Metaverse, as its name implies, refers to a world that is not real, but can do all the work of the real world. Big companies have started to make the technology ubiquitous, but the question is, when can Metaverse officially replace smartphones?
By now, you’ve probably heard about Meta (formerly Facebook) trying to turn a meta-metric idea into reality. After years of working under this name, Facebook even decided to change its name to meta in order to achieve this goal. Of course, Meta does not seem to have done much in this area so far, so we think this name change is more of a publicity stunt than something that is really going to be unveiled in the near future. Now, whether people trust the meta or not is a matter that time will prove to us.
One thing to keep in mind, of course, is that Metawares was not created by Facebook. In fact, Facebook, or Meta, is trying to consolidate its position as one of the companies that is going to operate in this field. So the question that arises is what exactly is Metaverse and who created it? How far are we going to go with this technology and what should we expect at all? In this article, we are going to examine these issues and also discuss how and when Metaverse is going to replace smartphones and what features will it change? We will also address the issue of which of the well-known smartphone companies are now ready to provide the necessary infrastructure for metaverse? Finally, if the question arises for you, why should we witness such a thing now and what will happen to us as human beings?
What is Metaverse?
We have already examined the meaning and concept of a metaverse in other articles. For some users, the concept may be complicated, but in simple terms, according to Meta and Microsoft, the metaverse is designed to be the future of the world’s Internet. In fact, the next generation. A three-dimensional avatar of you that, when you put your virtual reality headset on your head, allows you to connect with your surroundings, that is, with anyone who has access to the virtual world.
In general, there are two important points about metaverse. First, what does Metaverse work in? That is if we want to use this technology in the future, what will we need? As it turns out at the moment, you definitely need a virtual reality headset and a powerful computer that can simulate the real world for you. Of course, this is the hardware part. In the software section, you also need items that can use the potential of virtual reality and the power of your computer.
Let’s start with this because some users may be scared that they should wear a headset and stay away from the real world. This can reduce the enthusiasm of users for this technology from the very beginning. But the more important question remains. Why is there a metaverse? That is, why do we need such technology at all? What are the makers of this technology pursuing? Why should we experience being on the internet with a hat of an annoying headset as something new and fresh?
You are currently using and using Metaverse
Did you know that when people say “go to the internet” as if they are referring to a specific place, they are actually referring to the same metaphor? We mean, what space is the Internet that we have to enter? It seems to us that right now it’s like the real world we have access to remotely. Imagine for a second you were transposed into the karmic-driven world of Earl. In other words, the Internet is a house that has been designed, we have a map in front of us and we can show by hand where a certain room is, where the second floor is and… but the house has not been officially built yet. So something big and exciting has already happened, we just have to use it to create the world. This world is the same as the metaverse.
Whether you realize it or not, you’ve probably experienced it before. Pokémon Go, for example, allows you to have visual elements of the game around you in the real world while you play. It’s actually augmented reality, and in this case, it powers your smartphone as the source of the hardware it needs, the hardware on which much augmented reality and virtual reality-based activities are currently being experienced.
Consider the Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset. A headset designed and produced by Meta that allows you to enter a world with new dimensions. A place where the environment is not seen at all, but only you and the imaginary world that surrounds you. You can play in this world, shop, build a house, and do whatever you want. You will only feel as if you have stepped into a whole new place while not moving one meter from your place in the present world. This is the concept that defines metaverse.
It is recommended to watch the very beautiful movie Ready player one.
Experience working with a smartphone that is set to evolve despite the Metaverse
With all these interpretations, the question arises for users that when we enter the world of virtual reality, what will we need a smartphone? What exactly is the role of the smartphone in the metaverse and how is the experience of working with this lovely gadget going to change? Of course, if this is going to happen.
The answer to this question has two parts. First, metaverse will revolutionize the smartphone experience. Smartphones are the window through which we can see the world. With the help of smartphones, we will have an experience that we could not do at all 210 years ago. However, there are a number of things we can do with a smartphone now that can change with the arrival of the metaverse.
The outbreak of the coronavirus was the worst blow to the people in decades. Many people lost their loved ones and others suffered irreparable damage. But if we consider the world as a person with all its countries and peoples, this one person was able to survive in the end with all the blows he receives, but he also learned great things. Imagine after the virus got a lot of work done at home and as a result, we saw cleaner air, less time and energy spent on useless outings, learned new ways to earn money and study and work, and many more Well, we did not think it would be possible before the virus broke out. In general, the work that was done in the Corona period with a smartphone or gadgets with similar capabilities, in general, is as follows:
- Play video games, watch movies and series, listen to music
- Do homework, participate in the classroom
- Work on the project, participate in administrative meetings
During Corona’s two years, we became accustomed to doing all this work at home, so that even going back to the previous Corona era is a big nightmare for us. But one big weakness of this two-year period was that it destroyed the real interactions between people. Watching in person via video calling is a good thing, but the actual interaction does not take place or the interaction does not enter a new level. In fact, how much freedom do you have in video calling to communicate with the person in question? Just seeing and talking, no more.
Students can learn a variety of things better in group work, but after a video call in some countries where internet speeds do not allow it at all, what is expected to be learned when the interaction is not as real-world as possible. Did? For example, doing sports games, various exercises, and… that can not be experienced as they should be online.
Metaverse, however, aims to create such an experience for us while you are still in cyberspace. This technology blurs the line between the real and the virtual world farther and farther away until the user imagines that he or she is actually in the virtual world. One of the interesting phenomena of virtual reality is going from one place to another. Holoportation is a phenomenon in which a virtual schema (your virtual version) disappears to go from place to place and is rebuilt where it should be. According to Facebook and Microsoft, it is thought that when we do not really have the ability, time, or energy to do something, we do exactly the same thing with our digital version, with the same feeling and the same charm. Holding classes, office meetings, playing games, even watching movies, and much more.
It is interesting to know that Microsoft has offered educational, administrative, and military institutions to have advanced virtual reality experience with the HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset, which is also priced at $ 3,500. Of course, this is not going to happen to the general public either, because this technology has not reached a stage where it wants to be suitable for the general public. It does not even seem to be close to that stage because doing so requires the mental preparation of the users first.
Experiences working with a smartphone that is going to be more complex with the Metaverse
But it is not always the case that everything gets better and easier with the arrival of the metaverse. Sometimes doing a series of tasks becomes more challenging and complicated. The biggest challenge for Metaverse designers and developers is to be able to provide a good and efficient experience to users. Today’s smartphones have been with us for about 15 years, and during this time, although they have met many of our needs, we see every year that manufacturers are trying to make it a more reliable, safer, and more affordable product. If you look at the videos released by HoloLens 2 and Oculus Quest 2 from Microsoft and Meta, you can see that this technology has a long way to go to convince users in these three areas.
First of all, the most important and biggest difference between, say, video calling and watching them in the metaverse is how you see them. Your smartphone camera and screen perform very well in displaying the face and postures of the other person, and they get better and better every year. But in the metaverse, you are dealing with an avatar similar to Apple stickers, which of course does not look like your real self at all. At least as long as technology allows us to have our true selves in the metatarsal world, which is unlikely to be possible in the next decade.
If you have experienced AAA high-quality games, you know that even multi-billion dollar companies like EA have difficulty simulating the faces of different people in computer games and have never been able to emulate their real images in the gaming world. What we see is just an unrealistic and sometimes funny form of different people that do not have good details. Of course, compared to 10 years ago, computer games have improved dramatically in showing the details and faces of players, but they are just as far from the real world.
Are handset companies ready for the Metaverse? And when will this technology replace smartphones?
Now that metaverse is fully explained, let’s look at the challenges and problems that the technology will face by the time of the epidemic, look at its goals, and generally get an idea of what is to be seen as the future of technology and the Internet over the last few years. We came to our senses, it was time to see which company is ready to achieve this great goal. Apart from Facebook and Microsoft, what company has invested heavily in this issue so far? Of course, even these two companies could not pursue their activities in this field as seriously as they should.
It seems that the only smartphone company that apparently intends to work in this field and has talked a lot about it so far, is the Cupertino company, which we do not know will be called Apple again after entering this story. Or not. Tim Cook, as the CEO of this big company, has repeatedly expressed his interest in the metaverse and augmented reality in general, and even the LiDAR sensor that is in the iPhones has been installed in them for this purpose, but for now, a special and large application for it. Does not exist.
We have heard many times about virtual reality glasses and headsets and Apple augmented reality. We do not know at all whether Apple’s activity is augmented reality or virtual reality because something new is always published in this regard. If we consider that Apple will be a leader in the development and supply of Metawares, it seems that we should see this happen in about 5 years. But who knows? metaverse may be around, along with smartphones, laptops, and maybe for a few years, using these devices as hardware resources. Of course, new rumors suggest that Apple’s augmented or virtual reality headset is not iPhone-dependent and works independently.
Of course, among the companies active in this field, Apple is the only company that has given the most clues to users in this regard. From the super-powerful A-Series chips to the LiDAR sensors we’ve talked about before. The unveiling of surround sound technology is one of those things that, according to Microsoft, is a key part of the Metaworce experience.
Samsung, as the largest smartphone maker, is likely to play a key role, but for now, the Korean company has decided to pursue a policy of silence. Of course, Samsung is a company that takes risks and can suddenly become one of the greats in this field within a year, but we have not seen anything about it yet. However, at the time of the unveiling of the new RAM technology (LPDDR5X), Samsung said that this new technology will be used in smartphones and gadgets for augmented reality, which could indicate the company’s activity in this field.
Why now? What will happen to us?
Finally, we will come to the question of why the world is now thinking of metaverse. And what will happen to our privacy? Will this technology make the line between robots and humans narrower and smaller than what we see now? We try to answer these questions in a short but useful way. Of course, if we want to deal with all these cases in detail, it may be beyond the scope of the text. Because each of these cases has its own reasons. However, the intention and purpose of the companies can be understood to some extent in this regard.
- To answer the question of why companies are now thinking about this, it can be said that because the outbreak of the coronavirus has created a sense of the need for a virtual environment to do different things, the user mentality is somewhat prepared to accept such a thing.
- The second question is about privacy, which is still very much debated by users, and many companies have been fined for not doing so. Now imagine you are about to enter a world where you interact with other users, talk and… without knowing at all what data is collected from your interactions. Certainly the issue of privacy in metaverse is more intense and important than its concept in smartphones. Of course, billions of our data are now being shared with companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, Apple, etc. without permission or with permission, and the high power of these companies has taken away our permission to protest. So privacy may not be important to users in the end, but companies definitely have to work hard to convince some users.
- The third question is also very serious. By interacting in the virtual world, we will almost forget the real world, because if users understand the high and hidden potential of Metaverse, they will become dependent on it, and companies will have to add to its capabilities and quality every year, and every year depend on It becomes more and more. As a result, our lives are reduced to a room that we have to leave only to do the necessary work. When we are so dependent on our phones, imagine what harm the can do to human society by its definitions.
Excessive coverage of this issue is beyond the scope of the text, and it may not even be possible to conclude the news about Metaverse and its capabilities at all. As a result, we ask you to share your thoughts with us and tell us what you think about Metaverse and the future that lies ahead of us?
Source: PhoneArena
