TL;DR

• Neal Stephenson (the guy who coined the term 'metaverse') gave his two cents on what the open metaverse might look like. These are the takeaways…

• There won't be 'metaverses,' just like there aren't 'internets.' It'll be one thing.

• VR headsets will be an 'add-on,' not a requirement.

• Not everything will be interoperable - and that's ok.

• Our main takeaway: the metaverse is just the internet, in 3D.

Full Story

Neal Stephenson. Recognize the name?

No? Well, he's the guy who coined the term 'metaverse,' in his 1992 sci-fi novel 'Snow Crash.'

Now, in a cut and dry example of life imitating art - Neal is helping to turn his concept of 'the metaverse' into a (virtual) reality.

Seriously. His company 'Lamina1' is building a layer 1 blockchain designed to act as the foundation of the free and open metaverse.

...but that's not what we're focusing on today.

Nope, today we're learning from Mr. Neal 'Metaverse Daddy' Stephenson himself, and gaining insights into what the open metaverse might look like.

Or rather, what it won't look like.

Here're three golden nuggets of information we gleamed from Neal's chat with the folks at Decrypt:

1. There won't be 'metaverses,' just like there aren't 'internets.'
   
   It'll be one thing.
   
   E.g. Facebook's 'metaverse' won't be the metaverse, but instead, a part of it. Kind of like a 3D virtual website - something you can visit, but not the 'thing' itself.

2. VR headsets will be an 'add-on,' not a requirement.
   
   This makes sense to us.
   
   Having a $500-$1500 headset as a requirement of entry isn't going to lead to mass adoption.
   
   For the concept to really take off, folks need to be able to dip their toes into this new '3D version of the internet,' using devices they already own.

3. Not everything will be interoperable - and that's ok.
   
   E.g. The items you collect within metaverse games won't be usable everywhere, across all games. That wouldn't make sense.
   
   Stephenson makes a great point:
   
   "If somebody brings a sniper rifle into my soccer game, or whatever, it's just an abomination from an aesthetic point of view,"

The takeaway:

The metaverse is just the internet, in 3D.

An oversimplification? Absolutely.

(But accurate nonetheless).