Chances are you've heard a lot of talk about the metaverse. But what does that term mean? And how does it differ from technologies like augmented and virtual reality? In this Backstage Pass video, which aired Sept. 27, 2021, Motley Fool contributors Toby Bordelon, John Bromels, Jose Najarro, and Trevor Jennewine share their thoughts on the metaverse.
Toby Bordelon: Metaverse, when you hear the term metaverse, what does metaverse mean to you? What is the metaverse?
Trevor Jennewine: So, I sort of think of the ultimate virtual reality, a digital world that's always on, that anybody can connect to. I think of Ready Player One. The virtual digital world that's always there. Everybody can connect to it and interact and engage with elements of that world.
Toby Bordelon: Nice. What about you, John? Let's go in reverse order.
John Bromels: I was literally also going to say Ready Player One, so yeah.
Toby Bordelon: All right. Jose, anything to add?
Jose Najarro: I mean, I think just what Trevor said, the virtual reality is the stepping-stone, and then the metaverse will have everything from like social aspects, shopping, advertisement, whatever type of human experience that we do right now in the real-world, to be able to have it in a digital world with whoever we'd want.
Toby Bordelon: Nice. For our authoritative definition, let's look to Nvidia, which tells us the metaverse is the shared virtual 3D world or worlds that are interactive, immersive, and collaborative. I think what you're seeing there, it does kind of look like it's a little bit above what we're talking about virtual reality with the sense of collaborative, shared worlds. It's not just you interacting with the virtuous, it's not like say, you might think of a holodeck as the ultimate virtual reality. But you could do that on your own with a couple of friends in a single location. The metaverse might be you being in a completely separate reality with hundreds, with thousands of other people at the same time, interacting in this virtual world or worlds. Interconnected.
