The metaverse: What is it, will it work, and does anyone want it?

Since its rebrand as “Meta”, Facebook has been throwing its considerable weight behind the idea of an immersive virtual reality world. Here’s everything you need to know

Technology 5 January 2022

By Chris Stokel-Walker

supertotto

HIRO PROTAGONIST doesn’t see much promise for his future. Stuck in a dead-end job in a world where traditional money has been supplanted by encrypted alternatives and a few big companies shape things to their own ends, he struggles to make ends meet following a global economic collapse. To escape, he slips on virtual reality goggles to visit a place called the metaverse, where his digital avatar walks the streets of a more interesting, engaging, inclusive world.

This vision of a 21st-century reality comes from Snow Crash, a 1992 book by science fiction writer Neal Stephenson. But wind forward …