VR, the Metaverse and Web3

Abstract

Oil IT Journal editor Neil McNaughton reviews over 20 years of attempts to find a useful application for virtual reality technologies. From the Cave, fancy headsets of the last millennium, through Second Life, Google Glass and into the metaverse. But what exactly is the metaverse? Is it Web3? Is it blockchain? Will it be a closed world managed by Meta/Facebook. Or, as many in the IT universe seem to be hoping, an ‘open’ environment where all the GAFAMs can cash-in?