Meta Trends will connect the Physical World and Metaverse … Here is when it happens:

There will be a stronger overlap between the physical world and Metaverse — Source Photo by Louis Reed on Unsplash

An end-state world where one can no longer draw clean lines between two objects in the 2 worlds — Both are equally critical to an individual. This will be the stage where the Metaverse merges with the real world.

A great debate about the Metaverse is raging — Has it already arrived? … Or is it yet to come? This debate is growing into the mainstream after the Metaverse became a global term with Facebook renaming itself as Meta especially since the term first appeared in 1992. The rise of the Metaverse into the mainstream is will become less surprising once c-suite positions such as Chief Metaverse Officers become more commonplace in organizations.

The debate of whether “De-Centraland” or “Sandbox” are stronger Metaverse “lands” has continued to rage on as they were the first entrants into the space. Now even the Roblox and Minecraft of the world have taken the approach of creators doing the construction to build their Metaverse. The rise of Free to Play, Play to Earn Games have decided to build their own worlds of game experiential monetization as well. So, there are many launch models in play.

But, there are folks still saying that the Metaverse does not exist yet as experiences are still happening with little interoperability and memory correlations are resulting in isolated experiences. Others say that the hardware experience is limiting the ability to make the Metaverse real today, as few are willing to wear large goggles all day.

But, I believe there will be some clear stages that will lead to a blended end state when the Metaverse will become a mainstream part of all our lives. Here are the key stepping stones:

Cross Connections Across the Digital and Physical will be the Norm

On-chain interoperability will have to extend to the physical — Picture by Karine Avetisyan

When a certain number of linkages have been made between the real and digital world which started as fantasy lands a point will be reached - where the replication of real-world concepts can be brought into digital worlds enabling structured rule of law to be implemented.

So, just like over centuries the concepts of police forces, constitutions, amendments, global alliance treaties were brought into the real world to solve problems the same will happen in virtual worlds as they mature to replicate more real lives and less game-like experiences that are purely thrill driven.

The linkages will be powered by the interoperability of information and actions and the need to maintain a reputation in both worlds. All of this replication of information will mean both worlds hold equal value in an individual’s day-to-day experiences and it will be hard to distinguish the meaning of life in the 2 worlds.

Mirroring of Objects

Object’s will exist in the physical and meta and will be managed differently — Source Icons8 Team

The management of physical and digital day-to-day objects will morph.

Mirroring of objects will connect products between the physical and digital worlds. With mirroring the importance of digital objects will grow in relevance with regards to maintenance, aesthetics, and condition — This will lead to physical and digital products having to go through a complete change in how they are viewed and managed.

In the future, a refrigerator could become a smart object in the real world with real-time availability of its repair history in the same way the repair history of an archer’s bow could be available in a game. Gamification of physical objects like washing machines could become real as the Metaverse leads to household appliances being constantly upgraded through software upgrades. The end state here is when —

1. Mirroring of objects can make real-world products feel game-like with virtual characteristics — Physical products may start going through faster upgrade cycles through software just like a Tesla
2. Each copy of digital items starts to feel real so it is maintained like one’s own car or fridge.

While this is occurring, the real world may see more bow & arrow like gamification events. Imagine a Pokemon Go zero-sum game in the real world where a single “Mewtwo” NFT was desired by players. Such a world could even lead to crime and murder due to the artificial scarcity created by the Metaverse environment.

As people import more of their lives into new worlds currency, objects and other information will continue to flow as the value of nearly everything starts to change leading to a new age of integrated “tokenomics” linking the physical and digital worlds.

The value transfer of the digital reputation

Avatar’s and the content created digitally will grow in importance — Source Photo by nezt xs on Unsplash

Eventually, the digital reputation of an individual in the virtual world may matter more in the Metaverse than it would in the real world. Getting a job in the future will mean a machine scans someone’s content portfolio to analyze the quality of their skills, knowledge base, and their integrated thinking capabilities.

At the same time, the dress sense of the digital avatar or digital home and room can be another indicator of how one thinks and lives. An avatar’s design sense could define the connections they make and the type of people they interact with within a digital world. These connections of personalities will also be recorded and this network of people one connects with could also further be a factor in getting a job, leadership NFT title, or project in the future.

With such a need to have an online portfolio of posts, content, and good connections the danger of the dangerous impact of de-platforming will grow. Consequences such as a complete ban from Facebook, removal of sensitive Youtube videos, Tiktok deletion, or clearance of a Linkedin page — could mean the end of that person’s future as a substantial part of that person would be gone.

Technology will be used to solve social problems

The Capstone of this cross-connection of the Metaverse and Physical world will be when attempts to solve social problems are made with virtual solutions

In a world where everyone is walking around with goggles, people may claim a lens of Photoshop can solve the problems of racist crimes by making it so everyone’s skin tone looks identical.

But, this same technology according to Raph Koster may lead to a danger where a virus could infect traffic lights so all red lights look green through the lens of goggles or the virus could even “delete cars” on the road while cars are in motion leading to accidents. These are “aimbots” and “wallhacks” in the goggles and it will be difficult to police this. So, with the risk of these double-edged solutions, the Metaverse can bring a new host of challenges into the physical world.

Takeaway

Behavioral economics, e-commerce, customer engagement will likely be the key to keeping folks engaged in a Metaverse scenario. All players ranging from Roblox, Minecraft, VR Chat, Horizon, RecRoom, Sandbox, Decentraland, and Pinterest bring very different perspectives in creating such an integrated world. It is likely the new world will be a blend of the best of each of these organizations.

The shift and the new end state where both worlds become equally important is coming. Thus the

“The Metaverse is the Solar System” — Raoul Pal

Shorjoe Bhattacharya is a writer, podcaster, and specialist in logistics. He has worked in many industries ranging from Gears, Sea Ports, and Cooking Oil design so he has vast experience in cross-industry thinking. He’s on LinkedIn and Twitter.