According to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, the Metaverse will be an integral part of our lives in the future, but not as it is being peddled to us from multiple directions i.e., a kind of high-definition RPG in which we interact and replicate what is possible in real life.
Tim Cook believes in the potential of AR
The manager of the company believes that a type of Metaverse, what is called Augmented Reality (AR) in the jargon, will be the real must-have of the future and will be an integral part of our lives to the point of wondering how we had lived without it before.
The neologism metaverse, created by Neal Stephenson in the book Snow Crash (a masterpiece of the science fiction genre) is a kind of virtual reality in which the subject interacts in a three-dimensional world through a transposition of himself, an avatar in essence.
But how does this materialize in reality? For some years now, many individuals have been trying their hand at what is now generally called the metaverse by creating platforms in which alternative or similar worlds to the real one are made available to the user like a social network.
In these cases they have the advantage of physical interaction and every aspect of reality is reproduced in every way.
The way to enjoy them is simple and is through helmets or goggles (Oculus) that help immerse the user in this world but also through “treadmill”-type platforms that rotate 360 degrees to simulate movement.
In a virtual place in which we immerse ourselves through hardware (which I would rename hardwear given the way it is worn as if it were an accessory), our reality which is implemented by virtual interactions that become real through hardware such as the Oculus or Google Glasses, various visors etc. enhances the possibilities of human and obviously commercial interaction.
Interoperability is a necessity of the metaverse as different developers work on stand-alone projects all worthy of interest but according to Dr. Dimitry Mihaylov of the National Univ. of Singapore, the technology and regulations of these virtual spaces are still poor.
A Ready Player One-style life or a simple business meeting or walk with your family perhaps far away from you will be a reality, but it will only be possible if interoperability of virtual spaces is achieved.
The future of metaverse uses
Gartner Marty Resnick believes that the activities possible in augmented reality will eventually take place in a single metaverse with multiple possibilities for interaction, a kind of Agora of metaverses.
Interviewed by Dutch Bright, Cook said:
“I think AR is a profound technology that will affect everything … we will really look back and think about how we once lived without AR.”
AR also refers to mainstream games such as the mobile game Pokemon Go, which makes 3D cartoon characters appear in the real world through an app, or IKEA’s app, with which people can virtually place furniture within a perimeter (their own home) via a smartphone’s camera.
The CEO said the term Metaverse is generally used to describe platforms using VR technology where people can interconnect, but Apple is turning its attention to new products based on AR technology, including a visor and glasses aimed precisely at augmented reality.
According to a recent statistic, by 2026 25% of people will spend at least one hour of their time in AR or VR.