Explained: What metaverse is and how to play the theme on Dalal Street

Now add to this trend some 3D virtualisation techniques, gadgets and wearables - the divide between real and virtual blurs.

: The history of metaverse

Metaverse is a digital world in which the physical, and augmented and virtual realities (extended reality or XR) come together to offer immersive experiences. There are platforms like Decentraland where you can buy virtual real estate with Mana – a virtual currency that one can buy on global exchange. Then there is an NFT gaming metaverse, Axie Infinity, where collective digital pets can be bred and battled. You could play and even make money.

Earlier limited to gaming world, metaverse is now an obsession of tech giants such as Apple, Google, Tencent and Microsoft. The concept has potential across sectors, from real estate, healthcare, training and development, retail and e-commerce to social media, and education. Brands such as Nike, Gucci and Adidas are making big moves to engage customers in metaverse.

Metaverse could seem science fiction becoming reality. But if you think about it, almost all inventions that are mainstream and have lost novelty today were once a figment of the imagination, be it internet, smartphones, interplanetary travel and so on.

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There is a long list of startups in India working on XR. Other companies that would be critical to the metaverse ecosystem would include consumer electronics (smart glasses, eyewear or headsets etc.) and semiconductor companies, and listed IT companies developing immersive or extended reality solutions (such as Infosys, Tata Elxsi, Cyient, HCL Tech and Happiest Minds).

From companies that will create physical infrastructure (telecom and 5G players such as Himachal Futuristic and Tejas Networks) to cyber security companies (like Subex), the metaverse pie offers a potential bite to many players.

Besides some obvious names betting big on metaverse such as Nazara Tech, some other companies are flirting with the concept too, for instance, HMVL (investment in the Wurkr platform, which enables teams to work together from anywhere in an immersive virtual workspace) and Triveni Engineering and Industries (investment in gaming startup Jet Synthesis).

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It’s too early to know if metaverse is a trend or just another fad, and whether real value will be created or just digital tokens will be exchanged. Being pegged as a multi trillion opportunity by industry experts, metaverse is indeed a theme worth tracking.