I’ve mentioned it before, but what is the Metaverse?

The Metaverse is a vision of what many in the computer industry believe is the next iteration of the internet (Web 3) as a single, universal, and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of, among other things, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies.

In colloquial usage, a “Metaverse” is a stack of technologies or a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection.
The presenter of the webinar was selling the Metaverse by touting the quality of the graphics, its audio capacities, and by making observations, such as:

“You can even fist bump in the Metaverse. It’s like you are physically in the same virtual room as the other participant and you can create breakout rooms as you can do on Zoom.”

Is that a plus or a minus? I remain unclear about that!

He mentioned 4 platforms for utilizing Metaverse technology: (i) EngageVR.io, which is free; (ii) Spatial.io, which doesn’t even require the use of a headset; (iii) Glue.work, which is more expensive than Spatial.io, and (iv) Horizon Oculus Workrooms, which at that time was in Beta, and was described as being not especially user-friendly.

But, as I considered the relative benefits of practicing law in a virtual reality universe, I decided I’d leave Web3 and the Metaverse to the litigators for the time being.

Attorneys are known to be risk averse, so when thinking about the Metaverse, all kinds of legal and other issues come to mind, including, without limitation:

1. information privacy
2. Who will be responsible for disinformation?
3. Copyright and Intellectual property rights
4. Tax implications relating to doing business in the digital world
5. State Bar rules
6. Human Resource considerations
7. User addiction
8. User safety

Since the Metaverse is here to stay, it’s important to understand:

Where’s the Metaverse going?

Per Mitch Jackson, the Metaverse will become easier to use as time goes by. Users can expect to experience a Zoom-like learning curve. He also predicts that in 3 to 5 years, it will absolutely be the norm.

And soon transacting business and providing legal services in the Metaverse will become second nature. So if you practice now, you’ll be setting yourself up for success in 2023 and beyond.