Materializing the Metaverse
- mking8911
- Jun 20, 2024
- 1 min read
Picture yourself 10-30 years ago, now imagine you predicted the coronavirus or the Marvel cinematic universe. Congratulations, you're now a prophet. If by chance you had happened to make a prediction that came true, you will have an idea of how science fiction writer Neal Stephenson feels. In 1992 Stephenson published a novel by the name of Snow Crash, where he depicted the Metaverse, something Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg is now making a reality, evidenced by the rebranding of his company to Meta.
While Zuckerberg's Metaverse has some lengths to go before it can match the technological advancement of Stephenson's novel, it would be worth mentioning that Snow Crash was a parody, a satire on a future dystopia where people escape into the Metaverse using a headset. That parody now seems to be a developing reality which such headsets as the Apple Vison Pro, Metaquest and Oculus. With these advancements putting us a step closer to a true Metaverse, it does question if Stephenson's Metaverse also predicted the world issues depicted in the novel such as hyperinflation, mass-franchising and fractured society.
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