The Metaverse and Its Impact on Online Gaming

The gaming world has experienced tremendous growth since the introduction of the internet, creating a gaming experience never seen before. From online casinos to webGL, and cloud gaming, technology isn’t static. Its impact on the online gaming world is enormous. The Metaverse aims at making the gaming world much more immersive than ever.

What Is Metaverse?

The phrase “metaverse” was first coined in a 1992 fictional novel titled “Snow Crash”, written by Neal Stephenson. Metaverse is a combination of the prefix “meta”, which stands for “beyond” and “verse”, a short abbreviation of the word “universe”.

The Metaverse is regarded as an alternate reality, a reality besides the real world or universe. A universe where people use different varieties of technology to interact with each other and the objects within the Metaverse. The Metaverse uses technology similar to what we would now recognize as VR headsets.

Why Is Metaverse Such a Big Deal?

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, and the owner of WhatsApp and Instagram, has changed his company name to Meta. The company is currently hiring experts to work on the Metaverse since it has been identified as the next big thing. Many companies across the globe recognize the challenges, implications, and opportunities it possesses.

In the Metaverse, avatars, virtual property, and services can be bought and sold. These transactions are often carried out with cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The Metaverse will be an online dimension with links to virtual assets, NFT, DEFI, virtual financial assets, digital ledger technology, esports, smart contracts and online gambling, i.e., casino gaming.

Introduction to Metaverse Gaming

The Metaverse’s effect on the gaming world is incredibly exciting. Game developers are constantly striving to meet the demands of gamers to enable them to get the best gaming experience. With the constant evolution of gaming technology, the future may see experiences that likely exceed our expectations. Augmented reality (AR) and Virtual reality (VR) are technologies that will most likely become essential in making games much more immersive and more realistic than ever.

Among the games that are already making headway in the use of these new technologies are online casinos. The online casinos make use of the latest technologies by replicating the sights and sounds of an actual casino; hence making the game much more pleasurable for the players.

The Metaverse aims to introduce a more open and encompassing economic model, particularly in the gaming sector. The Metaverse will sidestep the predominant capitalist one-sided driven model to a more vibrant and inclusive play-to-earn gaming format. The online participants and players stand to gain a more immersive experience.

Besides the encompassing online gaming exhilaration, players and online participants will also be a fundamental part of this new economic model. Digitalization, tokenization and NFT proliferation will help players and users create and garner value and support the format. Players with innovative ways will also create more value for their patrimony.

Reality in the Metaverse

One of the things that make the Metaverse such a big deal for the real world is found in e-commerce. Through e-commerce, NFTs and other collectables, it is now possible to earn real income in the virtual world (the Metaverse). It also helps improve the use of gaming as a spectator experience, enabling fans to interact with and support their favorite players and superstars.

Technology has long led us toward the Metaverse, but things were sped up due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Unsurprisingly, gamers have been using their games for real-life interactions that were forbidden for health and other reasons.

Will the Metaverse Be a Safe Space?

This new economic model, alongside the Metaverse, will extend the value into the physical reality, where the digital and physical worlds will be fused. The idea of the fusion of the physical and digital worlds promotes the notion of value. This will also certainly bring about new risks, changing many of our laws and policies to curtail such risks and establish a safe, functioning new digital economy.

The level of service provision will have its boundaries tested here, because players and online users will be actively involved, creating value and subsidizing this new economic model. The future of gaming lies in electronic commerce and decentralized finance. The total dependency of this unique physical and virtual reality convergence is solely dependent on trust. Besides adequate laws and regulations, we should not forget that trust is the main lynchpin of all businesses.

Conclusion

With the gradual advance in technology, the era of the Metaverse has just begun. The boundaries of the Metaverse are endless.

From using games to socialize with friends online to hosting parties and virtual weddings in games like Animal Crossing, the virtual world is already here. This would be an exciting journey into the future for all game enthusiasts, with increasing access to more realistic and immersive games.

by Web Desk via Digital Information World

New Data Shows Customers Prefer Inflation to Shrinkflation, Here’s How That Affects Brands

The global economic crunch is forcing both brands as well as individual consumers to rejigger their monetary strategies in the coming year. Many brands are trying to use various tactics to bolster their profit margins, and the three most common tactics are inflation, shrinkflation and skimpflation. Inflation is when the price of a good increases, whereas in shrinkflation you pay the same price but get less of a product for it such as in the case of chips packets containing fewer chips by weight. Skimpflation is when brands reduce the quality of the product to avoid having to increase the price.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that consumers have a clear preference for one out of these three strategies, namely inflation. Brands sometimes assume that increasing prices would alienate consumers, but in spite of the fact that this is the case 62% of consumers said that they might stop buying from a brand that uses either shrinkflation or skimpflation.

Just 7% of consumers seem unbothered by these two tactics, which suggests that increasing prices is the way to go for brands with all things having been considered and taken into account. 75% of consumers feel like prices will continue to increase, and 45% suggested C-suite executives taking a pay cut because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up keeping prices stable without requiring shrinkflation or skimpflation.

This will have a noticeable impact on marketing strategies, with marketers looking to expand their reach whilst keeping the current inflationary climate in mind. 65% of consumer said that they plan to decrease their spending this year to ride out inflation, so marketers will have to work overtime to continue inducing consumption among their target markets. It will be interesting to see how the marketing industry adjusts to the new normal, and chances are that it will require them to delve deeper into the world of analytics and opt for more automation by using AI and machine learning.

Sources: Gartner / Martech

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

The Metaverse Shows Promise Among Younger Gamers While Older Demographics Remain Hesitant

The metaverse is one of the most controversial and frequently talked about new innovations in the world of tech, and among the few areas in which it can be seen to have a practical impact is that of gaming. With consumers between the ages of 13 and 17 increasingly picking gaming as their pastime of choice, the metaverse stands poised to capture this demographic and keep a tight hold on it for the next few decades if it is implemented right.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that a new report from Bain & Company revealed that younger gamers are readily adopting the metaverse and incorporating it into their gaming experiences. Most older gamers don’t seem to be interested in the metaverse, but in spite of the fact that this is the case the younger demographics are more than making up for this.

Additionally, around 50% of younger individuals seem eager to use the metaverse for other types of socializing as well. The same proportion of Gen Z respondents said that they would prefer hanging out with friends in the metaverse as opposed to real life, and a similar percentage also stated that they would enjoy attending school events like this in the future.

Several games like Roblox and Minecraft have metaverse-like features that companies like Meta would likely want to expand on. However, Meta’s attempts at creating the metaverse don’t seem to be appealing to the right individuals. Meta’s focus appears to be on adults working from home by offering them digital office spaces, and this is the wrong path to take if statistics are factored in.

Young gamers appear to be the only major demographic that might help make the metaverse a success. They will need to be listened to moving forward so that the metaverse can be optimized according to their needs. Kids who grow up in digital worlds will be more used to them, and that offers the metaverse the chance to become truly profitable if the current trends continue to persist.

Read next: Research shows smartphone sales decreased by nine percent YOY in the second quarter of 2022, along with the economic crisis
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

New Report Says That 84% of the Organizations Had an Identity Breach in the Past 1.5 Years

Delinea reported that 60% of the firms and companies believe that they’re not keeping pace with the threat landscape. Moreover, 20% of them are lagging in this race, 13% are treading lightly and 27% are barely able to keep up.

A lot of information is also shared about different security strategies and their effectiveness. 40% believe they have the right strategy to counter the cyberattacks, while 84% reported they had a security breach in the past year and a half.

It is also believed that many firms and brands are looking to make changes to their security strategies and make improvements. Moreover, 90% know the importance of security in their business, and 87% that it's their biggest priority for the future year. Furthermore, 75% of security experts and professionals don’t have the support of the company to protect its assets, the organization argues that they don’t have enough budget to accommodate them for their services.

It is also reported that 63% of the companies’ respondents believe that their firms don’t fully understand the importance of cybersecurity. While their leaders save face on the surface, there’s no proper backing up for security analysts and IT experts to implement proper security. This leaves them vulnerable to security breaches and cyberattacks.

This laidback attitude is harming the companies and while this has begun to change, it’s still going to take a lot of time for these companies to fully implement the best cybersecurity team at their firm. This is especially true as 50% of the respondent companies didn’t have any policies regarding basic cybersecurity such as managing passwords, account privileges, and monitored approvals. 52% of the respondents also don’t have multi-factor authentication enabled when giving access to the companies’ credentials and other sensitive information to privileged accounts. This means that if these accounts get stolen, the company’s cybersecurity is in a really bad position.

Moreover, only 44% of the companies manage these accounts properly and secure these accounts meaning the rest are very susceptible to attacks that could lead to a big scandal. However, these aren’t limited to human identities, but automated machine identities are also implemented and have large access to sensitive information which makes them very useful for cybercriminals. They’re also easier to access and hack into making them a vulnerable point in the security system.

Cybercriminals have a reputation for exploiting any weakness or vulnerability they can get their hands on in a company or organization. This is especially true for machine identities as many organizations give them the privilege to have access to sensitive information which might not even be given to human identities. Criminals can easily hide under these accounts and have access to a huge amount of data making them the perfect place to begin an attack. The companies need to realize the importance of cybersecurity and especially govern their machine identities carefully as they’re the weakest link to their security.

Read next: Adware Apps Promoted On Facebook For Android Are Being Installed In Millions On Google’s Play Store
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

HTTP or HTTPS site? Google tells us which one is better

Google says HTTPS versions are better than redirecting with HTTP. Why? Let’s find out.

John Mueller, Google’s search advocate has something new for all of us. He recently informed us that replacing HTTP links with HTTPS versions instead is much more favorable. And the reasons behind are countless.

It all started years ago. It was declared that redirects, when already in place, shouldn't be replaced with links. Since then, people have abided by this. However, times have changed and as Mueller informs us, it is better to replace redirects with links now. He insisted that it is 'always' worth it to replace them.

Now, why does he insist so? He gave two reasons to support his comment. The first one is that redirects are messier, and are a lot to handle. While on the other hand, HTTPS versions are more secure and concise. There is no need for numerous redirects. Secondly, when you place HTTPS versions, you have complete control over where you direct your traffic.

The main question here is if these links will have any impact on how your search ranks. The answer is no impact. There would be no change in your ranking or how your content appears, however it would be a lot cleaner.

Having redirects instead of HTTPS versions has a lot of disadvantages. Some of them include;

It takes the user more time to reach the content. Since there is a ‘hop’ in the process, where the user has to go through the HTTP version first, delaying the process.

Broken links, redirect chains, and redirect loops are common errors that break a page and lower your credibility.

Pictures on URL sites make your page seem untrustworthy and suspicious. Google displays a ‘not secure’ message when such an instance occurs.

It lowers your crawl budget since the number of redirects you have, the more your crawls will get affected.

If the links on the other end get broken, your redirects will break.

Lastly, here’s a solution. You can just replace the links. You can either replace them one by one, although it will take forever to do that, or you can just mass replace them. Mass replacing will find all your redirects and replace them with HTTPS versions.

However, there is a little problem with that. Doing anything on such a large scale will cause problems. It can cause your whole site to crash hence it is important to always back it up before going ahead with any change.

Read next: Google Experiments With Vertical Navigation and Refinement in Search Engine
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

As Per Reports Data protection is a major issue regardless of Gender

It has always been declared that data protection awareness is a matter subject to the gender gap. However, recent surveys beg to differ.

A recent survey by Incogni, a data company, showed the levels to which both men and women are aware of their data privacy awareness. Among the 2310 participants surveyed, it turned out that men and women do differ based on their awareness, however, it is only by a small degree. It turned out that both genders lack all the basic knowledge needed to protect their data.

It was proven that women have lower access to awareness resources hence they know less about VPNs, private browsing, or even ad blockers. Women generally were found to be a little slow with technology.

When comparing if the people are aware of their data being stolen online, half the women were not aware. As for men, only one-third of them were unaware. Another topic explored was data brokers. About what they are and how they handle data. Only 30% of women were aware of this while 40% of men were too.

When comparing the answers about the awareness of data protection help, or what people can do to protect their data, 80% of the women did not know what to do. The margin between men and women regarding this wasn’t huge either since 70% of the men were unaware as well.

As a solution, company leaders are looking to provide more opportunities and advocate the importance of learning about cyber security at a very young age. Although they focus more on women, we believe both genders are given equal opportunities and knowledge.

However, we do admit women need it more at this time since women are being continuously tracked by big names and prosecutors to stop abortion plans. The data being looked into includes search history, app usage, and similar items.

For now, people are resorting to data brokers and having their data removed by calling the companies. However, this isn't such a common practice either with few people aware that they can do this.

Read next: 94% of Companies Aren’t Ready for Upcoming Data and Privacy Regulations
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

You Can Now Fix Old Family Photos With This New Free Tool That Restores Low-Resolution Images

The great thing about pictures is that they capture memories that can last a lifetime. It’s always great to look back on old family photos and see how far technology has come from the black and white, low-resolution images.

Now, we’re getting more information on a new free tool that can actually restore old images by producing slightly newer versions.

While it does do the job impeccably, there is always this small risk of getting a picture at hand with a slight change in the actual identity.

Thanks to the power of AI-powered technology, not only can you get new pictures, but restore old ones as well. The new free-of-cost tool is brought to us by the efforts of researchers hailing from Tencent.

The technology can merge data from two separate models of AI and combine to fill up the missing elements of an image using realistic detail. Within a few seconds, low-quality images are given the kick they need to appear as good as new. And the same goes for pictures that were damaged.

The way accuracy is maintained with quality enhancement is just too good to be true for some experts that call the ordeal nothing less than amazement.

Old and conventional techniques that were in use today have the capability to get your images back to looking new by determining the difference between both artificial with what’s real. And in the end, you’re left with nothing but poor quality images, as revealed by scientists researching such procedures.

This new technique is designed to make use of pre-trained visions of models that give a heads-up of what’s happening throughout the process of image production. The whole idea is to preserve the true identity of those individuals seen in the picture.

There is a special emphasis drawn upon specific facial features such as the mouth, nose, or even the eyes.

GFP-GAN has even allocated a demo that interested users can try out to see the master effects in seconds. This comes alongside the posting of a code that enables anyone to make use of the revolutionary technology in their design projects too.

It should be remembered that despite the huge benefits, the project is still limited by the current levels of artificial technology available. And while we do love how accurate it can be, it really ends up putting forward educated guesses on what’s missing and what’s not.

Therefore, this is the main reason why researchers are issuing warnings to users that there could be a possibility of small changes in identity and even a resolution that is less than what some may expect.

In case you have plans to get such images of your ancestors printed to fit across a poster, well, don’t because there could be some differences.

Whatever the case may be, we’re sold. Everything over here that we’ve discussed regarding the tool appears to be promising. We’re hinting toward a future where images can be salvaged instead of memories being erased forever.

H/T: PP

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World