The concept of a metaverse, or a computer-generated universe, has been around for decades, certainly longer than when it was recently commandeered by Mark Zuckerberg in his attempt to rebrand Facebook as a new company called Meta. Massively multiplayer games, which can be classified as early metaverses, have been widely available to the gaming public for years. However, with the backing of several multi-billion dollar companies, the metaverse concept has now achieved a status in the business world that can no longer be ignored.

Over the next 20 years the metaverse has the potential to change the fundamental way humans interact with each other, employers, vendors, marketers and retailers. The simple analogy for our current level of metaverse technology would be: We have just jumped from the adding machine era to the era of the handheld calculator. The next step – a step that could come more quickly than most can imagine – will be to jump from calculator to personal computer and the start of the next digital age.

Knowing and thoroughly understanding the terminology associated with the metaverse will be vital to business decision makers as they assess whether a metaverse strategy will best serve their business needs and, if it does, how and when they will deploy it. This quick metaverse glossary from TechRepublic Premium provides a practical foundation for employees, managers and business decision makers regardless of their specific industry. Some of the terms listed in this glossary are brain computer interface, creator economy, decentralized autonomous organization, hyperreality, omniverse and self-sovereign identity.