The concept of a Metaverse isn’t a new one. Before Facebook, now Meta, launched Horizon Worlds, the metaverse idea already existed. It appeared in science fiction classics like Ready Player One.
Horizon Worlds is a 3D virtual reality world. In it, users can interact. Now, virtual reality worlds are part of our lives. Many say these VR worlds are the future of the internet.
Whether you think we’ll all live and interact in the Metaverse in the future, or Horizon Worlds and concepts like it are just glorified video games, there’s no denying that the metaverse technologies will require an enormous amount of digital infrastructure to maintain their worlds. To learn how the Metaverse will stay online in the future, keep reading.
You will also see how data centers will support this new VR world.
What is the Metaverse?
While Facebook seems to focus on the Metaverse, it recently changed its name to Meta.
It has also invested billions of dollars in this virtual world.
Still, many people are unsure if they should take the Metaverse seriously. After all, Horizon Worlds is just an immersive virtual reality video game. Recent high-dollar investments in Metaverse real estate suggest the Metaverse is more than just a game.
According to recent reporting by Vox, “Mark Zuckerberg sees the metaverse as the ‘successor to the mobile internet.’ The mobile internet changed our lives by letting us go online anywhere. It also made Facebook’s current business possible.” If the Metaverse becomes what Zuckerberg wants, we may spend much of our waking lives in virtual realities.
The Metaverse could bring in billions, if not trillions, of dollars in revenue to data centers
The Metaverse seeks to create a completely virtual world with virtual jobs, real estate, recreation, socializing, and more. A digital world at that scale will require an enormous amount of physical infrastructure to go and stay online. Increased usage and adoption of virtual worlds could lead to a massive spike in colocation leasing around the world.
In the Metaverse, a user in India and a user in Seattle could sit at the same virtual table.
They could talk to each other. Latency issues would be catastrophic for users. Colocation (see our Dallas colocation services) at scale is key for international connections with little to no latency.
Scalability and cooling will be key to the expanding Metaverse
Every part of the digital Metaverse still needs physical infrastructure somewhere. This means more data centers will appear around the world. Beyond simply data storage, these facilities will reduce latency, enhance network connectivity, supply additional power and cooling, and provide scalability on demand.
As users interact in more immersive virtual worlds, more data is created and stored. More heat is also generated. Cooling will be an essential component in the future of the Metaverse. The need for sustainable liquid cooling technology has never been higher.
While we can’t predict the Metaverse’s future, we know some technologies will matter. Data storage will be essential.
Colocation will be essential. Edge computing will be essential. Thin-nology is Central Texas’s leading data center. It serves Austin and nearby areas with infrastructure, power, cooling, and more.
