands.

These are the sort of possibilities this new technological frontier provides.

Much like how we switch from website to website to meet, collaborate, or play games with others in our current 2 dimensional internet, we will soon be able to meet, earn, collaborate, or play games with others within the Metaverse in 3D environments.

This will massively broaden the internet today as we know it by introducing it to the 3rd dimension.

Additionally, the ability to transcend space and “physically” share environments with others will have a significant impact on our interaction models.

As knowledge of Web 2.0’s shortcomings rises, users will prefer a credibly neutral platform that lacks the capacity for arbitrary censorship or sudden cessation, one that the metaverse provides.

In the Metaverse, the earning power for young creators won’t be limited to the top 1%.

There will be an entire new era of young entrepreneurs making a living in virtual worlds, earning real value and steady income quicker than ever imagined.

Creators who were once limited in their ability by technological constraints, lack of capital, time, or creativity, now have everything that is needed

What happens when physical objects are dematerialized?

All formerly scarce materials become abundant.

This will usher in a new era known as the “Creator Era”.

In this emerging space, you don’t just “level up”, you make meaningful connections with others.

The Metaverse is where aspiration and self expression thrive.

The companies, games, & experiences that cater to this new culture of immersion will be the real social and economic winners.

Market participants who are dependent on legacy tech that is too slow, expensive, brittle, or unreliable will be disrupted.

Now, what is crucial to these experiences is the comprehensive economies that underpin them.

Decentralized networks will provide an unmatchable degree of assurance, while NFT’s on top of them enable universal digital representation & ownership layer for any digital asset

While most are familiar with the purchase of digital goods - swords, clothes, pets - in virtual experiences, this new economy can now also serve those that provide digital services such as owning a nightclub, being a model or a personal shopper.

In this way, the Metaverse models the real world, by mirroring pre-existing economic structures and building upon them to support this new generation of users looking for innovative ways of earning and interacting in a digital space.

As more and more users dedicate serious time & capital into the digital realm, these worlds will become increasingly recognized as legitimate places to work with increasing complexity.

It is no doubt that the future is digital

Universal distrust in institutions is forcing the desire for alternatives

Decentralized networks + Crypto are laying the foundations of a self sovereign financial system, open creator economy, & ownership layer via NFT’s