What Are Metaverse and Web 3 ? How are they different or the same?
We already touched on what Metaverse and Web 3 are in our last blog posts. Both concepts are relatively still new and sometimes talked about as the same thing. Both are still evolving concepts and even people who are working on them have different ideas of what they should look like in the end. So in this blog post, we will talk about how they are different and yet similar.
What are Metaverse and Web 3?
In the most simple term, “Metaverse technologies” create an environment where people can interact with each other and engage with applications and services in an immersive way in the digital world. As we all saw “FaceBook” changing its name to “Meta” and claiming to become the biggest Metaverse company in the near future, promising to spend at least $10 billion on developing the concept of a Metaverse in 2021, says a lot about what we can expect in how real this concept is.
The concept of virtual reality has been existing for a while now and humans are finally catching up on how the use of virtual reality can be the most practical in real life. The big guy corporations conducted several surveys to measure market reaction to this recent development of the technology. One survey from Ericsson claims that 7 out of 10 people expect that we will be able to enter the digital world that looks and feels completely real by 2030.
In fact, a gaming company like Fortnite, is creating collaborations with artists to host concerts in a digital immersive environment and creating a new way to entertain people that is only possible because the venue is digital.
What is Web 3? In the most simple term, Web 3 is the new model of the internet that doesn’t have a central authority who decides regulations of the web space it owns, but rather allows users to decide what the rules of the webspace should be where they belong as a community. This concept is referred to as “ Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) and in this way, the structure of the web lacks central authority and yet creates its own self governing system.
In this new structure no single entity is able to control the flow of information simply because they own the hardware and software where information exists. Instead, the new structure enables users to own its servers, systems and networks where data is stored. The users are the ones to decide what the regulations inside of this webspace should be by having voting rights.
Why is it that some people think these two terms refer to the same thing?
Although Metaverse and Web 3 refer to different concepts, there are some similarities between the two concepts.
The biggest similarity of these two concepts is how they are both leveling up the way users interact with the web from the current state: Web 2.
Another significant way these two concepts interact is with their technologies used: blockchain, and blockchain-based cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and NFTs. These technologies will have a great implications in how people work, play, socialize and learn in the space of both Web 3 and Metaverse.
How do they come together?
Metaverse is creating an environment where people can live just like how they live in real life. People can go shopping online, and when I say shopping online, I am not referring to shopping for physical goods from e-commerce websites as we do, but referring to the experience of people buying accessories for their online presence like an Avatar. And to do that, Cryptocurrencies offer a ready-to-be-used Web 3 native method. And by the way, Statista says the market size for in-game items reached around $54 billion in 2020.
This new digital world shopping experience doesn’t end here. People can own pieces of land or art that exist in the virtual world and this is where NFTs come into play. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) allow a user to own unique ownership of a digital asset by owning the specific identifier information of that digital asset.
To make it easier to understand, in the Metaverse world, let’s say that you have a piece of land in the digital world you like to own, who do you think owns this piece of land right now? It is natural to assume that whoever created the infrastructure of the Metaverse you are on, ( in other words, the host of this Metaverse) also owns this piece of land. According to Web 3 rule, this is not the case. You can buy this piece of land and claim ownership of it with NFTs if the Metaverse uses Decentralized ecosystem. You can read more about the difference between Centralized VS Decentralized Ecosystem in my another blog post: Natsune Oki Talks About Metaverse: What Is It & How Does It Work.
We covered a lot of complicated concepts today, I hope I didn’t make you even more confused about this topic! XD I will keep posting more educational and fun content around Metaverse, NFTs, and Web 3! Stay Tuned!
