By Matt Reynolds | ABA Journal
At one point, the metaverse was a groundbreaking piece of technology that promised to change lives and revolutionize industries. The term, first coined by novelist Neal Stephenson in his 1992 book Snow Crash, describes a world where people interact in a digital society and economy using avatars.
In the intervening years, the concept has become a reality. The online virtual world of Second Life has been around since 2003. The popularity of video games like Fortnite, EverQuest and World of Warcraft shows there is an appetite to interact in virtual communities. Mark Zuckerberg even went all-in, announcing in October 2021 that his company Facebook was changing its name to “Meta” and would invest heavily in “the metaverse.”
Zuckerberg’s vision was for a more ambitious and all-encompassing universe built on Web3, where people could don virtual reality goggles and play games, view 3D art and hold business meetings in augmented reality.
For those who could wrap their heads around the idea, there was skepticism and derision. But there were also some heavy hitters who invested big, including Google, Disney and Microsoft.
Some in the legal industry were drawn in too…. (Read cont.)
“The metaverse journey is far from over,” Jordan Rose of Rose Law Group says. “Frankly, I think it’s just beginning.”
Jordan R. Rose, the founder and president of the Scottsdale, Arizona-based Rose Law Group, is confident the technology will take hold and rejects the premise that generative AI stole the metaverse’s thunder.
“If you say metaverse, you’re probably also integrating some AI. It all works together,” says Rose, whose firm offers legal advice to businesses operating in the metaverse, and in 2022 held a metaverse wedding ceremony in Decentraland.
