In a short period of time , the metaverse has emerged as one of the most promising technologies for the future of commerce . But it ’ s still in its nascency – so what ’ s next ?

Although the concept of an alternate virtual reality existed earlier , the word ‘ metaverse ’ was first coined by the writer Neal Stephenson in 1992 . He used it to describe a digital world in his novel Snow Crash , where people interact and buy things like real estate .

Oculus would take a big step towards enabling the metaverse when it crowdfunded US $ 2.5mn in 2012 . The company was acquired by Facebook two years later before releasing the Rift , the world ’ s first virtual reality headset made widely available to consumers , in 2016 .

14 February 2023