How the metaverse will work

There's a lot of buzz going on about the Metaverse. A lot. Strategists are rushing to create metastrategies, investors are chasing metacompanies, and bloggers are busy debating how (un)cool the metafuture really is. But when it comes to defining what the metaverse actually is, most descriptions are vague and nebulous. Few people really understand what a metaworld might look like or how it might work.

I see two distinct metaverses.

The virtual metaverse

The first is a virtual metaverse — a realization of the 'Ready Player One' vision. Stripped of the hype and abstract buzzwords often used by metaverse evangelists, here's a practical technical outline of how such a superworld might work.

Imagine various semi-gaming worlds (think Minecraft, Fortnite, etc.) hosted in the cloud, all accessible through a unified interaction platform. The technical backend — maps, skins, calculations — resides in the cloud, while the gameplay streams seamlessly to the user's device. This eliminates the immersion-killing process of switching between games: no more 'close one game, start another, load, start playing'. Instead, there's a fluid transition: one moment you're wandering through Rivia in The Witcher, the next you're walking through a portal into the Freedom camp in the Stalker universe.

The key to this is a single interface for multiple worlds, a single account, and additional overarching player progression (beyond world-specific achievements). Ernest Cline has already outlined this kind of universe, albeit in a more futuristic way, and VR isn't even mandatory for this implementation. Even on a flat screen, such a metaverse would be much closer to virtual reality than anything we've seen before. What's needed is a unifying software platform and shared computing infrastructure. VR can always be added later.

The real-world metaverse

The second metaverse is the augmented metaverse. This is the layering of digital communications, goods, and entertainment on top of the real world. It could add a touch of magic, fantasy, utopian space opera, or spy thriller to our everyday view of life.

Imagine wearing virtual clothes that are visible not only in a game environment, but also in real life — on the subway, at the gym, or out for coffee. Hang any piece of art you like on your wall — the Black Square, the Marilyn Diptych or The Birth of Venus — and swap it out with a flick of the wrist, no shipping, no rehanging, no storage. Tired of the color of your fridge? Forget tolerating it, repainting it, or buying a new one — just buy a virtual skin. You could even leave a cheeky virtual note for your partner on its door, invisible to the kids.

In a work environment, imagine a presenter handing out virtual documents with report comments. These instantly appear on the desks of remote meeting participants — no more 'I sent a Google Doc link, can you open it? No? Let me give you access'.

Technologically, all this boils down to three layers:

1) projection of additional (virtual, fictional) entities onto the real world — like adding game elements to reality.

2) modification of real-world entities — like changing the color of the refrigerator.

3) replacing real-world entities with digital ones — like replacing physical paintings or documents.

To achieve this, advanced AR technology is essential — especially wearable devices. While current AR solutions (such as smartphones) can provide a temporary, partial implementation, they won't deliver truly layered realities. At best, they offer a fragmented, limited pseudo-world similar to today's AR apps.

A fully realized augmented metaverse will require entirely new devices, a revolutionary operating system, and tools capable of accurately sensing the environment and associating overlaid visuals with it. Without these, the magic just won't happen.