The metaverse – everyone is talking about it, but no one is exactly sure what it actually is. This makes it a bit difficult if we want to put together a list of platforms or experiences that represent the best of what it could be.

1. THE 10 BEST EXAMPLES OF THE
METAVERSE EVERYONE SHOULD
KNOW ABOUT

2. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
The metaverse – everyone is talking about it, but no one is exactly sure what it actually
is. This makes it a bit difficult if we want to put together a list of platforms or
experiences that represent the best of what it could be.
But if we take it to mean persistent, connected digital environments which focus on
providing immersive experiences for users, we can have a go at highlighting some
projects – existing and on the horizon - which stand out.
THE 10 BEST EXAMPLES OF THE METAVERSE
EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT

3. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Not all of the projects highlighted here involve virtual reality, or decentralization,
or cryptocurrency. Although those are all technologies that are likely to have a
place in the metaverse, it isn’t strictly essential that they are part of every
metaverse.
So rather than focusing on examples that tick all of the boxes, today’s best
examples tend to be those that do one or more of the core elements particularly
well. Not all of these are fully functional yet (and one of them isn’t even real!) but
they all give us a glimpse of what the digital worlds of the future might look like.

4. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
READY PLAYER ONE
Ok, so this is a bit of a cheat because it doesn't exist and is entirely fictional, and if you've
seen the movie or read the book, you will know that isn't necessarily an entirely bad thing.
It does, however, serve as a great example of what the metaverse might eventually end
up looking like – although hopefully, we won't primarily use it as a means of escape from
an awful reality.
Ready Player One shows us what a fully immersive and interactive virtual reality world
could look like in the near future. And although it’s pure science fiction, it isn’t necessarily
that far out – a 2020 survey by Ericsson found that seven out of 10 people believe we will
have VR worlds that are indistinguishable from reality by 2030. And while yes, it is often
referred to as dystopian, it’s not as terrible a potential fate for humanity as some other
fictional digital realities we could mention.

5. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
SECOND LIFE
Second Life was created by Linden Labs back in 2003, before Facebook (let
alone Meta) even existed. There is some debate around whether it constitutes a
metaverse as such. One reason for this is that, as the name suggests, it’s built to
allow users to engage in an alternative life as an alter-ego rather than to take
their existing real-world life online. Other opinions, however, state that it was
effectively the first popular online metaverse environment. While it may not tick
every box on the checklist, it serves as a useful example of an online community
populated by millions of users with an immersive, experiential user interface.

6. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
META HORIZONS (FACEBOOK)
When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg renamed his company to Meta, it was a sign of
how important he felt the metaverse concept would be to the future of digital
communications, socializing, and living. So far, the result has been several projects,
including Horizon Worlds (a virtual worlds platform), Horizon Venues (events platform),
and Horizon Workrooms (virtual office). All of these platforms are interconnected and
allow users to create avatars that represent them as they explore and interact with other
users. One interesting aspect that arises from the existence of Horizon is that it forces us
to confront questions about whether we want a metaverse where ownership is centralized
under a corporate owner or a more distributed, decentralized model of ownership and
governance.

7. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
FORTNITE
Fortnite is, of course, primarily known as one of the most successful online
games ever created. But creators Epic Games quickly came to understand that
once they had brought millions of switched-on, tech-savvy gamers together on
their platform, it potentially became something more game-changing. Two
main strands that are being followed in order to turn the world of Fortnite into
a proper metaverse are live music concerts from global superstars such as Travis
Scott, Ariana Grande, and Billie Eilish. Brands including Telco 02, broadcaster ITV
and supermarket Carrefour have all used the creative mode to take their first
steps into the metaverse.

8. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
DECENTRALAND
Something of a cross between a game, a marketing channel, and an
experiment in creating a digital, decentralized democracy, Decentraland is a
true web3 platform. It’s governed by a Decentralized Autonomous Organization
(DAO) and is an online home to some of the world’s biggest superstars and
brands, including Morgan Stanley, Coca-Cola, Adidas, Samsung, and Snoop
Dogg. It comes with its own cryptocurrency, known as MANA, and anyone
interested in buying a plot of land there will currently need to put up at least
$10,000 - with the most expensive costing well over $1 million.

9. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
NVIDIA OMNIVERSE
Omniverse is Nvidia’s attempt to build a creative metaverse platform for 3D
design professionals. It builds on technology developed by animation studio
Pixar, which created the Universal Scene Description (USD) language that
enables 3D objects and environments to become portable across different
toolsets. This allows, for example, characters to be designed collaboratively, with
facial animators, clothing designers, and other creatives all using tools that they
are familiar with. As 3D environments become increasingly more detailed and
immersive and require more work to build, this kind of creative framework will
become an essential tool for studios creating metaverse content.

10. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
ROBLOX
Roblox is a gaming platform used daily by more than 50 million users. It lets
anyone create and even monetize their own game worlds, which all exist within
an interconnected metaverse and share aspects like avatars and currency.
Skewed at a younger audience than some of the other platforms mentioned
here, companies including Nike, Forever 21, Gucci, Nascar, Ralph Lauren, and
Vans have all used the platform to set up virtual worlds where users can interact
with their brands. While anyone can create their own game within Roblox, it's
designed, so they will all have a similar look and feel, meaning that once a
player has logged in and experienced one of them, they will feel comfortable in
any of them.

11. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
THE SANDBOX
This started out as a mobile game, which in 2018 was ported by its creators to the
Ethereum blockchain, becoming one of the first truly decentralized metaverse
platforms. It includes its own object creation tools that allow anyone to build 3D
items, characters, vehicles, or anything else they can think of, which are then minted
as NFTs, and can be imported into other Sandbox worlds. These NFTs can also be
traded and sold via the platform’s built-in marketplace. Assets and land are created
as NFTs, and like Decentraland, transactions are carried out in the platform’s own
currency, known as SAND. Sandbox is another platform that has proven popular with
brands wanting to establish their metaverse presence – landowners include HSBC,
Warner Music, PwC, and Paris Hilton.

12. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
OTHERSIDE
This one has only just been announced, and not many details are known, but it
is a metaverse project put together by Yuga Labs – creators of the immensely
successful Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) series of NFTs. In April, the company
raised $285 million with the sale of the first batch of “deeds” to land on the
platform. Although details of what Otherside will look like when it opens to the
public are scarce, the developers state, "think of it as a metaRPG (role-playing
game) where the players own the world, your NFTs can become playable
characters, and thousands can play together in real-time."

13. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
POKEMON GO
Pokemon Go launched before the hype intensified around the metaverse
concept. However, it's the go-to "killer app" for augmented reality (AR), which is
predicted to be one of the cornerstone technologies that metaverse will be built
around. As such, it’s one of the best examples of how metaverse will involve the
merging of the real and digital worlds. Its creator Nintendo further blurred the
boundaries by allowing real-world businesses to establish a digital presence
within the poke-verse by launching advertising and promotional campaigns.

14. © 2021 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
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15. © 2021 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker,
futurist, and a strategic business & technology advisor to governments and
companies. He helps organisations improve their business performance, use data
more intelligently, and understand the implications of new technologies such as
artificial intelligence, big data, blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is
a frequent contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for
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