It's called web 3.0 – the future of the internet, and described as a brand new, virtual world where we can work, learn, play, shop and create – but what exactly IS the metaverse?
And perhaps more importantly, how can it possibly come to be worth trillions of dollars by the end of the decade, as the likes of investment bank Citi suggest?
On this edition of The Agenda, Stephen Cole enters the metaverse to explain exactly why this latest technological advance is set to change all our lives.
He starts by speaking to Bradley Duke, CEO of ETC Group to find out just how the finances of the metaverse work, and where the money will be made.
Of course, if the metaverse does end up adding trillions of dollars a year to the global economy, it's going to need regulation – an area the big tech firms have viewed with some trepidation up to now. Louis Rosenberg – Founder & Chief Scientist, Unanimous AI tells Stephen exactly what rules he thinks are needed, and who might one day police them.
And with a recent survey showing that China is the country most looking forward to the coming of the metaverse, Stephen also speaks to Ziheng "Roy" Luo, Director of International Business Development at Hello Wat about what China will be bringing to the party, and to Takayuki Suzuki, CEO of MetaTokyo, about the Japanese approach to the web 3.0.