<h2 class=" eplus-wrapper"><strong>Met-averse</strong></h2>

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they would leave the British Royal Family, few thought they would move to a digital world.

But now, the ex-royals say they are planning to build a metaverseAn online virtual world. A combination of meta, meaning beyond, and universe. : an online environment where people can meet and interact with others. A source said: "They will have an even greater ability to spread their message if they have a presence in the virtual world as well as the physical world."

Metaverses¹ have become increasingly popular in recent years. Numerous companies have started producing their own versions of it.

Celebrities have already waded in. Justin Bieber has held a concert in a virtual world. Tennis player Stan Wawrinka is running a digital tournament. Rapper Snoop Dogg has built an online replica of his own mansion. 

SocialiteSomeone who is well known in society, and who is known mostly for attending high profile events. Paris Hilton has created her own online "island" of unicorns and rainbows. Hilton says: "For me, the metaverse is somewhere that you can do everything you can do in real life in the digital world."

It is not just celebrities. The metaverse's chief cheerleader is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Last October, he changed his company's name to Meta "to reflect its focus on building the metaverse". For Zuckerberg, it is "the next chapter of the internet overall".

He is not alone. The metaverse, says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, is "not only transforming how we see the world but how we participate in it". Nadella believes that we will learn and work in the metaverse, allowing us to interact with others from our homes.

Jensen Huang, CEO of AI firm Nvidia, goes even further. He sees the metaverse as a laboratory. Huang says: "We will create a future in these metaverses before actually downloading the blueprintsDesign plans or drawings. to... the physical world."

Others see the metaverse as follyFoolishness. Also used to describe a building built with no purpose.. Virtual reality headsets have been around since the 1990s, but they have never become widespread. Video games are popular because they offer escapism. We want to explore Hyrule with Link or capture Pokemon. Why would we want to enter a digital world that resembles our own, except without the pleasures of touch and taste?

The public appears to agree. Meta's main metaverse product is Horizon Worlds, an online game whose users can create their own personal realm. So far only 200,000 accounts have been made. Many visit a few times and never return. And only 9% of worlds built by creators are ever seen by 50 people. Most are never entered.

This flop has been reflected in Meta's finances. Last month, Meta's market valueThe price something would sell for if it was sold at an auction or other competitive marketplace. sank to $268bn (£227bn), down from more than $1 trillion last September. Zuckerberg has lost $88bn (£75bn) in the last year. One financier called the metaverse a "risky and head scratching bet".

Indeed, there are signs that the metaverse might just be a way for celebrities and tech companies to make money. Paris Hilton charges people to buy virtual clothing. Snoop Dogg is charging fans to buy plots of digital land.² Some say it may be both a fad and a scam.

Yes: From crypto to NFTsNon-fungible tokens are digital tokens that represent ownership of unique items. They can be bought and traded online. , tech nerds are always chasing pointless trends. Why would anyone want to live a second life in a sterile digital world without feeling, taste, emotion, beauty, poetry or soul?

No: The metaverse underwhelms because the technology is not sufficiently advanced. But when it is, it will be inescapable - especially with the world's most powerful firms so invested in it.

Or... Meta might fail, but we already live in a different sort of metaverse. Every time you use a bank card, play a game, check your phones or talk to someone on Zoom, you interact with a digital world.

Metaverse - An online virtual world. A combination of meta, meaning beyond, and universe.

Socialite - Someone who is well known in society, and who is known mostly for attending high profile events.

Blueprints - Design plans or drawings.

Folly - Foolishness. Also used to describe a building built with no purpose.

Market value - The price something would sell for if it was sold at an auction or other competitive marketplace.

NFTs - Non-fungible tokens are digital tokens that represent ownership of unique items. They can be bought and traded online.