This is the fourth of five articles that follow our first article, Myths About the Metaverse: True or False? And the third article, Part 3: Will the Metaverse Replace Physical Stores?
When people think of the metaverse, they likely think of VR headsets. While people believe that the metaverse will be a fully immersive experience that only users with a VR headset can enter, this simply isn’t true…
Yes, the majority of platforms currently being built are aiming for immersive multi-user VR/AR experiences in the long term, but it’s not necessarily the goal of every platform. Why? Because the technology is still in its early stages of development, and fully-immersive metaverse platforms just aren’t mature enough yet to provide a seamless VR experience. There are still a lot of technical problems to solve before the real idea of complete metaverse VR immersion at scale can be realized.
So, what about the platforms that aren’t going full VR or AR? Well, users access the metaverse by different means — desktop and mobile devices are common entry points. In the end, all a user needs to enter many Metaverse environments is a device with an active internet connection, and all digital multiplayer experiences can be thought of as some kind of “Metaverse.”
The concept that users need a VR headset to enjoy the metaverse is false.
In theory, the metaverse has been around for decades as a traditional MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game). These role-playing games bring together people who like the same things. In a way, they are their own metaverse since they have working communities and different ways to trade goods and services. Plus, players often feel connected to these worlds through their avatars — starting to sound familiar?
That being said, there was never a real need for a VR headset to actually participate in these different environments. In today’s sense, VR is more of a UX that can really immerse an individual within a space, but it’s traditionally never been a necessity, especially for the gaming industry — think of it more like a “nice to have.”
A lot of metaverse projects still can’t and won’t be accessible through VR or mobile devices, now or in the future, and users will only be able to participate via a desktop computer. This is because the processing power is much higher on a desktop or laptop when compared to that of a mobile device or VR headset.
The key takeaway here is that people who want to access metaverse platforms should be able to do so through any type of device; the idea is to reach platforms via any browser and have Apps for specific experiences if they’re needed.
Alongside this, there are also certain tasks and experiences that are simply more convenient to carry out with a physical mouse and keyboard, such as XX. Or, at least until VR headsets and experiences are at a stage when they’re convenient and easy to use — they need to be as convenient and as easy to use as a computer/ desktop or mobile device.
Enter, SPACE
In the SPACE Metaverse, any computer device, phone, or VR headset can be used to access it. While we continue to design our world to be more immersive with a VR headset, it is also being built to be increasingly inclusive, regardless of the device a user wants to use.
We are constantly innovating to make metaverse experiences more user-friendly, with things like improved navigation and personalized search. With no restrictions as to who can use the SPACE Metaverse platform or via what device, everyone can enjoy the metaverse. However, it’s important to note that users without a VR headset, won’t be able to participate in Web3 experiences.
At SPACE, we serve all users, while also innovating to make VR Metaverse experiences more accessible and more enjoyable for everyone. For example, we are inventing and experimenting with new ways of navigating and searching in the metaverse that solves some of the current friction surrounding the user experience, which prevents a seamless and enjoyable experience.
Even though immersive VR experience is what attracts us to the Metaverse, as long as VR headsets are not in every household worldwide, and as long as the hardware is not yet at a level to facilitate convenient long-term use, most people will still prefer to access the Metaverse through computers, desktop or mobile.
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Myth #8: Can you Make Money in the Metaverse?
“You can’t make money on the Internet”—this was a shared belief amongst the average person in the 90s, and while we now know that these people were wrong, the metaverse is undergoing this same scrutiny today.
“Can you make money in the metaverse?” This is now an extremely common question.
The short answer is, yes, you can 100% make money in the metaverse, and the potential monetary value is only growing as new use cases are realized.
A recent industry report found that the metaverse market is now valued at $47.48 billion, marking a 39.44% CAGR compared to 2021. What’s more, the market value is expected to surpass $678.80 billion by 2030.
These are not small numbers, and the more people opt to use metaverse platforms, the more use cases there are, the more developers build, and ultimately, the more monetary potential it provides.
To the average person who may not know how people make money in the Metaverse, keep reading to learn more.
Monetary Value Use Cases
In the world of fashion and luxury brands, physical items can lose their monetary value over time for various reasons, such as prolonged use or general wear and tear. However, if and when these physical items are replicated in digital forms—such as NFTs — for use and sale in the metaverse, their value can not only be preserved but also increased.
The same can be said for digital gaming assets in the metaverse, also known as the gamified metaverse: these assets do not lose their value through use, but rather, their value often increases.
These goods and services aren’t just floating around the metaverse either — many retailers have already — or are in the process of — building e-commerce sites in the metaverse, to sell their products on new digital channels. The metaverse is set to unlock even more value creation potential than today’s e-commerce and online services.
Users can even make profits via digital real estate by buying, selling, and renting land in the form of NFTs on Metaverse platforms.
While all of this sounds remarkable, it’s important to remember that this is all still early days. The big question will be whether these metaverse use cases will become and remain sustainable revenue streams. But there is undoubtedly hope — the metaverse gaming industry is the longest-running use case and has already proven that users can make money selling digital items — and we can already see many more following the same path to monetary success.
The metaverse is a doorway to a new economy based on digital ownership. This ownership is revolutionary because it is built on blockchain technology. It’s enabling hardworking people to quickly start businesses from any and every corner of the world, and the metaverse is one of the environments facilitating this.
However, as we mentioned earlier, there is significant uncertainty surrounding its sustainability. There are currently no outstanding sustainable economic models capable of accurately enabling individuals to earn money in the metaverse as their primary source of income. This was different maybe a year ago, when the crypto boom was very present, and people were earning hundreds of thousands, millions, and even billions in cryptocurrency.
Then it was possible, but now the number of people who can make a lot of money is based more on speculation than on what is sustainable. But we expect a very strong change within the market, where individual projects will help create that sustainability.
The metaverse is slowly becoming a new communication channel for brands and a sales engine for businesses. As more business opportunities open up for big companies and individuals, the metaverse’s potential to make money will only grow.
At SPACE, we’ve created a metaverse platform that enables users to generate income online by enabling token and NFT staking and through concepts such as “play-to-earn.” Users can build experiences in this environment, like shops, events, or galleries, and monetize them; SPACE citizens have true ownership and rights over these experiences, plus the power to monetize them.
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