Meta-verse: A reality or a reality?

Origin: When coupled with an English noun, the Greek word meta, which means "beyond," suggests alteration or change. A parallel universe that doesn't exist in the real world would be what it would mean if the word "verse" was added.

Purpose: In contrast to traditional video games, the metaverse enables players to physically enter the digital world by equipping a virtual reality headset. This idea of the metaverse is not at all fresh; Snow Crash novel is where it was first introduced (1992).

Functions: By offering entertaining substitutes for real-world activities like virtual conferences, festivals, school, and other sports, players/avatars are motivated to spend as much time as they can and engage with one another. Communicating via public and private voice chat.

Possibilities:1.Players would be able to purchase virtual pieces of land in the metaverse and use an in-world editor to construct and create anything;"Digital twin concept for business"2. Big techs may link all virtual assets to the player's account and centrally administer them.

Issues: When the concept of regulation crosses our minds, the main issue appears. How can we control the virtual environment? It might result in privacy infringement and personal data that major tech firms control.

Are we willing to grant such businesses, whose ultimate purpose is profits, that much autonomy? Government & regulations such as GDPR etc. may help keep checks and balances; however, since technology is advancing toward singularity, laws and regulations may struggle to keep up.

Pros: The Metaverse creates a whole new realm of possibilities and aids in the realization of web 3.0. (decentralised internet)

Cons: 1. Brings up issues with value-sensitive designs and health issues(Mental-addiction, sexual harassment, anxiety, insomnia; Physical-eyes etc.)

2. Rolling out the Metaverse touches the core of human existence and it seems to affect people with unintended consequences. By forcing AIs to show you what it wants the user to see, virtual reality could persuade one to act differently, as it is the brain that is being trained.

Opinion & Thoughts: What if one uses metaverse for 3/4th of his life? What if we develop an addiction to it as most of our work could take place in the VR? In that case, our brains may stop distinguishing the difference between Virtual reality and Real-world.

Unascertainable Conclusion: The internet was already difficult to regulate, and now we would be immersing people in a metaverse. Although being concerned is one side of the coin, it would be incredibly intriguing to see how things turn out in the coming future.