Metacities are the latest trend in the metaverse. They are considered to have the potential to fill the gap between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0.

Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of a Facebook rebrand, as well as his Metaverse concept, has spurred developments in the industry, including the rise of “metacities.”

Facebook became Meta, a shortened name whose etymology goes back to the world of the metaverse. This would become the tech billionaire’s new obsession. The metaverse is a virtual reality world where use is an immersive experience.

“Many people think that the metaverse is about a place. But one definition of this is that it’s about a time when basically immersive digital worlds become the primary way we live our lives and spend our time,” Zuckerberg explained of his vision.

It’s a vision that has cost his company as much as $20 billion over a two-year period. This figure could match Zimbabwe’s national budget for six years, with a few changes.

Metacities: The Rise of Digital Cities in the Metaverse

Zuckerberg’s fight is largely lonely. Wall Street analysts urged him to drop the idea altogether and focus on Meta’s core business: social media.

However, new advances in technology show that Zuckerberg’s vision is not the subject of expensive multibillion-dollar hobbies. It may be something that could compress the space and time involved in communication, observers say.

One such player is Crypto House Capital. The digital real estate firm is building a new city in the metaverse: the residential skyscraper MetaReal, also known as “Skylum”, has the potential to bridge the gap between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0, according to Tomas Nascisonis, CEO of Crypto House Capital.

Nascisonis explained that physical buildings with virtual counterparts, or “digital twins,” will have the advantage of attracting existing communities. He defined the concept as a “metareal city”.

Exploring New Attractions in the Metaverse

According to the CEO of Crypto House Capital, technologies like his firm’s Skylum will allow the birth of new tourism and attractions, expanding on existing milestones. Developers will essentially play ‘gods’, but in virtual space, Nascisonis stated.

Whether the idea will become a ‘reality’ remains to be seen. However, Nascisonis and his team have an uphill task. Big companies are struggling to sell the idea at a profit point, due to low take-up.

“It’s hard to say whether or not we’re at the point of widespread adoption of the metaverse,” according to Anthony Logan, co-founder of technology website Mirrorworld. “It is a concept that is still in development, and there is no consensus on exactly what the metaverse will look like, or how it will be used,” he said.

By Audy Castaneda

The WEF maintained that they only had calls with the SHIB development team. Meanwhile, Shiba Inu developers announced that they were collaborating with the WEF.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has denied that it is collaborating with Shiba Inu (SHIB) in developing a global policy on the metaverse. Days ago, the SHIB staff had pointed out a supposed collaboration.

A few days ago, the developer of Shiba Inu, @ShytoshiKusama announced on Twitter that they “had been invited” to work at the World Economic Forum to collaborate in the area of ​​”MV Global Policy”, and even put up a vote to “revalidate” their ad:

“#ShibArmy I need a quick vote: We have been kindly invited to work with the WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM as it pertains to their MV global policy. Would love to know what you all think because it’s not our decision, but yours.”

According to The Block, the WEF only had a few calls with the Shiba Inu development team last week, but only for “exploratory purposes”, but this was not “an invitation” to collaborate under any circumstances. The poll had 22,775 votes.

WEF Investigates the Metaverse

Of the vote, 62.3% of @ShytoshiKusama’s followers expressed their support for SHIB working with the WEF, although user comments raised concerns about the purposes of any collaboration.

In May, the World Economic Forum, at its annual meeting held between May 22 and 26 in Davos, Switzerland, emphasized the importance of the metaverse, and new data of great relevance was even presented worldwide, regarding not only its tendencies but also the knowledge and preferences that the population of different countries has in this regard.

BeInCrypto reported that the WEF presented the results of a survey conducted by Ipsos, with the aim of knowing the perspectives and trends of each nation with respect to the metaverse.

The survey stood out in terms of the disaggregation of data by social, gender, and age strata. The most curious fact about it may be the marked preference for the metaverse in countries with the lowest per capita income:

“The anticipation of this new era of digital technology is significantly higher in emerging countries than in most high-income countries. More than two-thirds of people in China, India, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Colombia say they feel positive about participating with XR, compared to less than a third in Japan, Great Britain, Belgium, Canada, France, and Germany.”

Shiba Inu Metaverse

It is worth remembering that a few days ago WEF published a Gartner study on its website in which it is predicted that the metaverse will be the place where a quarter of the population will work, study, shop, and socialize for at least one hour a day in 2026.

According to the report, about 30% of the world’s organizations will also have Metaversian products and services by then.

By Audy Castaneda