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How the metaverse blurs the line between virtual and reality

Electric Daisy Carnival Becomes the First Music Festival in the Roblox Metaverse (Graphic: Business Wire)
Electric Daisy Carnival Becomes the First Music Festival in the Roblox Metaverse (Graphic: Business Wire)

The next iteration of the internet could be a vast, three-dimensional digital frontier that looks a lot like real life.

Tech experts say the metaverse is coming — and fast.

“We’re on a bullet train. Destination, metaverse. We don’t know when we get it there,” Cathy Hackl says. “We don’t know the stops, but that is exactly where we’re heading.”

But what exactly is it that we’re headed for?

Today, On Point: Inside the metaverse. What’s real, what’s not – and what happens when we can’t tell the difference.

Guests

Cathy Hackl, chief metaverse officer & CEO at Futures Intelligence Group. (@CathyHackl)

Cecilia D’Anastasio, staff writer at WIRED, covering games and the gaming industry. (@cecianasta)

Also Featured

Michael Gord, co-founder and CEO of GDA Capital. (@BitGord)

Neal Stephenson, author of several books, including “Snow Crash” and “Termination Shock.” (@nealstephenson)

Shoshana Zuboff, professor emerita at Harvard Business School. Author of “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.” (@shoshanazuboff)

From The Reading List

WIRED: “The Metaverse Is Simply Big Tech, but Bigger” — “Like religious prophets, Big Tech luminaries are ­preaching the coming of the next internet.”

Freethink: “The metaverse is coming. Cathy Hackl explains why we should care.” — “You may have heard of the metaverse — but let’s be honest: do you really know what that means? If you’re unsure, you’re not alone: The metaverse is hard to pinpoint.”

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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