Welcome to the metaverse 

The metaverse, a virtual reality-powered version of the internet, is Silicon Valley’s new obsession. Could it change the world?

Horizon Workrooms: the office of the future?
Horizon Workrooms: the office of the future? 
(Image credit: Oculus/YouTube)

Where did the idea originate?

From science fiction. In Snow Crash, a cult 1992 sci-fi novel by Neal Stephenson, the metaverse is a 3D virtual reality world where people can go to escape a dystopian reality: a vast online game in which people’s avatars wander around interacting with one another, accessing online services, going to virtual night clubs, and getting into virtual sword fights. Tech firms use the term today to mean different things, but at its most basic it refers to virtual spaces where you can collaborate and socialise with other people who aren’t in the same physical space as you. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, describes the metaverse as “an internet you’re inside of, rather than just looking at”.

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