Web 3.0 – The Metaverse & Beyond
WHAT IS WEB 3.0
Web 3.0 is, as the name suggests, the upcoming third iteration of the internet, enabling faster and more streamlined processing. Web 3.0 will also intrinsically change how apps and websites process information, mimicking humans to make human-web-app interactions more organic. This organic interaction will result from enhancements enabled by the power of technologies like Big Data, Machine Learning (ML), and Decentralized Ledger Technology (DLT).
Web 3.0 will be characterized by decentralized interactivity enabling faster connectivity. It is recognized for providing a more efficient experience to consumers. This experience will mirror the decade-old views expressed by Bill Gates; “The internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.” The concept of a connected global village is rapidly evolving.
Web 3.0 is an evolution of the worldwide Web at a new level. The distinctly distributed nature of Web 3.0 is enabled by blockchain technology, providing a more transparent web that is decentralized and thus freer and more secure. This infrastructure will allow users to own and control the data and power rather than put it in corporations’ hands. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be intrinsic to Web 3.0, enabling enhanced interactions based on Machine Learning. The implication of a web of data that can understand, analyze, interpret, and integrate data will provide the users with a hyper-personalized engagement never imagined before.
WHY IS WEB 3.0 INEVITABLE?
As the sophistication of data capture, management, analysis, and manipulation continues to evolve, the transmission to and storage of personal consumer data by tech giants like Facebook or Google could result in further erosion of privacy and loss of user control over their data. The centralization in Web 2.0 allowed data to be controlled by a single large entity. Therein lies the need for the decentralization inherent in Web 3.0. The blockchain-based decentralization promises an elegant solution to this decentralization dilemma.
WEB 3.0 and the METAVERSE
The more embracing nature of today’s generation in adopting technology and interacting with others using technology through gaming and social platforms points to a much more collaborative social interaction in the future. This collaborative interaction has led to the creation of a quickly evolving virtual economy that is estimated to grow from an already massive volume of $200B in 2020 to an incredible $400B by 2025
But the biggest hurdle inherent in today’s web 2.0-based infrastructure is the immutable nature of virtual assets when users jump to different platforms. For example, for a gamer, a digital asset earned through an intense day of gaming in one game holds no value in another game. This means that the gamer will have to spend equal time on the other game to gain a digital asset of similar value. The loss of time and effort implied in this infrastructure is profound.
The introduction of Web 3.0 and the metaverse will build an inclusive infrastructure that will solve this problem, employing the power of NFT and blockchain technology. For example, NFTs can enable users to create digital assets that are genuinely platform-independent. When the user switches from one game to another, the digital assets are not lost and maintain the same value on the other platform. And as the assets are NFT-based, the user can digitally grow the worth of the asset by playing any game.
David Catzel – a tech industry leader and experienced business strategist – thinks of web 3.0 and metaverse as a logical progression of the internet. The earlier iterations, web 1.0 and 2.0, were the initial steps that were supposed to lead to this consumer-centric approach to communicating online. Web 3.0 and the metaverse enabling ease across the globe will establish an equal opportunity environment for consumers.