I conducted a survey—a BIG thank you if you answered the three questions focused on the metaverse. Think of the metaverse as virtual and augmented reality meet and create a digital life where your avatar represents the image you want to portray. Clothes, entertainment and crime are present in this digital life that in 2022 is changing daily. More than half of the 140 survey respondents indicated that they were not familiar with the metaverse. Before my research and watching Ready Player One neither were me and mom.
There are YouTube videos and articles in abundance that will explain what this digital life looks like and will likely evolve into. You can find opportunities that seem unreasonable-- mom, and I watched videos on the metaverse and could hardly believe the U.S. dollars being spent in this metaverse world. We decided to see Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” to help better understand the next uni-verse. The movie was adapted from Ernest Cline’s bookwith the same name.
As memorable as the 80’s song Jump (Van Halen)—so is the opening scene of Ready Player One. The energy and chaos of how the world is impacted once the metaverse takes over is a bit overwhelming. People dazed and confused, which makes sense if you’ve been hiding behind goggles all day. There seems to be a level of disorientation when moving between the metaverse and reality. I have seen the movie three times—each time I see new things. You get to see how an entire community embraces this new technology and how they lose sight of what is truly within reach.
Tye Sheridan (from Tender Bar) and Lena Waithe (Queen & Slim) play besties who have only ever met in the metaverse—until—well I don’t want to spoil the movie. Just think MTV’s Catfish with a twist. In the metaverse you can be whoever you want at a cost (like real life). We see a business tycoon look like a muscle-bound Superman in Man of Steel with steely evil eyes. Nothing like his non-avatar persona—well except those eyes.
Spielberg and the cast share with Kevin McCarthy how he directed the movie at times using the Head Mounting Device (HDM) to connect with the virtual side of the movie—actors too had to commit to the metaverse and don goggles and remote handles for scenes recorded in the metaverse.
Movies about a digital world are not new, but I think you will find this is the best one yet. Tron is one of the first I remember—released in 1982 yet still close to the hearts of many. Fitness equipment giant Peloton recently created their newest exercise offering with what they call lanebreak. A game Victoria Song shares looks a lot like the “light cycle from Tron”—I can share firsthand that I agree. Check out my experience below (excuse the lopsided buns, the ten-minute game kicked my tail).
After the movie and all of my research I am still unsure of what the future has in store for us, I cannot tell you what metaverse investment is best—but I will say it is here and not leaving any time soon, so buckle in and try not to close your eyes to reality.
I believe there will be a space for reality as well as the space for the menaverse in our future. I also believe there will be a choice between how deep you go into the metaverse as well as how you will live your life in reality. At the end of the day, you will always have to deal with reality because we are human and no matter what the maniverse brings human nature is inevitable. Even though, we can all enjoy a great vacation in our living rooms due to the metaverse, at the end of the day the goggles must come off and we must face ourselves in the mirror as we take a shower and go to…