By now, most of you have heard the big news – Mark from Facebook would really like us to call Facebook by its new name – ‘Meta’. Let’s step aside from all the reasons behind this move and focus on one particular sentence from his announcement i.e. “But over time, I hope we are seen as a metaverse company.”.

You are probably wondering what does Facebook becoming a ‘metaverse company’ have to do with the geospatial industry? Actually quite a lot. When internet became a thing, the then-GIS industry slowly got into the act and rolled out ‘Web GIS’, while the newer entrants simply reimagined maps for the digital world opening up an entire new market. Now, Metaverse is being labelled as the next big thing for the internet by Big Tech and wealthy investors. Facebook and Big Tech are already envision the future of the virtual world. Are we maybe on the cusp on other huge technological revolution that will impact the geospatial market just like internet has done so far? IMHO the answer is yes.

But if I am being honest, the 1st question that needs to be answered before diving into the endless possibilities for geospatial industry in the metaverse is – ‘what the awesomeness is metaverse again?’.

Metaverse is basically… let me allow the experts to talk here.

Cesium CEO Patrick Cozzi and Marc Petit, VP and General Manager of Unreal Engine at Epic Games, recently launched Building the Open Metaverse, a podcast where technologists come together to share insights as they build the metaverse. And luckily for me, their very 1st episode is focused on defining the “metaverse”—what it is, how to explain it to people not working in technology, and whether or not it’s here today.

Check it out!