Brain Game: How would you explain the metaverse to someone who lived before the internet was invented? (Round 6)
- Our weekly writing competition starts with 10 participants, who are eliminated one by one based on your votes – who will you choose?
- In this round, contestants share how they would introduce the metaverse to people who have no idea what the internet is
The metaverse is a network of virtual worlds that facilitate social connection. Illustration: ShutterstockRead through the responses to this week’s Brain Game prompt, and choose which answer you like most. Based on your votes in the Google Form below, we will eliminate one person from the competition.
Contestant 1
Can you imagine meeting your relatives overseas without having to take a plane or ship to see them? You can chat in a restaurant and go shopping together, just by using electronic devices. This is possible with the metaverse.
Metaverse is a portmanteau of the words “meta” and “universe”. It is a three-dimensional space similar to the universe we are living in, but the difference is that it is virtual and does not physically exist.
Using your avatar in the metaverse, you can chat with friends, go to a concert or travel. Workers can have meetings in the metaverse to discuss business in a convenient way. Students can easily visit a virtual Louvre Museum, check out a recreation of ancient Rome and even examine celestial bodies.
The metaverse can bring about new ways of conducting our social lives, businesses and education. It may really be the next chapter of our universe.
Contestant 2
The metaverse is a manifestation of the rapid development of technology – which has come a long way since your era. The idea for it originated in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 sci-fi novel, Snow Crash, in which people explore a virtual world.
Metaverse has since become a reality. It is a virtual space built upon the idea of hypothetical presence, putting yourself into a fantastical world. In simpler words, it is a place where you can interact with others online, as if you are inside a tiny screen. It makes you feel like you are actually somewhere else.
The metaverse aims to imitate real-life activities, like moving, working and socialising. We can fulfil these commands through avatars, the individual representation of characters. You can communicate with anyone even if they are continents away, and it is more intimate than the communication that exists in your time.
All in all, not only can the metaverse close the distance between people, but it can also provide them with excitement as they indulge themselves in this vibrant virtual space.
Contestant 3
Welcome to the metaverse. You probably feel bewildered by the jump from the era of the telephone to that of the metaverse. Don’t worry. Let me walk you through this step by step.
In your times, you used letters and the telephone to communicate with people in other places. With the advent of the internet – a worldwide computer network – computers started talking to each other. This created an array of tools for communication: email, instant messaging and video calls.
Nowadays, the internet is spilling out of our computers and merging with our physical reality. We call this the metaverse. It is a network of three-dimensional virtual environments where we can work, play and socialise, just like we do in real life.
The metaverse can be understood as a collection of digital replicas of our real-world spaces. Imagine throwing a party with friends who join as digital avatars. You can wear a virtual-reality headset to travel with loved ones in real-time. These are just some of the immersive experiences you could have.
Contestant 4
The metaverse may sound unfamiliar, but everyone will know this word in the near future.
The term originated in Snow Crash, a 1992 science fiction novel written by Neal Stephenson. For those of us in 2022, it is almost impossible to believe that such a futuristic concept had already been imagined three decades ago.
The metaverse is a virtual space where you can do all sorts of activities without even leaving your seat. You can play games, shop and chat with friends and family who are far away. You can easily work on projects with colleagues or set up meetings with your boss. Just think, you can do all of these things in just one place – the metaverse.
The metaverse is a virtual place where people from around the world can hang out and relax together.
Contestant 5
The metaverse is like another world where people can interact with each other as avatars.
To explain it, I will draw two circles – one represents Earth and the other is the metaverse. Next, I will draw some people on both planets. The people on Earth are us, and those in the metaverse are our avatars.
Every person on Earth is directly connected to their metaverse avatar through a technology that I will show with a straight line. This invention is called the internet, a global system of interconnected computer networks that allow people to share information.
We can signal our avatar to do things through this “line”, and other people would be able to see it too. We are all linked through the metaverse.