Metaverse. You’ve likely heard of Facebook’s rebrand to “Meta” by now. But what does it mean, and why should investors care? The metaverse is the name society has given to what we expect the internet to become: a collision between the physical and digital worlds, when VR and augmented reality bridge the gap between the physical and the virtual to interact intimately.
Metaverse enthusiasts believe it will essentially be a 3D reality overlaying the real world, wherein people can shop, game and conduct business in shared virtual spaces.
For instance, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg describes the metaverse as “an embodied internet that you’re inside of,” where “creation, avatars, and digital objects” are central to self-expression and lead to “entirely new experiences and economic opportunities.”
For Investors. Investors can tap into the metaverse by considering the companies generating the real revenues—those invested in building the infrastructure and designing practical, real-world iterations.
For instance, Nvidia will likely play a strong hand in designing the artificial intelligence and semiconductors that will power the metaverse, no matter what it looks like. Gaming companies like Roblox and Epic Games may prove the creative minds behind the actual
experience we share. And VR ventures run by the likes of Facebook, Microsoft and Google have already granted us the first tools that bring us tangible access to the metaverse firsthand.
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