In the video, Zuckerberg has given people a timeframe of five to 10 years, but for both Pilao and Goltra, the shift may take a little while especially when most experts have yet to get a full grasp of this technology. "The 'Metaverse' is a concept that has not been completely defined yet since many companies are still creating the technology needed to bring it into fruition," Pilao tells Tatler. "But essentially, you can think of it like cyberspace, a virtual area that you can access through PCs or smartphones via an avatar. People will communicate and interact with each other in this space like a virtual hall or concert. It will also have a digital economy where people can make, buy, or sell digital goods, or even just present their goods digitally."

Goltra, for his part, explains that it can be hard to predict what the Metaverse has in store for people in the future. "Tech predictions like these are always really hard, it’s not going to be as simple as everyone going to work in VR every day, it’s going to be more subtle and profound. Very few people were able to correctly predict the specific impacts of things like the early Internet or mobile phones—and I do think that the set of technologies generally referred to as the 'Metaverse' have the same potential impact."

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People seem to assume that the more advanced a technology is, the harder it is for scammers and cyber hackers to infiltrate it. "People should definitely be concerned about privacy and online security. If people are sharing more of their private details online, including financial information for buying goods, they should make sure that the platform they are using is secure and their devices are clear of malware," Pilao warns.

Just because it's online, doesn't mean you are safe from all sorts of physical abuse. According to Pilao, there have been reports of virtual avatars victimised by 'online rapists'. The number one reason why virtual perpetrators are brave enough to do such mischief is because of the anonymity given by the virtual sphere. 

"Since virtual avatars also give people anonymity, online scammers, and impersonators may also become an issue. People should be wary of interacting with new acquaintances and avoid giving out any personal data. Unwanted contact is also an issue, during testing of the virtual interactive space in Meta (formerly Facebook Inc.), there were reported incidents of groping. Fortunately, Meta came up with a personal boundary feature that prevents anyone from invading an avatar’s personal space."

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To think that the shift towards Metaverse will be quick is wishful thinking for Goltra and many tech experts. "In terms of how it will affect businesses and jobs, again that will be really hard to predict, but in the most optimistic case it can really be thought of as a new frontier that will need new workers, investors, entrepreneurs, builders, etc.  If the '90s and 2000s Internet era were us really landing on the shore of some new digital continent, the Metaverse era is like us going inland to discover that it’s much larger than we realised and full of resources and new opportunities."

As of this post, there are musicians, painters, and designers who have put and sold their works via NFT. According to Goltra, netizens have so far used NFT technology for digitally-native things like art, collectables, and game assets. "Certainly that’s what the technology has become most well-known for. In the future though, NFTs are a very broadly useful technology that will enable a lot of other creative digital applications that allow the individual users more control of things," he discloses.

For Pilao, everything that has to do with the digital world can likely be sold through NFTs. "Most people are using them to sell ownership of digital art, video clips, and music. But we saw the founder of Twitter sold an NFT of one of his tweets last year, and there are actually NFT TV shows being developed right now. Nike invested in a digital shoe company that makes NFTs, and the NBA sells NFT digital trading cards and game highlights," she explains. 

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