Real Money

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With Five Minutes<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> to kill on your commute, or between meetings, which app do you open? For many of us, it is Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or gaming apps. But for more and more teenagers, it's a metaverse platform to check-in on their avatar.

Your avatar Can resemble how you look in The Real<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> world. Or, you could pretend to be someone, or something, totally different. That's half the attraction.

" My avatar is who I want to be on That Day<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> , " says Monica Louise, who is also known as Monica Quin on South Korea<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> 's hugely popular metaverse Social Media<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> app, Zepeto.

" In The Real<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> world, it's not easy for us to cut our hair And Then<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> grow it back, but in the digital world, we Can do that with just one click. "

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To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Media caption, Watch: The Bbc<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> 's technology correspondent Marc Cieslak enter the metaverse

So what exactly is a metaverse? It's an alternate World Online<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> - a bit of Virtual Reality<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> and a little bit Augmented Reality<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> . And it's been touted as The Next<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> big thing in tech. Zepeto is Asia's biggest metaverse platform, with almost a quarter of a billion users - it launched just three years ago.

Some 70% of these people are women, some are young teenagers, which is unusual, as most rival metaverse platforms such as Roblox are dominated by gamers who tend to be male.

" A lot of our users haven't used Instagram yet, and a larger number of our users haven't used Facebook<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> yet, " says Rudy Lee, chief strategy officer of Zepeto. " We Are<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> The First<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> Social Network<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> that they are engaging with. "

And 90% of them are located outside South Korea<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> , just Like 28-year-old Monica, who lives in Canada, or 19-year-old Hannah who lives in the US.

They both joined Zepeto in 2018. For Monica, she liked seeing an electronic version of herself while Hannah found it By Accident<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> , scrolling through the App Store<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> and was curious.

Escapism in an alternate reality

" I've never been a huge fan of Social Media<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> , " Hannah tells me. " There is a lot of pressure and I didn't have The Most<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> pleasant experience but on Zepeto, you don't have to show Your Face<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> and there is no obligation. "

For Monica, her Zepeto avatar now earns her an impressive six-figure salary.

Monica is what is known as a virtual influencer, designing digital items such as dresses and tops which other avatars buy. Fashion plays a huge role on this platform, where creators have sold over 1. 6 billion virtual fashion items to date.

They are sold, using an in-game currency called " zems" and Monica's items range in price from one to five zems each. For every sale worth 5,000 zems, a creator gets $106 (£80). Zepeto users pay for these zems using Real Money<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> .

" Everyday, we have people designing and publishing tens of thousands of new items, " says Mr Lee. " I think we're the largest virtual fashion marketplace in The World<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> . "

Big luxury fashion brands Like Gucci, Dior and Ralph Lauren<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> - as well as a lot of local and regional fashion brands - are also planning to release their virtual products on The Platform<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> .

" There are clothes that I cannot afford to wear in Real Life<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> but in the digital world, I Can buy all of them, " says Monica. " I think that's one huge factor why I'm really drawn into this. "

To inspire the Next Generation<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> of designers Like her, Zepeto has announced a scholarship with fashion school Instituto Marangoni Miami (IMM). Last month, it asked applicants to create A Collection<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> for The Platform<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> .

'IRL' careers

But it goes beyond fashion. You Can just as easily start a career as an entertainer or architect in the metaverse.

In this space Hannah is a cartographer, she builds maps on Zepeto, meaning she creates " a virtual environment for your avatar and other avatars to explore".

" It's a bit Like an alternate reality, " she tells me. " I create mostly things that exist in The Real<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> world, taking inspiration from real architecture, but a lot of people make fantasy elements, too. "

" We started realising that there were virtual people that are busking in the metaverse. So, We Are<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> working with music labels to develop virtual singers, " says Mr Lee.

" We Are<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> working with other colleges, high schools and online educational institutions to ensure that a lot more people have access to tools that they Can use in the metaverse to create their own content and create a real career off of it. "

Digital humans already populate much of South Korea<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> 's gaming, entertainment and home shopping platforms, where they act just Like real-life celebrities.

Artificial Intelligence<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> (AI) influencer, Rozy, for example, has More Than<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> 100 Real Life<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> sponsorships under her belt. And conglomerate Lotte's home shopping network has Lucy - who boasts More Than<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> 60,000 followers on Instagram.

Life After Death<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> ?

In The Future<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> , even deceased humans could come back to life in the metaverse.

" As technology advances, all those who have Passed Away <Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> - Mothers<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> , fathers, Family Members<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> - Can also be restored virtually, " says Stanley Kim, The Chief<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> executive of Vive Studios. Vive made the news Last Year<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> when The Company<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> created an avatar to help a bereaved mother grieve over the death of Her Daughter<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> .

" In The Next<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> three to five years, virtual humans will be created perfectly with 3D and animated by AI. You Can also replicate their voice if you have 8 hours worth of recording, " he says.

But with every company Getting In<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> on The Act<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> , from Meta - formerly known as Facebook<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> - to Microsoft, investing in the metaverse, are we going to end up with multiple different and disconnected metaverses?

" It is a bit Like when we first had The Internet<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> , " says Mr Kim from Vive. " There were so many companies, but eventually a few of them won The Competition<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> to dominate the industry. That's what will happen with the metaverse. "

With so many private companies at the forefront, the Seoul government in South Korea<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> has become The First<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> major global city to Get In<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> on The Action<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> , investing $35m into its very own metaverse.

" Instead of having to come here, to the City Hall<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> , an AI public servant will help residents in the metaverse with questions and solve real world problems, " ChangKeun Lee of Seoul Metropolitan Government tells The Bbc<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> .

" We Can hold festivals without worrying about Covid-19. People Can even travel to space, or go back in history to the Chosun dynasty. "

For Most People<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> , all of this virtual living still feels a little far-fetched. The metaverse has only recently become more of a Hot Topic<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> and as with every new technology, control and regulations are bound to follow, as risks and privacy concerns grow.

And there are ethical questions to consider. For example, what if an avatar commits A Crime<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> <Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> - Like stealing virtual assets - in the metaverse?

" I think what's really important is for The Regulators<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> to use this a lot more, And Then<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> be able to understand what the actual pros and cons of it are. And have a lot of dialogues with operators Like us that are managing the platforms as well as The Users<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> , " says Mr Lee of Zepeto.

For now though, one thing is Clear<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> - the metaverse is still taking shape in bits and pieces but the race to populate it and create The Most<Meta itemprop='name' content='JJ Lin'> valuable assets that will sit within it, has begun.

Source of news: bbc.com