[A Sip of Books] Someone Is Already Doing It... How to Make Money with the Metaverse

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly resonate with the reader’s heart, creating a connection with the book. We excerpt and introduce such meaningful sentences from books. - Editor’s note

The metaverse world, where ‘various values are created through unrestricted interactions in a space where virtual and reality are fused,’ has arrived. The emergence of the metaverse has created new sources of income. Many individuals have already become producers, generating profits in virtual spaces, and companies are also experiencing various changes, such as commuting to work in the metaverse. The author, who has worked as a metaverse expert in central government agencies and companies, introduces a wide range of issues closely related to real life, from the basic concepts of the metaverse to NFTs, various revenue models, and investment strategies. By showing examples of how individuals and companies utilize the metaverse, the author explains potentially confusing concepts in language accessible to the general public.

The term metaverse is a compound of ‘Meta,’ meaning transcendence, and ‘Universe,’ meaning world, so the word itself means ‘a transcendent world.’ Currently, there is no single agreed-upon definition of the metaverse, and it is interpreted differently depending on the purpose. If you ask 100 people what the metaverse is, you will probably hear similar but slightly different answers. Therefore, an effective way to define the metaverse at this point is to look at how the leading companies in the global metaverse ecosystem define the concept and synthesize these definitions. The four major companies leading the global metaverse ecosystem express the metaverse slightly differently but share a common context: the metaverse is a collection of virtual spaces where various values are created through interactions. In summary, the metaverse can be described as ‘a world, a digital universe, where various values are created through unrestricted interactions in a space where virtual and reality are fused.’ pp.22-26

The comprehensive proptech company Zigbang’s 350 employees eliminated their offline office in February 2021 and began working entirely in the metaverse, moving their headquarters in July 2021 to ‘Metapolis,’ a virtual office they developed themselves. Whereas they used to pay rent for a building, they have now become virtual building owners. In May 2022, Zigbang launched ‘Soma,’ an upgraded virtual office from Metapolis, aiming to enter the global market. Metapolis disappeared, and the new virtual office Soma was born. Employees who used to commute to Metapolis are scheduled to move to Soma sequentially. Soma’s slogan is “Change where you work, Not how you work,” meaning you can work anywhere, but the way you work remains the same as in an offline office. Only the workspace has moved to the metaverse. Employees set up avatars on their PCs or phones and log into the virtual office Soma. Upon logging in, there is a lobby, and when taking the elevator down, colleagues are there. When you get close, you can see their faces and talk; when you move away, faces disappear and voices cannot be heard. This creates a sense of co-presence similar to reality. Soma differs from other online collaboration tools or metaverse platforms in that it has built an environment identical to offline. Especially, the communication environment similar to offline is Soma’s unique advantage. To meet colleagues, avatars must move directly, and conversations happen face-to-face. pp.129-131

Top 45 Most Asked Questions by Metaverse Beginners | Written by Lee Seunghwan | Mate Books | 300 pages | 19,000 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.