That’s what led Tony Parisi, one of the foremost minds and innovators in the field of virtual reality (VR) to recently release Parisi’s Seven Rules for the Metaverse, a wayfinder for how he hopes the world will create and embrace the next generation of digital interaction. If you’re unfamiliar with Parisi’s place in history, it might be time for a Google sidetrip. He co-created the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) and wrote an introductory book on VR programming as well as 3D computers software.

The Seven Rules

Parisi’s rules, as defined in his October 22 manifesto, include:

#1 There is only one Metaverse 

That might be the biggest worry about the whole thing. If Zuckerberg or some other mogul beats everyone to the punch and declares his invention to be the Metaverse, it will turn into some sort of digital turf war to decide which Metaverse is “the official” Metaverse. It’s rather like the problem that streaming services are currently undergoing. The number of people willing to spend money on individual memberships to Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, Peacock, Amazon, and everything else out there is pretty limited, but very few of those companies are willing to budge from their power bases to join forces for the good of the many. 

#2 The Metaverse is for Everyone

That doesn’t mean that everyone can access every single site and service for free in the Metaverse, but it does mean there is no fee for entry into it as a whole, at least nothing more than the equipment and the Internet speed to make it happen. Granted, there will be problems with connection speed, but that has been the case since the earliest days of the Internet.

#3 Nobody Controls the Metaverse

Perhaps the toughest nut to crack. Because plenty of people are definitely going to want to make as much money as possible and will go to any lengths to acquire it. 

#4 The Metaverse is Open

As in, anyone can expand it and anyone can see something and make it better. Perhaps the best part of many Internet communities is the openness to build on others’ work and make things better for everyone.  

#5 The Metaverse is Hardware Independent 

The Internet is accessible from every desktop, laptop, wearable, tablet, and smartphone in the world. The Metaverse must be the same. While the Internet can definitely be augmented by the likes of VR goggles, you don’t need anything upper-end to access it.

#6 The Metaverse is a Network

There’s no landing page, no pay by the month subscription, none of that. Everything is connected and there are no barriers to entry.

#7 The Metaverse is the Internet:

Maybe the best hope for having it be a success is to build on top of what already is. The Metaverse is not some new technology that has to be built from the ground up. It can be placed on top of the Internet and branch off into its own universe in time.