Since Facebook was first created, it projected a very specific brand to the world on what it could offer and what it entailed. But that is about to change, as it touts a brand new concept — the Metaverse.

The Metaverse has  most commonly been touted as a vague concept that most people have different interpretations of. Nevertheless, the most agreed upon definition seems to be that it is a digital experience that blends virtual reality, streaming and mobile games. A kind of technological imitation of our own world, akin to something in “Ready Player One.”

It could also be a kind of digital economy, where you could buy and sell virtual goods, and maybe even take virtual items from one platform to another. Currently, most platforms limit you from taking virtual goods outside of their platform. This can be confusing, as a natural response to most of this would be that most of these functions already exist. But right now, multiple tech CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg and Satya Nadella are creating a marketing hype around this concept as a promise about the capabilities of the Metaverse they will create tomorrow.

A vision of the Metaverse was shared by Mark Zuckerberg last month, as well as the re-branding o Facebook. He announced a vision of the Metaverse that he claimed would not be a “walled garden” but a “large, open ecosystem”, seemingly meaning that other companies, not just Meta, would also have access to this vision of his.

But what exactly would this entail? Is it a brand new virtual reality where you can interact with other people? Is it just a fancier version of a video game or a Zoom meeting? Is it really the future of the Internet, as multiple tech CEOs have claimed?

Meta seems to have a vision that it could consist of virtual houses you can talk to your friends in. Microsoft seems to think it could be like a virtual reality Zoom, where there could be virtual meeting rooms that could be rented out. However, there are limitations to what may and may not be possible. A lot of the current visions of the Metaverse, as shown by demo reels at Meta’s presentation, seems to represent the idea that holograms will become abundant in the Metaverse soon. However,  this is currently not possible even with the most advanced forms of available virtual reality technology.

There also needs to be consideration given to one of the biggest problems right now that is currently holding virtual reality technology back: the headsets. Bulky,expensive and impractical headsets that only show a limited reality. They have also been known to give people motion sickness or pain if worn too long.

Meta’s demo reel does not currently present a solution for this.

That is one of the biggest takeaways from Meta’s current marketing hype. Tech companies are trying to give the most impressive vision of what the future of the Metaverse could look like. It makes sense as a marketing strategy. However, it leaves us with a very vague impression of what the actual Metaverse will look like in the future.

It could be that Meta is the next evolution of the internet itself. Meta could be a new way to interact with people, or it could just be a more advanced version of playing video games and making Zoom calls. We will just have to wait and see!have to wait and see.