These days metaverse has become a buzz word. The organisations which have played a role include Epic Games, Microsoft, Tencent Holdings, Marvell Technology, Cloudflare, Unity Technologies, Nvidia, AMD and others. Roblox, with its immersive games, has been perceived as the company with first metaverse IPO in 2021.

Metaverse solutions do require hardware support. There are displays, sensors, smartglasses, headsets, software tools, virtual platforms and marketplaces.

Metaverse depends on Web 3.0 with a collection of technologies — AR/VR, blockchain, 5G, AI and cloud. There are cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

Neal Stephenson’s science fiction novel Snow Crash in 1992 started this. Here the governments and global economy collapses. The world then comes to an alternate world — a metaverse. It is accessible with goggles and earphones. It offers an escape to people.

Such a world has merits. But at the same time, there could identify theft, fraud, polarisation and exploitation. There are issues of data security and emotional safety.