Well, if we think of the Internet as something that we look at, the metaverse is a version of the Internet that we're inside.

The idea is that we will experience the metaverse as an avatar, a virtual version of ourselves that we control as we explore this new online frontier.

But what will we actually do?

Okay, so, boss, here we are in what might be considered a representation of... of what the metaverse could be.

Yeah, for us, the metaverse is a spatial construct as opposed to the previous web, which was really a very linear kind of 2D flat thing.

Uh, we want this one to be immersive.

Now, of course, it doesn't mean it has to be virtual reality; uh, it could also just be on a phone or on a desktop computer.

You might have noticed that we're using the tools of the metaverse to create a good portion of this item.

My avatar has been created by a couple of companies, Ready Player Me and OZ.

They already create tools for people to make avatars from a photo.

It's this virtual version of us which will travel between online experiences in any metaverse.

And then o... over time, what I'm most excited about is an economy there.

Uh, and I mean, you know, economy not just of digital goods, sure, and entertainment, that's great, but also services.

Um... in, in a... in an immersive environment, I'm gonna have an avatar, I'm gonna need a stylist, I'm gonna have uh... a home space.

Microsoft has adapted its workplace meeting software, Teams, for the metaverse by creating a system called Mesh.

It's designed to work with a variety of different devices including virtual and augmented reality.

AR, as it's known, projects graphics on top of the real world using headsets like Microsoft's HoloLens or mobile phones.

There's quite a few people that have got fatigued by having to have video chats, meetings, and things of that nature, and that they realized they now crave human contact.

Human communication is about 5% speech and about 95% everything else.

I've been in my... in my, you know, living room with the entire team around the table, right?

Making eye contact, um, where the... all the gestures are coming into the right place.

So, it changes completely, the... the... you know, call it the screen fatigue we're feeling today.

The next piece of the metaverse puzzle isn't just about seeing these virtual worlds, but feeling them as well.

Meta has revealed that it's been working on a glove that will let the user feel sensations like holding an object.

The glove has a number of sensors that measure the wearer's movements, and air pockets across the glove's surface inflate to create sensation.

These gloves aren't quite ready for primetime yet, but they're an indicator of the kind of research that's going on behind the scenes.