I’m Paula Santolaya, reporting live from SANTOLIVE in my virtual reality. Have opinions, or suggestions? Post them in the comments section down below or email me at info@santolive.com.

Technology advances at a frantic pace and what was once considered a futuristic fantasy is now a reality. Big tech gurus often become the centre of media attention due to their wacky ideas. This time it was the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, who has revolutionized the internet after his participation in a podcast on the blog The Verge, where he put under the spotlight the development of a virtual universe that will change the social an current economic paradigm: the metaverse.

This revolutionary concept was coined in 1992 by the American writer Neal Stephenson in his novel Snow Crash, where characters used avatars to interact with each other in a three-dimensional space.

The metaverse is a parallel universe to the physical world made up of interconnected virtual worlds where human beings can hold business meetings, shop in stores, go to concerts or meet friends. It is similar to a videogame although its goal is not to play but to connect to a realistic virtual replica of the real world. Users will be able to interact in this new digital world by using VR devices, such us virtual reality headsets or eyeglasses.

The possibilities offered by the metaverse and the business opportunities have piqued the interest of big technology companies. A recent report by Bloomberg Intelligence puts the value of the metaverse at 500,000 million dollars and states that in 2024 it could reach 800,000 million and 2.5 trillion in 2030!

The arrival of the metaverse will not be long and the giants Apple, Facebook, Sony or Alibaba are already investing billions of dollars to position themselves as entry portals in this parallel dimension.

Without a doubt, a multi-million dollar business that opens the door to a three-dimensional internet that will completely change our social and economic relationships from our sofa. Kind of scary, right?