The term "metaverse" is suddenly everywhere, from debates over Fortnite to the pages of The New York Times to the speeches of Mark Zuckerberg, who proclaimed in June 2021 that "the overarching goal" of Facebook is to "bring the metaverse to life."

But what, exactly, is the metaverse? As pioneering theorist and venture capitalist Matthew Ball explains, it is the successor to the mobile internet that has defined the last two decades. The metaverse is a persistent, 3D, virtual world-a network of interconnected experiences and devices, tools and infrastructure, far beyond mere virtual reality. And it is poised to revolutionise every industry and function, from finance and healthcare to payments, consumer products and even sex work. The internet will no longer be at arm's length; instead, it will surround us, with our lives, labour and leisure taking place inside the metaverse. With sweeping authority, The Metaverse predicts trillions in new value-and the radical reshaping of society.

About the Author
Matthew Ball is an entrepreneur; angel investor; film, TV, and video game producer; and national and international best-selling author. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Time. Ball lives in Toronto, New York City, and Miami.

Reviews
"Writing in an informed and provocative style... [The Metaverse] serves as a comprehensive guide to every aspect of the metaverse, from its technical underpinnings to its societal responsibilities." -- John Thornhill - Financial Times
"Ball certainly knows his stuff... For this emerging generation, the metaverse will be a perfectly natural psychological extension of everything they have ever known. For the rest of us, who will soon need to catch up, Ball's book is the best crash course we have." -- Kit Wilson - The Times
"The Metaverse is a timely, authoritative, and accessible overview of the subject, which is as well-informed as is possible to be about something which does not yet exist." -- Hilary Lamb - E&T Magazine
"Where big tech waffles about the metaverse while spending billions on making it a reality, Ball has exacting standards for what the metaverse must be and what would be needed to achieve it." -- James Ball - The Spectator
"Matthew Ball has been writing massively influential essays on the Metaverse for years now, and here he distills everything he knows into an authoritative guide for anyone the Metaverse will touch--which is to say, all of us. This book not only captures our moment--it will also shape our collective future." -- Taylor Lorenz, tech columnist - The Washington Post
"'Metaverse' is the new buzzword, but few can define it. Matthew Ball's comprehensive treatise lays out the potential and--just as importantly--the challenges in realizing the Metaverse and how it fits into the technological evolution from personal computing to the internet to mobile computing. This book helps separate fact from fiction, hype from reality, and should be foundational reading for anyone that wants to understand the possibilities of the Metaverse." -- Reed Hastings, co-Founder and co-CEO of Netflix
"Matthew Ball's essays have defined, analyzed, and inspired the Metaverse for years. His book is an approachable and essential guide to the strategic, technical, and philosophical foundations of this new medium." -- Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games
"A thought-provoking look at the evolving intersection of technology, society, human nature, and creativity. Matthew Ball's enlightening guide is a must-read for every creator and company that is embarking on their journey to the new frontier that is the Metaverse. A new world shaped by individuals and driven by incredible social experiences has just begun." -- Kenichiro Yoshida, CEO of Sony
"Excellent... Chapters on bringing the various iterations of the developing metaverse together, making them interact, and the hardware required, are lucid and logical." -- Chris Stokel-Walker - New Scientist
"Like the information superhighway, this latest buzzword seems to point in the right direction, but may get lost along the way. For anyone who wants to understand the process and what is at stake, Mr Ball's lucid and timely book offers a portal into a new realm." -- The Economist
"Just as the present internet can be described as a network of networks, so the metaverse will be the virtual world of all virtual worlds. This is the vision offered in The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything by Matthew Ball . . . What, by the way, will happen to the real world that so many of us are supposedly eager to leave behind? Mr. Ball is excellent on the enormous infrastructure investments required to build a metaverse . . . Speaking of computational demands, [he argues] that blockchain-the technology underlying cryptocurrencies-will be crucial to the metaverse. For Mr. Ball, the benefits of blockchain include its ability to reliably authenticate the ownership of virtual assets (as it does for NFTs)." -- Steven Poole - The Wall Street Journal
"You had probably never heard the word metaverse before 2021. Today it's hard to escape it. For those who want to move past the hype and understand where the promise of this technology really lies, The Metaverse by Matthew Ball is the place to start." -- Alok Jha - The Guardian



Book Information
ISBN 9781324092032
Author Matthew Ball
Format Hardback
Page Count 352
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 600g
Dimensions(mm) 239mm * 160mm * 30mm