The metaverse might just be one of today’s biggest buzzwords, thanks to Mark Zuckerberg deciding to change the name of the Facebook Group to Meta. But metaverses don’t begin and end with Facebook; in fact, they might end up owing a lot more to 5G networks than to any social media platform.
What does the metaverse mean?
The metaverse is today’s trendy name for a fully-connected alternate digital universe. It’s a place where you can have meaningful and fun experiences, like meeting friends, making new relationships, buying new items, even attending concerts, just like in the physical world.
Thought leaders say that the test of the true metaverse is something called interoperability. This means you can move from one platform to another without losing your possessions or appearance, just like in the real world.
Right now, although there are some platforms like Second Life or Roblox that are aspiring to become metaverses, you can’t take your Roblox creations with you into Second Life, or vice versa. Even Facebook, despite its new name, still can’t enable users to move content freely between Facebook and Instagram.
However, it might not be long till that changes. The Meta group is reportedly trying out new ways to share photos from Facebook to Instagram, and researchers predict that a true metaverse is only a few years down the road.
Are we talking about the Matrix?
Well, it’s not quite clear. If Mark Zuckerberg has his way, the answer could be “yes.” The advert produced by the new Meta group after their name change shows an entirely virtual world, much like The Matrix, where your physical environment is meaningless. You’ll just have virtual interactions on a digital platform.
If that terrifies you, there’s good news. Many companies at the cutting edge of digital technologies have different ideas, planning an integrated metaverse that overlays a kind of digital layer on top of physical reality. Some call this augmented reality, or AR; Microsoft refers to it as mixed reality (MR), and the 5G company Qualcomm likes the term extended reality (XR).
In the XR metaverse, brick and mortar stores might entice you in with hologramatic displays. Your car windscreen could show warnings about traffic up ahead, or alert you to hazards in the street, and your sunglasses might flash up digital directions for you to follow as you walk.
The metaverse is already on the horizon
The XR metaverse has been slowly arriving for a while now. Consumers have embraced apps like AR filters on social media photos, paint apps that let you try out different colors on your walls, and makeup apps that give you a virtual makeover.
Industry 4.0 uses digital twins, when a manufacturing plant — or any other physical space — is mapped to create a digital model. IoT sensors in the physical plant send real time updates to the digital version so that they are always in sync. Off-site engineers can use the digital twin to “see” inside equipment with AR glasses, and make changes to the physical plant by reconfiguring the digital twin, enabling the convergence of digital and physical worlds.
An XR metaverse needs 5G
In the XR metaverse, you’ll be walking the streets, hanging out in public spaces, and traveling to new locations, all while enjoying enhanced digital experiences that react to your movements and surroundings in real time.
You can’t do that, and also stay logged into fiber-optic broadband.
Likewise, you can’t use glasses with an AR overlay unless they are totally lag-free, otherwise you’re likely to feel bewildered — and maybe dizzy — by the mismatch between the physical world and the digital one. That’s why 5G mobile connectivity is integral to the vision of the XR metaverse, so users can enjoy latency-free interactions no matter where they go.
None of that is a problem for the Facebook metaverse, of course. If your physical surroundings are irrelevant, you can live your entire life on a digital platform that uses superfast wireless internet. But XR is all about going out and enhancing the world we already inhabit, instead of replacing it with a digital version.
Could the metaverse boost 5G stock?
As more people buy into the concept of the XR metaverse, and the idea of digital overlays and XR filters gathers steam, 5G network stocks and companies involved in building up 5G infrastructure are likely to see demand — and stock prices — rise.
To achieve low enough latency for real-time AR glasses, for example, there needs to be much more compute power in base stations and local network hubs, drawing on more mobile edge compute. This, in turn, requires a standalone 5G system that uses mid-band airwaves without sharing a 4G network. Fortunately, companies like Qualcomm, Ericsson, Vodafone, and other 5G and 5G-related businesses are working on this as we speak.
5G companies’ stock may well benefit from the metaverse buzz. As it becomes a reality, we’re likely to see more demand not just for 5G pureplays, but also for telecommunications companies which manage the connection, infrastructure companies which build and maintain the towers, digital platforms that serve as the location for XR experiences, and chip makers that produce the micro compressor chips that power 5G devices.
5G investors are looking for opportunities
And that adds up to good news for companies connected to the 5G space. Investors who like the idea of being part of cutting edge, disruptive technologies are increasingly interested in buying up cheap 5G stocks in the hopes that their value will shoot up when the metaverse arrives. Even the best 5G stocks are still a gamble, but the more we grow accustomed to the idea of an XR metaverse, the more profitable they could prove to be.
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The possible applications of 5G technologies are only in the exploration stages, and the possibility of returns is uncertain and may not be realized in the near future.
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