We’ve been hearing a lot lately about the metaverse. Though the concept is far from new and the name itself is 30 years old, the hype cycle is in full swing, with headlines like “Everyone wants to own the metaverse, including Facebook and Microsoft. But what exactly is it?” appearing in mass media with increasing frequency.

While people may not fully agree on what it is and when it will get here, one thing is clear: The metaverse is all about virtual avatars in a virtual world doing virtual things. Unless we all end up hooked to machines that keep us alive while we gallivant in a virtual world a la The Matrix, we are still stuck with the real world, climate change and all.

Help is on the way. In fact, it’s already here. A new generation of smart robots with various degrees of autonomy are taking on a number of tasks that we humans are less inclined or too fragile to handle. This may range from individually zapping weeds in farms with lasers to moving millions of packages per day toward their destination. Robots may even be making your food in a ghost kitchen and delivering it to your doorstep. 

Welcome to the roboverse.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/02/16/forget-the-metaverse—the-roboverse-is-already-here/?sh=23d796aa4229