Metaverse arrive !!
It will change the way we use the internet. Are schools ready to train the professionals of tomorrow?
Digital technologies are evolving faster and faster and are revolutionizing our way of doing things, our way of working, our way of studying, our daily world. Our relationship with social networks and the internet is also changing. Metaverso, as the new frontier of the internet is called, is set to become the new paradigm of social networks and human-computer interaction that is already disrupting the use of digital devices.
What is the Metaverse?
The metaverse is a virtual world that incorporates digital and immersive technologies , a kind of digital facsimile of what we do in the real physical world. The potential of this new paradigm of experiencing the world of the internet through immersion, sharing and cooperation is multiple, but it is obvious that there are also many aspects of possible impacts, including ethical, which will have to be carefully evaluated in the years to come.
It is not a technology, but an inevitable process of digital convergence undertaken in the last decade of the last century, which has its origins in modern thought. The Metaverse is the future of the internet, a set of virtual spaces traversed by avatars, in a way a step ahead of virtual reality.
Virtual reality is actually the native media environment of the Metaverse, but another important aspect is that virtuality arises from the convergence of two major models of computing: ubiquitous computing, where computing appears at all times and anywhere thanks to the development of increasingly light and powerful portable mobile devices, and cloud computing, which allows access to data and its practically infinite storage.
This convergence has allowed graphical environments simulating space, perspective and light developed by computer graphics to be transported over the network more easily and cheaply, shareable and in real time.
The opportunities offered by Metaverse
A world that represents the near future but is also already a present, just think of the famous games such as Minecraft or Roblox which are an important application, as well as devices that use augmented reality.
Moving away from 2D applications focused on publishing content, we are moving towards an era where mixed reality will intertwine virtual and physical worlds that are intertwined not only with each other but also with our real world, thus giving birth to the multiverse. In the metaverse, online interaction can become very close to the experiences we have in person. According to experts, the metaverse also has the potential to help “unlock access to new creative, social and economic opportunities”.
The Facebook Program
Mark Zuckerberg, although he did not invent the term “Metaverse”, is one of the world giants who first moves in this direction, announcing a plan which, in the EU alone, should create 10 000 jobs in the next five years.
In an internal memo signed by Nick Clegg, the American company confirms “that it is at the start of a journey to help build the computing platform of the future”. For this reason, it will need highly specialized engineers. To understand how this new “creature” of the American colossus targets the very young, Tik Tok star Khaby Lame was hired for the promotion. In the posted video, he appears to be playing Dragon Ball protagonist Goku, leaping from one side of the world to the other with extreme ease. “No one makes jumping into the metaverse look easier than Khaby Lame,” the Facebook post read.
In fact, Facebook recently invested $50 million in funding nonprofit groups to help “responsibly build the metaverse.” Building the metaverse will require collaboration and cooperation “between business, developers, creators and politicians”. The company then promised to prioritize investing in product and technology talent. And he explains that this vision could take up to 10 or 15 years to come true.
This projection over time should give the school world food for thought. If the global social giant is investing in something that will be fully operational in no less than ten years, it must study and analyze the skills needed by those who go to school today and who tomorrow will need to know do what is required by the world of work.
