How virtual reality and blockchain can revolutionize the internet

Last year, then-Facebook made waves by announcing its rebrand as Meta Platforms Inc. and its intention to usher in the “successor to the mobile internet”: the metaverse. Mark Zuckerberg’s video explaining the concept was released on YouTube in October 2021, and was met with a mixed response from audiences.

The Metaverse, as explained by Zuckerberg, would be a completely new way of connecting with people, allowing users to feel fully immersed in online experiences using virtual reality. The term “metaverse” was originally used for the virtual reality world in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow crash by Neal Stephenson, and it seems Meta intends to emulate this futuristic ethos.

While the metaverse sounds like science fiction, virtual reality has become more and more ubiquitous in recent years. With the introduction of technologies such as the Oculus VR headset and its acquisition by Facebook in 2014, virtual reality video games have become mainstream.
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And virtual reality isn’t the only new technology that has hit the scene. This year saw an explosion in popularity and discourse about cryptocurrency and blockchain. NFTs, or Non-fungible tokenswhich is certified with blockchain, has also generated a lot of hype as a new way to “own property” on the internet. Twitter even introduced the ability to NFT profile pictures earlier this year.

Perhaps we are indeed headed for a new version of the Internet, which some have considered “Web3” or sometimes “Web 3.0.” The Internet hasn’t been around very long, but it’s already gone through a couple of different phases.

Web 1.0 refers to the era of the internet when users mostly navigated static, read-only web pages. Web 2.0 denotes the era we are now in, where user-generated content is mainly created on centralized platforms owned by large companies.

Web3 is the next step: a largely decentralized system, built on blockchain, where a greater degree of individualism can return to the internet. The term Web3, coined by Ethereum founder Gavin Wood, describes this future that Internet technologists so enthusiastically envision, when it comes to cryptocurrency.

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The idea of ​​Web3 is inextricably intertwined with the metaverse, even if Zuckerberg’s version of the virtual reality universe isn’t the one that ends up going mainstream. If in the future the internet becomes 3D, it is likely that cryptocurrency will become one of the main methods of transactions and property ownership. It is already possible to buy property in the metaverse as an NFT.

Not everyone is excited about the prospect of the metaverse or blockchain as the new normal. Many people are already concerned about over-reliance on technology and the effects of screen time. Making the internet even more immersive could exacerbate this problem, and for some the idea of ​​a metaverse sounds downright dystopian. And cryptocurrency and blockchain have their own problems: Cryptocurrency has one extremely high carbon footprintleading to serious environmental concerns about its growing popularity.

Regardless, both cryptocurrency and virtual reality have clearly become objects of interest for companies and developers worldwide. Whether they really want to revolutionize the internet, well, we’ll just have to wait and see.