In October 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would change its name to Meta, which created a lot of hype around the metaverse that looked to be the future of the Internet.

This 3D virtual world gained a lot of attention at press and tech conferences in 2021 and 2022. Purchasing virtual land on some decentralized metaverse platforms such as Sandbox and Decentraland has gained interest from individual investors and companies such as Nike, Adidas and Louis Vuitton.

In 2023, negativity started to dominate headlines about the metaverse in the tech press. Horizon Worlds - Meta’s bet in the metaverse - has failed to attract users, and some newspapers reported that even the employees working on it do not use it.

Executives at major technology companies have shifted their focus from the metaverse to generative AI. The CEO of NVIDIA, who promoted the metaverse a lot in 2022, has turned his attention to artificial intelligence and developing its infrastructure. Likewise, the CEO of Microsoft has shifted his interest to investing in OpenAI and focusing on ChatGPT and building future applications with artificial intelligence.

Even Mark Zuckerberg himself did not talk about the Metaverse and was busy with artificial intelligence on the one hand, and with competing with Elon Musk and building the text-based communication platform “Threads”, nevertheless he was the one who promised us that the Metaverse was the future of communication and not platforms similar to Twitter (or X).

However, there have been some advancements in the metaverse, if not on the application level, then on the hardware level:

1- Metaverse applications

In 2023, Disney closed the metaverse division that was studying how it could be utilized in Disney Worlds. Metaverse applications such as Decentraland, Sandbox, and Meta’s Horizon World have not shown any progress in terms of user growth or the development of the technologies they use. Nevertheless, some fashion brands participated in the second edition of Metaverse Decentraland Fashion Week in March; They showcased how they use the metaverse to enhance customer experience and target Gen Z audiences.

2- Metaverse devices

In June, Apple announced Vision Pro, a virtual and augmented reality headset; This event received a lot of attention, even though Tim Cook did not mention the word metaverse at all. Tim Cook doesn't want us to see Apple's new device as a metaverse device but rather a "spatial computing" device. Although he somehow gives a boost to the metaverse market even if it does not use the marketing name that Zuckerberg promoted. Several months later, Meta also introduced its first augmented reality headset, Meta Quest 3.

Is the metaverse dead?

The metaverse, as a 3D virtual world, will not die and will still have its clients and users. But as it has been promoted as the future of the Internet and communication, it seems that this hope, if not dead, has become much less likely.

It cannot be said that it is dead because Mark Zuckerberg - even if he did not talk about it in 2023 - is still spending billions on his metaverse. Also, all the technologies developed by Meta and NVIDIA for artificial intelligence can help a lot in building a new and innovative experience in Metaverse applications.

Apple's entry with its new device will contribute to creating a distinctive and rich experience, and it may draw a new path to the Metaverse. Certainly, Apple will not like to call it the Metaverse and may prefer to call it the "Apple-Verse."