Metaverse of Mark Zuckerberg is not the first and not the last although it made quite a splash. The virtual world is here. How to live there was a topic for the discussion of the MIM-TV episode. Our experts shared their opinions on the metaverses.

Artem Shevchenko, СЕО of the Epicenter marketplace

- Facebook’s re-branding is an end rather than a beginning. Metaverse projects have run for 3 – 4 years. Those projects are about learning, working, making money, and a bit of gaming. Facebook’s step is along the already blazed trail. 

- In my opinion, a metaverse is different from augmented reality. The Crypto industry and blockchain technology are metaverses’ drivers. Ownership to any and each thing is identified in the virtual world. This identification is a starting point of NFT. “Paid to learn” thing helps to make money because you are in those virtual worlds. 

- Metaverses are not substituting our offline world. I think metaverses need 4 – 5 years to blend into our lives. It is a new way of interacting with the world that may generate various uses, new professions jobs will appear and many people will get new kinds of employment. On the weak side, we are facing many regulatory issues, many of them unexpected and unpredictable. It is only natural. As to Meta, I do not think it is going to be the most popular metaverse.

Maria Terekhova, co-founder of the X-tend Group, managing partner and founder of the New Fashion Zone, and MIM-Kyiv pre-MBA graduate:

- This year we ran young designers’ competition using the Ukrainian platform 'Proof of love'. The platform issued fashion coins. We did it in a virtual world and used cryptocurrency. That was a novelty for creative people in Ukraine and abroad. Big brands' sales are growing. They are looking to establish themselves in the new world. Balenciaga is collaborating with gaming in 2021 to present their new collection as a computer game. Brands are throwing virtual parties and events to attract customers from Gen Z. 

- We are running an international competition with participants from 32 countries. Young people are sharing their experiences of studies with the help of the virtual world. The DressX, a Ukrainian startup recently raised 2 million dollars. Their big idea is buying apparel for going out virtually, say on Instagram. It proves that hedge funds are ready for that kind of startup. It is in fact mainstream. 

- New worlds propel creativity. Creative industries such as fashion and design are going to thrive. The ideas of teenagers and schoolchildren show what our future lives will be like. We will use some things from the virtual worlds in our lives. 

Yevhen Piletsky, phycologist:

- Stanisław Lem, the well-known futurist, and author once that there were three kinds of evolution. Biological evolution is the slowest and we are often suffering from it. For example, anxiety disorders are the implication of biological evolution. Social evolution is faster. The technological evolution is the fastest. Different speeds of the evolutions generate most of our conflicts. 

- I think technology will take 5 – 10 years to develop. We are likely to have many metaverses that may interact. For me, it means new human interactions and new ethics. What will be the rules? Who will be the regulators? What will privacy mean? Human beings could be tokenized. Having an uncompromised avatar may be similar to being an NFT token. 

- I don’t think that new technology will separate generations. It is more likely to bring them together if the new technology is more intuitive and kinesthetic. Unlike the smartphone with its low-touch approach.