The metaverse has been a hot topic recently, largely due to Facebook changing its name to Meta and announcing a new focus on the metaverse itself. However, the metaverse can change more than just how we approach social media, though that’s an obvious facet of online interaction that it can alter.

The metaverse can entirely change how we approach events, including how those events are hosted, something which may be required in the post-pandemic world.

• Read our article on how Backstage can rebuild the events industry after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, let’s take a look at exactly what the proliferation of the metaverse means for the event industry. We’ll start by discussing what the metaverse is in the first place.

What Is the Metaverse?

There are two kinds of people: those who will tell you that the metaverse will forever change human interaction and those that say that it will crash and burn before ever getting off the ground. As usual, the answer lies somewhere in the middle, and we’ll only have a clear picture once it sufficiently develops.

The metaverse is designed to be a virtual space that exists parallel to our world, much like the internet already does. So why don’t we call the metaverse the internet? It’s largely due to the differences in how people are expected to interact with the metaverse compared to how they already do with the web.

Up until now, using the web has been a relatively detached experience, since you’re doing what you do through a screen. Though certain parts of the web like online gaming can feel pretty immersive, other things like forums, message boards, and video meetings have still felt different from daily life.

With the rise of virtual reality and platforms like VRChat, we’ve seen the beginnings of the metaverse. The metaverse is essentially a union between the web and VR (as well as AR). This creates a virtual world that we can interact with much like its our own without having to feel like it’s too distinct.