The Exarta Metaverse Glossary – All You Need to Know

Written by.EXARTA

December 7, 2022

Welcome to Exarta’s Metaverse Glossary!

Metaverse

From ‘Meta’ – which roughly translates ‘beyond’ or ‘which transcends’. The Metaverse is a massively scaled, persistent and interconnected virtual space, made up of 3D real-time rendered worlds. That will eventually serve as a gateway to online experiences as an evolution of the internet as we know it today. It’s a digital layer of our lives; an extension of our physical lives into the digital realm.

Individuals can immerse themselves into a thriving online community and engage in activities such as socializing, working, shopping, creating and having fun – just as they would in the real world. Metaverse experiences are made possible by combining advanced technology, including virtual and augmented reality, blockchain, and artificial intelligence.

3D engines	A rendering engine for virtual computer simulations and video games.
Airdrop	The token distribution method is used to send cryptocurrency or tokens to wallet addresses.
Artificial Intelligence	The constellation of many different technologies combines to power machines to sense, comprehend, act, and learn with human-like levels of intelligence. AI engines can analyze 2D images or 3D scans to generate more realistic and accurate avatars, as well as NPCs that can facilitate lifelike conversations with users or perform other specific tasks.
Augmented Reality (AR)	A real-world environment is enhanced by virtual, interactive objects. AR facilitates visual, auditory, and other sensory interactive information in real-world ecosystems to improve the experience for users. Think Pokémon Go, which adds Pokémon to a natural landscape viewed through your smartphone’s camera.
Avatar	Digital and graphical representations of a real-life human. This can be a 2D picture or an animated, walking-and-talking digital figure.
Bitcoin (BTC)	A form of digital currency that is recorded on a blockchain and transferrable on a decentralized peer-to-peer network.
Blockchain	A distributed database made up of “blocks” that record and validate transactions with secure links using cryptography. Blockchain will ensure the security, safety, scalability, transparency and speed of data in the Metaverse. Blockchain transactions are recorded in a decentralized, trustless, and permissionless manner, without requiring the control of any central authority,
Closed Platform	Or ‘Walled Garden’. Opposite to ‘*Open Platform*’. This kind of software doesn’t allow you to integrate with other products.
Creator Economy	The combination of software and marketplaces makes it possible for creators to produce content in the Metaverse. The Metaverse is built in collaboration with users to enable them to render assets and content. This can range from individual assets (from virtual artwork to developing property on virtual land and the sale of NFTs), and go up to an entire system (a game, crafted experience, or virtual world).
Cryptocurrency	A digital or virtual currency that implements the classic functions of money. ‘Crypto’ is stored on a blockchain and uses cryptography as a means of security. A key characteristic of cryptocurrency is that it is not governed by a single, centralized authority.
DAO	Digital systems in which a company or group of like-minded individuals operate in the Metaverse based on rules dictated by a smart contract: from decision-making, to how governance unfolds. The Exarta Metaverse will allow users voting rights and control over the project’s direction for a rewarding, fulfilling, community-driven experience.
Decentralization	Decentralization‘ refers to the technologies, designs, and approaches that shift power and control away from centralized authorities so that ownership is distributed across a vast array of individuals and interconnected spaces. This proposed framework is viewed by many as the only way to run the Metaverse effectively.
Decentralized applications (DApps)	They function like normal apps but instead operate autonomously through the use of smart contracts that run on the blockchain or peer-to-peer (P2P) network of computers.
Decentralized Finance (DiFi)	Peer-to-peer financial services remove intermediaries such as exchanges, brokerages, or banks through the use of smart contracts that run on a blockchain.
Digital Assets	Digital representations of various virtual or real-world assets that can be owned and transferred virtually, such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
Digital Twin	A virtual counterpart of an object that exists in the real world. It can be used in a computer simulation of a real-world event or action.
Digital Wallet	A secure location on the blockchain where users can keep their public or private keys and passwords and allows users to hold and make transactions with cryptocurrency. In most digital environments, a wallet is essential to managing crypto and tracking the history of Metaverse transactions in a safe, transparent environment.
Edge computing	The technology that takes care of the faster data transmission requirement that the Metaverse’s advanced infrastructure must fulfill for modern businesses all over the world. It supplies end-users with storage, computation, data and application solutions such as cloud computing services.
Extended Reality (XR)	An umbrella term for computer-generated environments merging physical and virtual worlds, such as virtual, augmented and mixed reality. It is proposed that one day, the lines between VR, AR, and MR, might blur, which will make XR a more appropriate term.
Internet of Things	IoT sensors will transmit data across the devices in the Metaverse. For example, users will be able to feel an object with the help of haptic gloves or study the solar system as if it’s right there in front of them through a VR headset.
Interoperability	The ability of different computer software systems to exchange information, communicate with one another, “understand” and make use of the information being transferred. This means that users on one platform can seamlessly engage and interact with users on a different platform, as well as share data and content.
Machine Learning	A branch of AI and computer capabilities that focus on the use of data and algorithms to mirror the way that humans learn.
Metaverse as a Service (MaaS)	An enterprise solution that, similar to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), enables diverse individuals, retailers, and organisations to enhance their presence in a 3D virtual environment by using existing Metaverse infrastructure.
Metaverse Marketplace	A decentralized* platform built on a blockchain ecosystem where Metaverse users can buy, sell, and exchange virtual goods and assets.*
Mixed Reality (MR)	The fusion of the virtual and real, combined with elements of VR and AR. Individuals can interact with real-world objects, and virtual objects can interact with real-world objects. Think the Snapchat hot dog: it can dance across a flat surface without falling off the edges.
Non-Fungible Token (NFT)	A blockchain-based token implemented through smart contracts that represent the digital ownership of a unique asset. They can come in the form of art, land parcels, in-game items, music, videos, avatar clothing, and more.
Open Platforms	A permissionless network that is constructed on open standards. This means it can be developed by anyone and everyone and accessed by anyone and everyone. Open platforms allow creators to develop content freely. Third parties can also integrate with the platform to add functionality.
Persistence	Allows endless virtual opportunities* for everyone that are accessible anytime, anywhere. The Metaverse is always on and always evolving, even when there is nobody interacting with it.*
Phygital	Bridging the gap between the physical world and the digital.
Play-to-Earn	P2E games allow players to earn in-game cryptocurrencies or virtual items by playing games, winning battles and competitions, completing challenges, and renting or selling their assets (as NFTs).
Self-Sovereignty	The vision is that individual users should have control over their own information on the internet without having a singular company or government controlling their data, assets, or identity.
Smart Contract	Self-executing contracts exist in and power NFTs on the blockchain network. Smart contracts allow programmatic exchanges of value and encouraged new forms of decentralized software to emerge (such as Defi and DAOs).
Snow Crash	The original term for ‘Metaverse’ originated in 1992 sci-fi novel by Neal Stephenson. He described VR-based evolution of the internet and outlined a Metaverse where humans interact as avatars in a 3D virtual space
Spatial Computing	The technology that immerses humans into the computing environment and adds computing to objects in our real-life spatial environments. From output technologies like 3D graphics and spatial audio and image, gesture, and facial recognition, to digital twins and advanced user interfaces, spatial computing is a pillar technology required to power the Metaverse.
Teleporting	The ability to be instantly transported across space to a remote virtual (or physical) location. In the Metaverse, this usually happens via VR or AR technologies.
Token Gating	The process involves an individual’s proof of ownership of a specific NFT. This is to provide utility for an NFT collection. Essentially, token gating allows projects to reward people who hold their NFTs by creating exclusive content, events, and other benefits that are available only to token holders.
Valayt	The first virtual city in the Exarta Metaverse.
Virtual land	The digital terrain on which your avatar can roam in the virtual ecosystem of the Metaverse.
Virtual Reality (VR)	A computer-generated environment with digital scenes and objects that appear to be real, makes the user feel like they are physically immersed in their surroundings. Users put on a headset and can see, and operate within, a digital world.
Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET)	The use of VR to simulate real-life phobias for exposure to people in a safe environment. These evidence-based techniques have been developed in collaboration with recognized psychologists, therapists, and mental health professionals.
Web 2.0	The internet as we know it today.
Web 3.0	The next evolution of the current Web 2.0. It’s a decentralized internet built on foundational technologies like blockchain and DAOs rather than centralized on servers owned by individuals or corporations. Users will benefit from peer-to-peer transactions, transparency and data democracy, as well as experiences crafted by machine learning, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality that will facilitate more intelligent and practical virtual applications.