Two weeks ago, Michael Pierce, a Senior Principal Design Manager at Microsoft OneDrive and SCCA alum, presented to our class. Seeing his journey from SCCA to an important position at one of the biggest software companies in the world was very inspiring. Pierce is also incredibly passionate about the metaverse, and he decided to show us its wonders. The “metaverse” has been a hot topic in the tech world for a few years, and its influence is difficult to ignore. Mark Zuckerberg is such a believer in it that he renamed his parent company to Meta and invested large amounts of money into his vision, especially in the AR/VR space.
The metaverse does not have a concrete definition, but from my research, I believe it describes an immersive world separate from our reality that is focused on community and connection in a virtual space. This can be through the computer or facilitated through AR/VR technologies, which immerse you even deeper.
Although I am late in completing this assignment, I found a metaverse activity to partake in. I decided to enter Roblox, a popular online community and collection of games that is incredibly popular with the younger Gen-Z crowd. Wikipedia describes Roblox as “an online game platform and game creation system developed by Roblox Corporation that allows users to program games and play games created by other users.” It focuses on user creation, and the majority of games on the site are created by Roblox users. My friend and I tried a game within Roblox called Outlaster, which is inspired by the reality TV series Survivor. In Outlaster, you compete in challenges and are voted out of the camp after each challenge. I was surprised by how the developers paid attention to detail, and made it feel like a real game show. My friend and I were impressed by how immersive and fun the experience was, even though we were voted out early. We definitely plan to try it again!
I also see the potential for Roblox as an advertising tool, and I think the industry has taken note as well. Companies have used Roblox and games like Fortnite to promote products, and the music industry has even hosted concert experiences for their artists on platforms like this.
While I believe Roblox will continue to grow, I am more skeptical of the whole metaverse idea, especially with the world of VR. I don’t believe that the general public will want to be immersed so deeply into something that isn’t completely real. I believe VR will continue to be a niche experience, even though companies like Meta have poured billions into this direction. Only time will tell how these investments will pay out.