Everyone is talking about the metaverse right now (in 2022) and many definitions are surfacing. I suppose I should weigh in– since I have been working in the metaverse for over fifteen years.

Background of the Metaverse

Most research articles cite Neal Stephenson’s novel Snow Crash as the origin of the term (1992). The novel is set in a computer-generated futuristic world where people can interact in the same ways we do in the physical world. This “virtual world” metaverse was a far-fetched science fiction space we could only imagine before Second Life began in 2003. It really only took a decade for sci-fi to become reality!

Academic research articles abound on the use of virtual worlds for education and my colleague, Stylianos Mystakidis has an article in Encyclopedia 2022 that defines the metaverse as an interconnected immersive virtual environment which “enables seamless embodied user communication in real-time and dynamic interactions with digital artifacts”. This sense of presence and place is, in my opinion, what makes the metaverse real. Real people are embodied behind avatars and real places (although digital) are inhabited by them.

Is VR just a fad?

Science fiction has presented humanity the wildest imaginative dreams that often become reality. For example, Jules Verne predicted we would blast off to the moon and Captain Kirk was teleporting across space well before teleportation in virtual worlds became the way to travel. XR (extended reality including virtual reality) will be an inevitable part of our lives in the future and is not going away. In fact, it is already here and quickly evolving. Perhaps many of the tools we now use will evolve with haptics making the line between the physical and virtual worlds almost nonexistent.

For the past few years, I have been distinguishing VR into two forms: Headset VR and Desktop VR. Matching the tools for the job suggests a purpose for each form. My purpose as a librarian has been to pioneer the metaverse for real learning and critical thinking. Some questions will need to be addressed, such as:

• What about the digital divide and learners who do not have the technology devices needed?
• Will there be one metaverse connecting all the virtual environments?
• Will VR headsets and VR Desktop merge together into a new format?
• What role will AR (augmented reality) play in the future?
• How do we balance realism with creative imagination in the metaverse?

However the metaverse evolves, it is important to consider how it will impact the generations to come. Currently, educators and learners are pulled in many directions with too many choices of learning platforms and apps. Hopefully, the semantic web and the metaverse will become better defined and easier to navigate. Good digital citizenship in the future will require an understanding of entering the metaverse with a clear purpose and intent.