There’s the general assumption that the gradual adoption of Bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies led to the birth of “Web 3.0”- which is somewhat true but also includes some other reasons. With the world’s technological adoption and advancement rate, there’s been the birth of new “humanity-changing” technologies like the metaverse- which somewhat means life in a virtual space. While both Web 3.0 and the Metaverse are projected to be dependent on each other in the nearest future, there’s been a lot of misconceptions and assumptions about both terms leading to most assuming they mean the same thing.
Web 3.0 is basically the next version of the internet where users can control their creations. It’s a digital environment where users can manage their digital assets and online identities easily. With Web 3.0, you can now create, control, and monetize your content.
The Metaverse, on the other hand, is simply the creation of “Virtual Humanity”. It is a virtual space that allows interaction between users and 3-dimensional objects designed to represent real-life objects projected into virtual reality. The metaverse still feels vague and speculative because it hasn’t really taken form yet.
Now that you have a basic knowledge of the definition of both technologies, let’s take a closer look at their key differences
5 Key Differences Between Web 3.0 And The Metaverse
Understanding these concepts as a noob may be quite overwhelming with loads of information about them on the internet. Hence, we’ll be differentiating them as regards the following:
- Definition
- Underlying tech
- Use cases
- Present and Future
- Virtual Worlds
Definition
Web 3.0 is a significant advancement in web technologies from Web 2.0 that allows the management of digital assets and online identities. Users can now create, own, and monetize their content using Web 3.0. It allows users to control and manage their creations on the internet easily.
Contrastingly, the Metaverse is a digital space where you can interact with 3-dimensional objects using virtual reality technologies. These virtual reality technologies include VR headsets, controllers, etc. With these technologies, users can interact with 3-dimensional objects like they would in real life.
Web 3.0 and Metaverse are two different technological concepts with their own use cases. Web 3.0 may be used in the Metaverse to be able to create and manage digital assets within the Metaverse. There’s not been a lot of development around this, but I’m coming months, we sure will see the metaverse evolve.
Underlying Tech
The Metaverse’s ecosystem is built with several features created from critical technologies that enable the ecosystem to be whole. The Metaverse’s construction needs connectivity interfaces, decentralization, a creator economy, experiences, and supporting technologies. Since the Metaverse has only been merely explored, there’s so much underlying technology to be developed to enhance metaverse’s user experience.
Web 3.0’s goal is to build a decentralized web that relies solely on blockchain and cryptocurrency. You can engage with online services using blockchain, which is monitored by a decentralized network of computers. In addition, Web 3.0 also leverages public blockchain features to enable open and permissionless access to any user that uses the internet.
Use Cases
Web 3.0 has proven to be a standard for the new generation of the internet that evolved from Web 2.0. Web 3.0 is very applicable to every internet user, especially those who are active participants on the blockchain and perform transactions using cryptocurrencies. Major cryptocurrency platforms are now deployed on Web 3.0 hence, it’s quite clear that Web 3.0 is applicable all over the web rather than for specific applications.
The potential applications of the Metaverse involve the movie, entertainment, gaming, education, and tech industries. Since it’s a newly emerging technology, most of the Metaverse’s applications are still proposed and under development. We’ve only seen a major application in the gaming industry and now with Facebook’s transition into “Meta” and some other industry-leading enterprises adopting the technology, we may see more applications of the Metaverse in these industries.
Present And Future
Firstly, Web 3.0 is an advanced version of Web 2.0 which is the technology that allows online activities to be carried out in it. Web 2.0, from its inception, allows users to create and share content within platforms deployed on this web. With Web 3.0, users can now create, control, manage, and monetize every content created hence improving the technologies of Web 2.0.
The Metaverse, on the contrary, depicts a futuristic period where computer-assisted technologies enable humans to interact with the digital world built-in 3D. We’ve seen early adoption of the Metaverse in virtual reality games and, futuristically, a world where users can interact more and use the tech-universe to work, learn, and interact socially through virtual and augmented reality.
Virtual World
Irrespective of the version of the web, the web will always remain the web. The web is a virtual location that involves 2-dimensional interaction between users. It will always remain virtual as users can only interact with the technology through a platform and an internet connection.
In opposition, the Metaverse is supposed to be a hybrid of both the virtual world and the actual world with the help of technologies like VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality). With Facebook’s adoption of the Metaverse, they are now looking to concentrate on building their part of the Metaverse using virtual reality to accomplish their goals.
However, augmented reality can be seen as the future of using virtual reality in the Metaverse. Just like games allow you to escape the world and hop into the Metaverse through virtual reality, AR applications have been applicable in other disciplines like medicine, and education.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that Web 3.0 and the Metaverse have similarities especially due to the many advancements that occurred with blockchain thereby creating a common ground for both terminologies from a technological point of view.
Most blockchain advancements as regards its concept and solution are immediately integrated into the Web 3.0 engine that will be used futuristically to power the Metaverse’s goods and services.
However, it’s important to understand the difference between both technologies to be able to understand and have a broad knowledge of both technology’s use cases as they develop.
Drop a comment below to let me know what you think about Web 3.0 and the Metaverse.
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