metaverse

noun

1. (Internet)A hypothetical future (counterpart or continuation of the) Internet, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space.

   “Hiro walks straight through the display, and it vanishes. Amusement park in the Metaverse can be fantastic, offering a wide selection of interactive three-dimensional movies.”

   “It is closer, in other words, to another science fiction vision, the “metaverse” Neal Stephenson envisioned in his 1992 Snow Crash. That particular moniker has not caught on, but many of Stephenson's ideas about what the on-line world can look like are driving a new generation of entrepreneurs to try to match it.”

   “But now, with 350 million players who are used to hanging out in a vibrant, ridiculous online world filled with dancing bananas and cartoon skirmishes, Party Royale could be the experience that finally realises the idea of a playful, mass participation online metaverse.”

   “Video games like Roblox and Fortnite and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, in which players can build their own worlds, have metaverse tendencies, as does most social media. If you own a non-fungible token or even just some crypto, you’re part of the metaversal experience. Virtual and augmented reality are, at a minimum, metaverse adjacent.”

   “In the world of Snow Crash, the metaverse is not viewed as particularly cool—it is necessary, because the real world has become so unbearable.”

2. (archaic)A set or the composite of all universes.

   “A single-cycle universe comes to eternal rest. But further instabilities in the virtual energy domain may occur, and some of these may be potent enough to create new universes. The thesis of a metaverse giving rise to local universes is cogent, […]”