Description
"Ball's lucid and timely book offers a portal into a new realm."—The Economist
"The term “Metaverse” is thirty years old, yet only recently entered mainstream conversation, attracting both fascinating and skepticism. While some have promised its imminent arrival, in fact it will take a series of technological and societal leaps to realise its full potential. In The Metaverse, pioneering theorist, former tech executive and acclaimed entrepreneur Matthew Ball offers an expansive tour of the “next internet”: he presents a comprehensive definition of the Metaverse (going far beyond mere virtual reality headsets), explains the technologies that will power it, addresses governance challenges, and predicts Metaverse winners and losers. Bringing clarity and authority to a frequently misunderstood concept, this revised and updated edition of Ball’s authoritative work demonstrates how the Metaverse will radically reshape society.
“A comprehensive guide to every aspect of the metaverse.”—John Thornhill, Financial Times
“Offers a better understanding of the metaverse than the novel that coined the term—1992’s Snow Crash.”—Cecilia D’Anastasio, Bloomberg
Reviews
"Ball certainly knows his stuff... For this emerging generation, the metaverse will be a perfectly natural psychological extension of everything they have ever known. For the rest of us, who will soon need to catch up, Ball’s book is the best crash course we have." — Kit Wilson, The Times
"Where big tech waffles about the metaverse while spending billions on making it a reality, Ball has exacting standards for what the metaverse must be and what would be needed to achieve it." — James Ball, The Spectator
"Excellent… Chapters on bringing the various iterations of the developing metaverse together, making them interact, and the hardware required, are lucid and logical." — Chris Stokel-Walker, New Scientist
"Like the information superhighway, this latest buzzword seems to point in the right direction, but may get lost along the way. For anyone who wants to understand the process and what is at stake, Mr Ball’s lucid and timely book offers a portal into a new realm." — The Economist
"You had probably never heard the word metaverse before 2021. Today it’s hard to escape it. For those who want to move past the hype and understand where the promise of this technology really lies, The Metaverse by Matthew Ball is the place to start." — Alok Jha, The Guardian
"Ball certainly knows his stuff... For this emerging generation, the metaverse will be a perfectly natural psychological extension of everything they have ever known. For the rest of us, who will soon need to catch up, Ball’s book is the best crash course we have." — Kit Wilson, The Times
"Where big tech waffles about the metaverse while spending billions on making it a reality, Ball has exacting standards for what the metaverse must be and what would be needed to achieve it." — James Ball, The Spectator
"Excellent… Chapters on bringing the various iterations of the developing metaverse together, making them interact, and the hardware required, are lucid and logical." — Chris Stokel-Walker, New Scientist
"Like the information superhighway, this latest buzzword seems to point in the right direction, but may get lost along the way. For anyone who wants to understand the process and what is at stake, Mr Ball’s lucid and timely book offers a portal into a new realm." — The Economist
"You had probably never heard the word metaverse before 2021. Today it’s hard to escape it. For those who want to move past the hype and understand where the promise of this technology really lies, The Metaverse by Matthew Ball is the place to start." — Alok Jha, The Guardian
