The Metaverse is a divergent 3D internet that will provide players with the diverse experiences they desire—whether it’s an escape from reality or an engagement within it.
You can read about what the metaverse is envisioned to be and its basic ideas if you’re new here. This will help paint a clearer picture, so you don’t get lost as we proceed. But if you understand, let’s get to it.
In 2021, I attended an exhibition on Decentraland. This exhibition reinforced my belief that with interoperable 3D worlds and spaces, decentralization, and autonomy, the internet in 3D will be possible.
Many critiques initially thought Decentraland, for example, was just this platform with expensive parcels of land and a bunch of avatars wandering around. Well, opinions vary. Away from all strictures, these worlds axiomatically present possibilities of what these experiences will look like on a full scale in the coming decade.
But an event like an exhibition shows we are edging toward mixed experiences beyond gaming—which is a positive indication of progress. Yes, for true adoption to happen, experiences have to be diverse and barriers to entry minimal.
While decentralized finance will inevitably play a crucial role, I think it shouldn’t be used as incentives or pseudo-marketing mechanics to drive adoption.
Most people ask:
Can There Be a Metaverse Without a Token?
This is not to say that the token economy isn’t important. On the contrary, it is. But if builders can look beyond that to create real solutions, they wouldn’t need to advertise so much for adoption to happen. Fun is the first reason we play, and when we have fun and make money, we’re still better off. I mean, I’m talking about my experience without being paid a dime or owning a MANA token. And I will gladly attend another exhibition in Decentraland if I’m invited.
Things like art exhibitions, music festivals, shows, cinemas, schools, e-commerce, fashion shows, social interactions, and many more experiences should be talked about more than fluctuating token prices.
I know many people are building these solutions, but I think there’s an industry fixation with tokens instead of products. This is Jack Dorsey’s argument for his Web 5—which, apparently, is his own iteration. The metaverse should be limitless, without borders, functional, and with less emphasis on things that will flow in naturally. I think in this way, we will improve or correct the pitfalls of the old internet.
So yes, most experiences can integrate their tokens; however, most wouldn’t need to.
Reality, Immersion, and the Place of Experience
As a creative, over the years, I have attended and participated in many art exhibitions. I have only witnessed or experienced exhibitions outside my environment through exhibition catalogues and, many times, abridged YouTube videos from people who recorded relative versions of art shows.
The problem with these videos and catalogues, however, is that they have limitations in driving home the experience. It is never a complete experience. This is because I haven’t been there to feel the environment, interact with the pieces for relative time intervals to my satisfaction, or feel the lighting or curatorial aura.
This is the immersive argument of the metaverse: to help you experience realities that are limited by time, distance, and dimension.
This Decentraland exhibition, without the narrative of immersion, came close to the real thing. I know there should be improvements, but I was impressed by the level of work, especially from those building products in this space.
I know many players in the space have attended weddings, music concerts, and even birthday parties. These are little instances where we are trying to live our lives within the 3D world.
First, I was impressed by the architecture of the JBF Art Gallery. A cubic, multi-story building with an inverted L-shaped glass structure. A quaint feature of the building was the possibility of looking outside the glass from within and viewing the outer environment. But the building isn’t the show, so let’s not digress.
The show was titled *The Holy Ones* and had paintings of religious icons displayed on the walls of the gallery. The room was well-lit, and avatars strolled or bounded in small numbers to peruse the works. It was oddly satisfying to observe. Yes, as I mentioned before, it was my first art exhibition on Decentraland.
I think, however, that some wandered into the show looking to find their way around. This is typical of virtual worlds—the navigation can often be daunting.
Important Features of Activities in Decentraland’s World
My avatar, as an artist, took time to go through the works and enjoy them. Since I’ve been exploring the land, this was the most curious experience I’ve had. I wondered how the works displayed could be bought or sold. Most of the works had *Not for Sale* tags on them.
Another feature of the show was linking the artworks to OpenSea. You could click on a piece of art, and the details would pop up. Then you could see the price on OpenSea and buy them as NFTs if you wished. I think that’s the simplest pointer, in that context, for the metaverse as an interconnected network of multidimensional spaces. Something we have come to call interoperability—interacting with different platforms without borders. Just you, your avatar, and wherever or whichever protocol you wish to explore.
What this means is that artists and creators can approach these galleries and have their works exhibited. This can be either in the form of a curated group show or a solo exhibition, just as it happens in the physical world. There are many possibilities, but this was the closest encounter my avatar has had to a physical experience in a 3D space.
Yes, there was no VR involved, but the experience wasn’t any less immersive than what I’ve experienced in the real world. I interacted with the pieces, and it felt good.
The Other Side of Vision
I spent the remaining part of the show going through the floors, imagining how these things can get better and improve.
Sometimes, when critics argue that these experiences aren’t real, I politely and optimistically disagree. I think we’re nearing a threshold where the limits of what’s possible are shifting. Over time, the way we experience things will alter our perception of what is real.
Of course, there will be dangers. But we’re still early in the development of this new internet. It took the first iteration almost three decades to get here. Call it Web 3, the Metaverse, or Web 5—whatever fits your reality of the experience. But this is it: the reign of spatial and multidimensional realities has begun.
