You may be familiar with the concept of the "Metaverse," and you may even know where the name originated, while you may be unaware of its historical origins. Perhaps LucasArts' participation was news to you. In 1985, the first effort at creating a virtual community was undertaken.

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Origin of Metaverse

The genesis of this phrase may be found in any study of the background of the Metaverse. By combining the words "Meta" (meaning "beyond") and "Verse" (meaning "Universe"), author Neal Stephenson painted a futuristic scenario in his book "Snow Crash," released in 1992.  The novel is mostly set in a futuristic anti-capitalist apocalypse, where the protagonists as well as antagonists often run away from their problems in the actual world as well as seek refuge in the internet-based MMORPG known as the Metaverse.

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Habitat (1986)

Yet, from a technological perspective, Metaverse has a far longer history. Before Neal Stephenson popularized the word, the first ever "Metaverse" was the 1985 massively multiplayer online role-playing game Habitat. LucasArts' Habitat is a MMORPG. This was the initial serious effort to generate a graphical commercialized online community. A trailer for LucasFilm's Habitat (1986) may be seen on their YouTube channel. In 1986, Quantum Link, an internet platform for the Commodore 64 as well as the corporate forerunner of AOL, made the game accessible as a beta test. Compared to other online communities of the time (text-based MUDs and MMOs), it is seen as a forerunner to today's sophisticated multiplayer online realms. Having a graphical user interface as well as a huge user base, Habitat was a hit. Avatars were the graphical representations of the users in a virtual environment. As a result of these features, Habitat has become a widely-referenced project and a benchmark for modern internet communities. Participants in the Habitat saw the environment from a third-person viewpoint, similar to a video game, in contrast to the present-day Metaverse, which relies on an immersive presence as its central aspect. In these "regions," players may see and talk to one another. Players were free to visit and exit these predefined areas at any time, which represented different digital landscapes including beaches, caves, and suburbs. All conversations were carried out through textual output on the display.

Actual Worlds (1995)

Since the middle of the 1990s, when Internet connection became more affordable and popular, internet sites have been chosen for creating realistic virtual worlds. This is where Active Worlds comes in. In Active Planets, people may create their own virtual universes and worlds from scratch. The program has rudimentary IM features, voice chat, and web surfing built in. A yearly "citizenship fee" should be paid by all residents. Despite having a rocky launch background, it is still available today despite being 27 years old. On May 22, 2022, version 8.1, the most recent stable release, was released.

The Palace (1995)

Time Warner developed The Palace as a software idea in 1994, and it launched to the public for the first time in November 1995. It provides users with access to graphical chat room servers dubbed "palaces" where they may engage in a variety of social interactions. A big graphic representing each chamber in a palace serves as the background for the app. Users may access different regions of the same palace, other palace servers, and even external websites and emails by clicking on certain "doors" inside a given chamber. In select spaces, players may utilize basic sketching instruments to customize the room's background. Chat messages are the primary means of communication outside of this. Those are shown in a comic book->

Habbo (2000)

Young people between the ages of 12 and 18 make up the vast majority of users on Habbo, which is also known as Habbo Hotel or HH, an online community. In the year 2000, Habbo was established as an online community. It's like a chatroom meets an internet game. Users may design their personal Probably comes characters and use them to explore the many rooms of the virtual hotel. Customers have the ability to design their own spaces and furnish them with their preferred pieces. Users may usually also trade such things with one another. In 2020, Habbo was still doing well with over 850,000 monthly active users and paying clients in more than 115 states. There will be an NFT collection beginning in 2021. Habbo portraits which may be utilized in the forum are included in this collection. A new NFT-only Habbo Hotel is expected to open in 2022, which is still a ways off from being disclosed. When searching the App Store, look for "Habbo-Original Metaverse," since this is the official application's name.

SecondLive (2003)

In SecondLive, users' personas may meet as well as speak with one another in a user-made digital environment for socializing, gaming, and commercial activities. Originally released in 2003 under the moniker Linden World. An estimated 36 million unique visitors signed up for Second Life in 2013, with between 30,000 and 65,000 using the service at any one time. In 2017, just 800,000 people were using it in practice, a figure that had dropped dramatically over the years. Linden Laboratories, the firm behind SecondLive, has publicly declared that it wants to build a "metaverse" similar to that of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. 

The Bottomline

All of the above is, at most, a look into the history and, in some cases, the current of online groups as well as realms. There are several additional ongoing initiatives, some of which are geared at creating an Open-sourced Metaverse. The Open Source Metaverse Project (OSMP) deserves recognition because of the unique approach it takes to connecting different worlds under a common set of standard protocols. The choices here must provide an excellent insight into the growth of the previous several years, notably the birth of the metaverse with goods such as the Habitat in 1985.

Disclaimer: The author’s thoughts and comments are solely for educational reasons and informative purposes only. They do not represent financial, investment, or other advice.