Tech companies seek to create far more immersive digital environments, possibly mediated by brain...
The metaverse gets us into the sci-fi territory of The Matrix, in which evil robots pump a fake reality into the brains of captive humans.
According to a helpful history of the metaverse compiled by tech pundit Ben Thompson, Neal Stephenson introduced the term metaverse in his science-fiction novel Snow Crash in 1992.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella mentioned the metaverse at a conference last May. Nadella's speech didn't attract much attention, perhaps because his description of the metaverse is a bit murky.
The metaverse generated more buzz after Zuckerberg discussed it last July.
Zuckerberg says the metaverse goes beyond virtual reality and computer games, with which it is often associated.
Zuckerberg might be touting the metaverse to distract the public from his company's ongoing scandals.
These companies already wield enormous power over us, which grows as they gather more data on us, and the metaverse could amplify that power.
"As we build up these platforms toward the metaverse," Sweeney says, "If these platforms are locked down and controlled by these proprietary companies, they are going to have far more power over our lives, our private data, and our private interactions with other people than any platform in previous history." And Sweeney has promoted the metaverse.
Given the world's unpredictability, I have a hard time ruling out the possibility that an unholy alliance of big tech and the military will foist an implant-enabled metaverse on us.
As the real world gets scarier, the metaverse might become more and more appealing.