WordPress in the Metaverse of Possibility

by Vipe Team in WordPress Development; Published on 07.06.2022

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Doctor Strange recently found himself in the Multiverse of Madness, while WordPress and the whole web development world are slowly stepping into the untapped waters of the Metaverse of Possibility. What a time to be alive, right?

The borders between what’s real and what’s simply a figment of someone’s wild imagination are beginning to blur at incredible speed. Are we entering a new digital era that is going to completely transform WordPress website development as we know it? Today, we discuss.

The New Direction of the Digital Landscape

2022 seems to be the year of really grandiose concepts that occupy both the fictional and real world. Just think about it for a second – thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and characters like Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch, pop culture fans all around the world are entertaining ideas such as the Multiverse.

Apart from the entertainment industry, though, there is yet another big word that is circling around people’s mouths more and more. Of course, our WordPress agency for enterprise is referring to the Metaverse.

The Metaverse. A big word, indeed. The digital landscape is dramatically changing in its attempt to simplify people’s lives. The World Wide Web is rapidly evolving into an amalgam of virtual, augmented, and physical reality that aims to completely transform the way in which we communicate in the online environment.

Nowadays, all people need is a steady Internet connection to enter a world that offers a plethora of platforms via which users may interact in a variety of ways. According to the latest reports, the recent rebrand of Facebook as Meta sparked users’ interest like never before.

After all, our enterprise WordPress agency reminds you that Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company is going to invest the mind-blowing $10 billion (at the least) on the Metaverse – a futuristic concept that has literally hopped from the pages of a sci-fi novel.

*(You can read more about the pop culture parallels infused in the Metaverse in our article “How Will the New Metaverse of Mark Zuckerberg Affect WordPress and the Web Development World?”)

Since the Metaverse is such a colossal and ambitious undertaking, it is absolutely understandable why so many people and focus groups have started to place their bets on a Metaverse-based future. Enterprise businesses are trying their best to stay ahead of the game, too, by launching new projects centred around the Metaverse.

With that being said, our WordPress agency for enterprise suggests we do a deeper dive into the notion of the Metaverse so we can better understand where and how WordPress fits into it.

The Metaverse Explained

The ‘metaverse’ is a concept that refers to a combination of technical aspects such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and video. The idea is that all of these elements merge together to create a new digital environment in which users “live”.

Proponents of the Metaverse (with Mark Zuckerberg at the helm) are envisioning a future where we can stay connected to our friends and colleagues through the means of innovative technologies, such as AR and VR.

Our enterprise WordPress agency reminds you that the Metaverse promises to make it possible for us to inhabit a near-life-like digital setting where we can meet and collaborate with people.

Here, we’re talking about a fully-immersive experience that can be applied to pretty much everything – from concerts, conferences and meetings to virtual excursions around the world.

In a nutshell, the term ‘metaverse’ alludes to a shared virtual world that most people may access via a variety of devices that can switch between different digital surroundings. As you can see for yourself, this is a rather complex notion, meaning that it may take more than a decade until (and IF) it fully takes over organisations among the digital behemoths.

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Main Characteristics of the Metaverse

Our WordPress agency for enterprise is aware that the Metaverse concept can be pretty hard to grasp as it comprises many different elements. To make it a tad easier for you, here are some of the main characteristics of the Metaverse:

The Metaverse can connect you with others virtually.
The Metaverse is all about the collaborative spirit, allowing you to come together with your family, friends, and coworkers in a digital environment that feels near life-like.
The Metaverse aims to provide users with a handy retail and business platform.
The Metaverse will allow you to construct your own 3D avatar.
The Metaverse will enable you to do all kinds of things from the comfort of your own home – you’ll be able to attend meetings and play games.
Our enterprise WordPress agency reminds you that the Metaverse aims to introduce innovative technologies with which the lines between the real and the virtual world start to blur, thus creating a fully-immersive experience.
The Metaverse proposes a digital transformation of people’s lives who will be able to communicate with one another via social media platforms in an entirely new way.

How Does the Metaverse Operate?

According to Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook (now Meta), the Metaverse will also introduce a software application that will be very different from what we have now. This application will allow the development of unique 3D avatars that will keep us virtually connected to everyone and everything that matters to us.

Our WordPress agency for enterprise can tell you that Meta (formerly Facebook) has already started to invest heavily in companies and technologies that can make the leap and transit into the Metaverse.

The tech giant is putting its money into augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). What’s more, Meta has built its own VR environment (Horizon Worlds), which can be accessed through the Oculus Quest headsets.

What Does the Metaverse Mean for the WordPress Development Industry?

Naturally, the Metaverse idea is progressing toward software development. This will undoubtedly have significant ramifications for the web development industry.

Our enterprise WordPress agency reminds you that our favourite CMS practically revolutionised the world of web development, thanks to its amazing potential for scalability as well as the plethora of plugins, themes, and extensions it offers.

As a result, more and more technology companies are taking into account WordPress’ popularity and are developing products that can be easily merged with WordPress sites, plugins, themes, and extensions.

Since WordPress powers 42.9% of all websites (as of June 7, 2022), the Metaverse concept is becoming the talk of the town. Developers and enthusiasts alike are all discussing how we can use the Metaverse in different aspects of web design and development.

Our WordPress agency for enterprise is particularly interested in how we can implement the Metaverse concept into educational (LMS) websites where user engagement is of utmost importance. Of course, the same goes for websites across other relevant industries.

An Example for a Metaverse WordPress Plugin

There are already companies that are developing Metaverse plugins for WordPress. An example of such a plugin is “Metaverse ID” by wpSocket.

This WordPress plugin is inspired by the work on the now-defunct swslr project. The plugin’s goal is to allow users to add widgets to their WordPress blogs’ sidebars that enable them to display their Metaverse profiles.

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If you are interested in this plugin, our enterprise WordPress agency can tell you that it supports Metaverses, such as:

Star Trek Online
Lord of the Rings Online
EVE Online
World of Warcraft (Europe, US)
Progress Quest
Champions Online
Second Life (Agni/Main Grid, Teen Second Life)
Everquest, Everquest II
Free Realms
Metaplace

Our WordPress agency for enterprise warns you that plugins like this usually require Metaverse configuration. In this context, it’s important to note that some Metaverses (such as EVE) demand some additional information in order for a plugin like “Metaverse ID” to access the data.

However, the creators of “Metaverse ID” have assured us that if one of the supported Metaverses necessitates configuration, a Metaverse ID menu will be added to the Settings menu.

Also, if you try to update a Metaverse ID and keep getting a warning saying that the update failed, the creators of the plugin suggest you double-check that the Metaverse has been configured correctly.

Our enterprise WordPress agency also wants to remind you that Metaverse plugins will usually have specific requirements that may vary. Since we’re using “Metaverse ID” as an example, here are the requirements this plugin has:

PHP5
DOMDocument
SimpleXML
JSON decode support

Can We Invent WordPress for the Metaverse?

Terry Schussler (the Senior Director of XR and the Metaverse at Deutsche Telekom in San Francisco) said something that really caught our attention. Namely, he said that:

“Whoever invents WordPress for the Metaverse is going to make serious cash.”

Our WordPress agency for enterprise couldn’t agree more with Schussler. He has emphasised that the Metaverse necessitates a variety of technological tools. Schussler explains that the immersive Metaverse demands the creation of a headworn experience that goes beyond the typical 2D experience offered by browsers or mobile phones.

We remind you that today’s technologies combine the virtual and real worlds by integrating cameras to allow you to pass through or observe the actual world. VR headsets are the most relevant example of this technology, as they often have augmented reality or mixed reality capabilities.

Another interesting aspect of the Metaverse is that the technology will allow users to occupy a whole world with their bodies. This means that your gestures, speech, and walking patterns will be translated to the digital world.

In regard to this, our enterprise WordPress agency wants to direct your attention to another curious thing Terry Schussler said. He noted that users of the Metaverse will be able to use what he refers to as multimodal input. The idea is that within the Metaverse we can refer to things with our speech and gestures, and all of that gets merged together into an interaction.

This is obviously an entirely different experience. You can only do so much with a mouse or touch screen. These things offer a much more limited interaction when opposed to pointing at something and using our own voices. We’re talking about a new generation of software that will be able to make deductions based on our gestures and speech.

Our WordPress agency for enterprise also likes what Schussler had to say about consistency – another aspect in which the Metaverse greatly differs from any other digital experience we’ve known so far.

He made a good point by noting that oftentimes when we visit a website and return to it the next day, everything looks and feels completely different because the information is completely different. It’s as if you’re beginning anew.

Web Development vs. Game Development in the Metaverse (And How Does WordPress Fit Into It)

The Metaverse, on the other hand, is supposed to be “persistent and consistent all the time”. Someone may have changed something by adding or removing an object, but the environment’s foundations will remain the same (much like your living room would still be your living room even if a few additional chairs have been added).

Our enterprise WordPress agency agrees that this consistency that is inherent to the Metaverse will give it a sense of place that a website might not provide.

So, when it comes to WordPress developers looking to generate real money in the Metaverse, they should probably focus their efforts on creating 3D elements for a VR experience, or even digital clones of real-world items.

We remind you that creating digital twins of real-world objects is a rather complicated task. There are many things you need to get right. For instance, you’ll need specific lighting, equipment, and a means to spin the object consistently so you can record it from all angles.

Our WordPress agency for enterprise believes that whoever manages to overcome those problems and lower production costs will be onto something huge.

Although we can’t say anything for certain, it is pretty safe to assume that any WordPress company that can discover a way to make content creation in the Metaverse more affordable and efficient would find meaningful opportunities for growth in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

Another thing that Terry Schussler has discussed is how startups (and may we add WordPress developers too) need to make it simple for individual users to construct their own Metaverse experiences.

Our enterprise WordPress agency believes he makes a good point by saying that customers will want to build their own Metaverses in the same way they can build their own websites or blogs.

Schussler states that one of the greatest opportunities a developer can have nowadays is enabling WordPress for the Metaverse. We agree that taking an existing website and reimagining it as a spatial experience can turn into a very profitable business venture in the years to come.

WordPress for the Metaverse can become a reality through a multimodal input, with the user being able to build a specific setting just by using speech. Imagine if you could personalise your Metaverse WordPress website’s appearance simply by delivering your vision by speech. That would be cool, wouldn’t it?

Our WordPress agency for enterprise joins Schussler in his belief that whoever figures a way to achieve this is going to make a big splash in the web development world. Not to mention that WordPress will once again prove that it is indeed the most versatile and scalable CMS for a solid reason.

The Metaverse Has Been Opened, and WordPress Is Ready to Be a Part of It!

And so, to wrap things up, it is fair to say that although the Metaverse is still in its infancy, the concept and the technologies associated with it are expected to speed up the merging of the physical and digital worlds in the near future.

As it has become clear from this article, the WordPress development industry is expected to undergo a big transformation if the Metaverse ever becomes the ruler of the new digital experiences.

Of course, only time will tell whether the Metaverse will reign or not. Until then, our enterprise WordPress agency is sure of one thing – no matter what the future holds, WordPress will be ready to meet it.