Interoperability and the Future of the Metaverse

Metaverse is taking us to a more immersive, augmented, and realistic digital world as it continues to blur the gap between our physical and the virtual world. Brands and enterprises actively seek ways to invest in the Metaverse and position their business into this virtual space to explore endless opportunities. However, some hurdles still create challenges for the Metaverse and impact its mass adoption.

Lack of interoperability is one of the major hurdles.  It restricts users’ access in the Metaverse, limiting their navigation to a specific project instead of allowing them to navigate freely across multiple virtual worlds integrated within the 3D horizon of Metaverse. Since the Metaverse depicts the real world, the sense of commonness and interoperability that we experience in our real world is equally important even when we dwell on the virtual space.

People in the real world can visit different places worldwide and take their physical assets from one place to another without any trouble. Users inside a Metaverse project seek the same interoperability and continuity. Their purpose of participating in the realm of the Metaverse is to experience a close-to-reality digital space with various interconnected virtual worlds where users can seamlessly switch any project and leverage the benefits.

Interoperability brings all these perceptions to reality and forms a globally interconnected Metaverse system in which diverse projects are integrated to form a rich and real digital world. Let’s dive deeper to understand the importance of interoperability in the Metaverse.

• What is Metaverse?
• What is Metaverse Interoperability?
• Why is interoperability critical in the Metaverse?
• Understanding Interoperable Metaverse with reference to Decentraland
• What components of a Metaverse can be Interoperable?
• How can LeewayHertz help?

What is Metaverse?

Metaverse doesn’t refer to any definite type of technology; rather, it is supported by multiple technologies, including virtual reality, augmented reality, and blockchain. Metaverse projects attempt to present an amplified reality by combining the aspects of the physical and the digital world so that users can have extended capabilities, better exposure to new possibilities, control over physical limitations like geographical constraints and access to the global markets.

User’s identity in a Metaverse project is represented through their unique Avatar that can perform real-world activities. An avatar can explore various projects integrated on the Metaverse, socialize with other users, conduct or join meetings, host concerts, and regulate business activities to earn money that holds real value.

Metaverse further empowers the idea of the digital economy through various utility tokens and digital collectibles (NFTs). Decentralized wallets and blockchain technology also allow Metaverse to create a fair, transparent, and reliable governance system.

While the Metaverse concept is still in its infancy, many interesting Metaverse projects have emerged with concepts like digital twin technology, digital real-estate, and marketplaces. Some projects even blend the Metaverse concept with other technologies to render more exciting experiences.

Popular Play-to-earn gaming-based Metaverse projects- Decentraland and Axie Infinity are the perfect examples of next-gen Metaverse projects and are also the early adopters of Metaverse. For a detailed examination of Metaverse, refer to this insight.

What is Metaverse Interoperability?

For an easier interpretation of “interoperability”, let’s take the example of blockchain technology. Both interoperable and non-interoperable blockchains exist in the blockchain world. However, the need for interoperability is disruptive for the development of innovative and feasible use cases.

Interoperability allows blockchain ecosystems to interact, share arbitrary data, and utilize each other’s features and services. Similarly, a Metaverse project with interoperability features can interact with a different Metaverse project each other, utilize the services and features, enable cross-chain social connecting, trading, and many other activities that are not possible in a siloed ecosystem.

Simply put, Interoperability in the Metaverse works the same as interoperability works in the blockchain. For instance, users do not require to manage multiple wallets, and they can use a single wallet to store currency and perform transactions across various Metaverse projects.

For your Metaverse to be interoperable, you must choose to build it on an interoperable blockchain ecosystem.

Interoperability in the Metaverse should exist across its various layers:

Layer 1- Foundation layer- The Internet

The foundation layer is the internet that supports connectivity on the Metaverse.

Layer 2- Infrastructure layer

The Infrastructure layer supports hardware components to create an authentic user experience. Other technologies forming this layer are IoT, big data, and blockchain for creating a shared ecosystem.

Layer 3- Content layer

Content layers include applications and platforms designed to create more natural and vivid experiences for one and more Metaverse projects.

Layer 4- True Metaverse

True Metaverse forms when the lower layers develop and create a parallel virtual space.

Why is interoperability critical in the Metaverse?

Although a full-fledged interoperable metaverse is absent today, interoperability will eventually drive force into the Metaverse, just the way it drives the modern-day internet. If we look at the internet’s infrastructure, it is equipped with different layers that help various networks and subnetworks communicate seamlessly with each other.

Most modern browsers can load any website, and any webpage can link to any page, creating a globally interoperable interconnected system.
Such interoperability feature of the internet is similar to the real world, where bodies move from one place to another, but the identity remains intact. We can even take our assets to any place without facing much inconvenience.

Likewise, interoperability is crucial to connect multiple metaverse projects so that users can enjoy a unified experience while participating in multiple socio-cultural activities, just the way it happens in the real world.

Understanding Interoperable Metaverse with reference to Decentraland

As discussed, Metaverse is in its development stage. Companies have started to utilize the underlying technology of Metaverse, and they are coming out with many unique projects, but a fully interoperable Metaverse is still to be introduced.

Decentralized Metaverse projects like Decentraland have gained overwhelming responses from users, including gamers, investors, and brands. With that, Decentraland is rigorously launching new features and looking forward to enabling interoperability in its ecosystem. In this regard, let’s discover Decentraland, its working, and how interoperability will change it.

What is Decentraland?

Decentraland is a fully decentralized Metaverse designed to provide users with a more immersive and “real” 3D world that supports various activities such as trade, designing collectibles, event hosting, and much more exciting experiences.

How does Decentraland work?

Decentraland allows users to buy their LAND (LAND represents virtual property in the Decentraland) and use it for a variety of purposes like trading of land, setting up a company, creating marketplaces, renting purposes, and more.

• The platform utilizes a DAO model (decentralized autonomous organization); thus, it’s completely owned by the users with no centralized authority involved.
• Users can explore the LAND owned by other users on the Decentraland. They can visit various marketplaces integrated on this platform and perform trades.
• Decentraland leverages Ethereum’s consensus algorithm and technology to verify users’ ownership of digital content, transactions, and information about LAND ownership.
• Decentraland offers SDKs (software development kits) and tools to help users create their user-generated content, digital real estate, land, and other collectibles and integrate them in the form of NFTs on the platform.

How will interoperability change Decentraland?

The Decentraland community plans to integrate the Decentraland platform with 4 other decentralized metaverse platforms to form an ever-increasing system-to-system Metaverse. Their proposal further demonstrates that:

• Decentraland will enable integration with other platforms externally via IPSME.
• Decentraland is free to decide what APIs it would like to share with other platforms.
• Decentraland does not require any update to communicate with the other protocols in the integrated system of systems.
• The integration will allow Decentraland to onboard new users from other Metaverse, use their services, and function as a service provider for others.

Integration done right, Decentraland will enable the following benefits for users:

• Avatars can explore Decentraland and the other integrated platforms.
• Users can participate in activities like live auctions and concerts on different platforms.
• They can take their assets and collectibles to marketplaces of other Metaverse projects and gain maximum exposure.
• Business owners can grow organically by interacting with audiences across various platforms.

What components of a Metaverse can be Interoperable?

• Avatars: Interoperability allows Avatars to freely switch from one Metaverse project to another and explore different infrastructure just like humans do in the real world.
• Services and features: Interoperable Metaverse projects can benefit from the services and features of other Metaverse projects. For instance, a project can utilize other decentralized Metaverse project’s smart contracts to run their specific dApp on Metaverse.
• APIs: There are various APIs of different Metaverse projects, each caters to unique needs. For example, a Metaverse project can integrate an external API from a different Metaverse project and start accepting payment in their native currency.
• Storage: A Metaverse can utilize other Metaverse projects’ unused hard disk space (if the project allows so) through interoperability. The extended storage will help the decentralized network extend its capacity to save more files and data.
  
• Assets: Avatars in the interoperable Metaverse can take their assets and objects from one platform to another for various purposes, including trading, integration of their new business, and gaming.
• Gaming collectables: Players can switch between various Metaverse to participate in the gaming hosted there.

How can LeewayHertz help?

LeewayHertz offers a wide range of Metaverse development services. We help enterprises develop interoperable and semi-interoperable Metaverse projects, including projects similar to Decentralnd and Axie Infinity.

You can choose to develop any Metaverse on a specific blockchain ecosystem based on your specific project’s technical and development needs. Check out our range of Metaverse services:

Gaming Metaverse development

Our team is skilled in developing gaming Metaverse platforms based on innovative concepts like play-to-earn gaming integrated with NFT trading, live gaming, live game streaming, cryptos, and other engaging features.

Social media Metaverse development

We help launch a next-level 3D social media Metaverse that offers users better connectivity and a vivid socializing experience.

DApps development and integration

To provide your users with a premium interface to explore your Metaverse, we build and integrate user-specific decentralized applications powered by features such as automation, privacy, transparency.

Integration services

Our API and data integration services enhance the features and functionalities that make your Metaverse feature-rich. We integrate external APIs, migrated data, ecosystem tools, and service-oriented architecture based on your project needs.

3D space development and integration

We offer 3D space design and development services that expand your Metaverse’s usability and allow it to fulfil the different user requirements, including trading and games.

NFT marketplace development and integration

We help your Metaverse unlock its true potential by an integrated NFT marketplace that helps users gain ownership for NFTs, trade them on the marketplace, and enjoy benefits like resale, royalty, and value transfer.

Metaverse’s Roadmap

Today’s Metaverse represents the early stages of interoperability. So far, users can only explore the virtual worlds integrated into a single Metaverse. The constant evolution and innovations will soon introduce thousands of interoperability-enabled Metaverse projects that can interact and complement each other.

Blockchain and interoperability are expected to bring radical transformation in the Metaverse, making it a solid infrastructure beyond just an online 3D world. Like, people will start to shift their business inside Metaverse, invest their wealth, engage more in play-to-earn games and benefit from cross-chain technology.

Decentralized technology and interoperability will together empower the Metaverse. Without interoperability, Metaverse will remain stretched to some limits, which will hamper its mass adoption, especially across the trade & finance industries that require an interoperable infrastructure to manage their day-to-day business.

If you are looking to build or optimize a decentralized interoperable Blockchain Metaverse project, we are happy to partner with you. Please connect with our metaverse experts to discuss more.