# Trends and Future of the Metaverse American author Neal Stephenson's science fiction novel "Snow Crash" first proposed and depicted the metaverse, and predicted the future through the arrival of social networking devices and terminals, human beings can be connected to the computer simulation of virtual three-dimensional "reality", all the things in the real world are digitally replicated, people can do anything in the virtual world through digital doppelgangers, and the actions of the virtual world will also affect the real world. People can do anything in the virtual world that they do in real life through their digital avatars, and the actions in the virtual world will also affect the real world. The metaverse is a digital world that is virtual in the spatial dimension but real in the temporal dimension; in terms of authenticity, there are both digital copies of the real world and creations of the virtual world in the metaverse; in terms of independence, the metaverse is a digital world that is different from the external real world. In terms of independence, the metaverse is a parallel space that is both closely connected to the external real world and highly independent; in terms of connectivity In terms of independence, the metaverse is a parallel space that is both closely connected to and highly independent from the external real world; in terms of connectivity, the metaverse is a perpetual, wide-coverage virtual reality system that encompasses networks, hardware terminals and users. The metaverse is a platform for virtual activities, and users can engage in social and spiritual activities such as socializing, entertaining, creating, displaying, educating, and trading. The metaverse provides users with rich consumer content, a fair creation platform, a reliable economic system, and an immersive interactive experience. Meta-universe can hold human emotions and give users a sense of belonging in a psychological sense. Users can experience different content in the metaverse, make friends in the digital world, create their own works, and conduct social activities such as trading, education, and meetings. In October 2021 Zuckerberg announced that Facebook changed its name to Meta, starting the meta-universe meta-year, and then the global giant companies are competing to lay out the meta-universe first. In a new 77-page report, "Value creation in the metaverse - real business in the virtual world," McKinsey & Company, a leading consulting firm, estimates that the metaverse will be worth more than $5 trillion by 2030. Goldman Sachs, a global investment bank, predicts that the metaverse could be an $8 trillion opportunity. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://whitepaper.venus.vip/project-background/trends-and-future-of-the-metaverse.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.