Immerse yourself in the Icelandverse – not the Metaverse

Facebook’s head honcho, Mark Zuckerberg, recently announced that Facebook would be known as ‘Meta.’ Zuck now wants us to work and play in the ‘Metaverse.’ Some of the most awkward videos followed. I could not watch some of this material; it was just so artificial and over-scripted. A lot of good people saw it and threw up in their mouths a little. On the other hand, the Icelandverse by Inspired by Iceland is a lot better idea; the Icelandverse is fully immersive. It already exists, and you can enjoy the ever-changing Icelandverse right now. And there is more. An Icelandic start-up, OZ Interactive had the idea of immersive virtual worlds as far back as 1996.

Sympathy, and concern, for the leather jacket-clad lady

First, I want to say that my sympathy goes out to all the people who had to appear in those Meta videos. I am worried about the now-famous young lady in a leather jacket. She looked like she was held hostage by a supervillain in the video she appeared in. And perhaps she was. Let’s all hope she is OK now. I hope she is speeding away from Meta headquarters on her Harley as fast as humanly possible.

The Icelandverse is a trillion-dollar idea.

The clever people at Inspired by Iceland saw this tone-deaf cringefest and decided to do something cool with it. They went to work, recruited a Chief Visionary Officer, Zack Mossbergsson, and created the Icelandverse in a week or two. Inspired by Iceland should get a trillion-dollar valuation for this idea. The Icelandverse has so much to offer:

• Ever-changing weather that hits you hard, right in the face
• Glaciers
• Ice tunnels
• Shimmering northern lights
• Tremendous choice of super-expensive and deliciously pretentious craft beers
• A vibrant start-up scene
• Whales
• Puffins
• Ravens
• Sheep
• The perfect road trips
• Mountains that can erupt at any second
• Lava fields,
• Lava shows
• The Icelandic horse
• The Westfjords

I could go on and on. Zuck realized this when he commented on the Icelandverse announcement video. He probably feels a little silly that the Icelandverse is already so much cooler than his boring Metaverse.

Watch the Icelandverse video and become a true believer

I think the video of the Icelandverse speaks for itself. If you enjoy that video, head over to the Inspired by Iceland Youtube channel and watch their Iceland videos. A lot of them are fun to watch.

The Metaverse is not exactly a new idea

I am skeptical of a world where I assume a new self for different occasions. For my part, I am pretty happy about who I am despite my many faults. In any case, the ‘Metaverse’ is a dated idea. Second Life did this in 2003. The legendary Icelandic start-up OZ implemented this very idea back in 1996. I remember meeting the people at the then futuristic company as a journalist that year. Here is the resulting article. I was blown away by their ideas(and star-power) back then, but now I am less convinced about disappearing into virtual worlds. I have too much fun in the real world.

Augment the Icelandverse, and other real universes

I am much more excited about augmented reality. Imagine being in the real world walking, hiking, cycling, or driving and getting information about the history of the place you are discovering. See what a beautiful mountain is called and how high it is. Tell me about local legends or history. I want to walk in my beloved downtown Reykjavik and see if there is a new fancy beer on tap in a bar I have never been to before or if a fantastic band is playing somewhere. You would need internet-connected glasses and headphones for this. Here is looking at you, Apple.

Why should I trust Facebook?

I am also deeply skeptical of Facebook. The company has a lot to explain how it handles privacy and its amplification of hate-speech and anti-vax BS. (get vaccinated!). The terrible effects of Facebook and Instagram on young people’s mental health, especially girls, are only now becoming clear. I hope the company and its bosses will answer for all of this very soon.