Here at Ryadel.com we often talk about programming, data security, AI, machine learning, software, and the likes: topics such as the metaverse, virtual reality, and augmented reality are much rarer, as they are not part of our professional experience. For this reason, when we want to find out about the latest VR trends, we are interested in looking around for useful and up-to-date sources of information.
In this article, we'll talk about one of these sources: more specifically, we will introduce Metaverse Reviewer, a new online magazine focused on metaverse and virtual platform-related news and products. If you're interested in purchasing an Oculus Quest, or a Samsung Gear 360 camera, you might definitely want to check out that website: let's see why.
What is the Metaverse?
Before digging into Metaverse Reviewer, let's spend a couple of minutes to better understand what we mean when we are talking about "metaverse". The term comes from science fiction (the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash) and it's typically used to describe a single, universal, and immersive 3D virtual world accessible through Virtual Reality (VR) and/or Augmented Reality (AR) devices and software. This is also the reason why Metaverse and VR are often linked together - they're basically two sides of the same coin.
In practical terms, some pivotal concepts of the Metaverse are being implemented since the 2000s within online video games: Second Life, an online multimedia platform that allows people to interact with other users and user-created content within a multiplayer online virtual world, is often described as the first implementation of Metaverse. Other popular games that are considered pioneers are MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft, MMOs like Minecraft and Fortnite, immersive virtual rooms like VRChat, and massive online platforms such as Roblox. All these "implementations" greatly differ in features and user experience, but they all share the fundamental aspect of the Metaverse: strong social interaction within 3D virtual worlds.
The Metaverse market
The Metaverse market is steadily growing over the latest years: in 2017, Microsoft acquired the VR company AltspaceVR, which has been used to implement virtual avatars and meetings held in virtual reality into Microsoft Teams. In 2019, Facebook launched a social VR world called Facebook Horizon, and two years later (2021) even rebranded its company to Meta, a clear signal of its commitment to developing a metaverse. Other investments were made on the digital currencies and cryptocurrency front, as most metaverse assets are traded as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and track ownership using blockchain technology.
The Oculus Quest
One of the most significant products directly related to the metaverse is Oculus Quest, a virtual reality headset developed by Oculus, a brand of Facebook Technologies: the first Oculus Quest (v1) was released on May 21, 2019, as a successor of Oculus Go, and had a huge market success - mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown policies that were issued worldwide and forced millions of people into their homes.
What makes the Oculus Quest great is the fact it is a standalone device, that can run games and software wirelessly under an Android-based operating system: in other words, is just like having a gaming console - except it's a VR headset with positional tracking and high-precision sensors granting an incredibly immersive user experience. Last but not least, thanks to a proprietary feature called Oculus Link, it can also be used (with a USB cable) with all the Oculus Rift-compatible VR software available on a desktop computer.
The current version of the product, Meta Quest 2 (released in October 2020), is a refresh of the original Oculus Quest with a similar design, but with a lighter weight, updated internal specifications, a display with a higher refresh rate & per-eye resolution, and updated Oculus Touch controllers with improved battery life. As with its predecessor, the Quest 2 can run as either a standalone headset with an internal OS or with Oculus Rift-compatible VR software running on a PC.
Metaverse Reviewer
If you are interested in these kinds of topics (and devices), Metaverse Reviewer is the website you're looking for, as it features a lot of reviews about the market's latest releases. Some examples include:
- Oculus Quest 2 review, with a side-by-side comparison with the previous version
- Samsung Gear 360 review, a camera gear for capturing 360 videos
- Cybershoes Gaming Station review, an innovative brand-new wearable device that allows you to experience limitless movement in VR while remaining constrained in real life
... and so on.
The website is committed to bringing the latest and the most relevant metaverse and VR-related news and products, with independent reporting, unbiased product reviews, and a ranking system undergone through an extensive auditing process by independent professionals. In order to ensure objectivity and reliability to their target audience they thoroughly fact-check everything we publish and hands-on test every product before reviewing them.
Conclusion
If you look for a valid, reliable, and independent information source on Metaverse and VR devices, Metaverse Reviewer might well be the online magazine for you: its high editorial standards and evidence-based content will certainly help you to get a clearer idea of what the market offers and how to spend your money - assuming you are looking to get your hands on some VR devices!
