Oxford University, located in England (United Kingdom), could choose “Metaverse” as the word of the year 2022.
The Metaverse is being built as a virtual environment in which users can interact with others through avatars in an immersive way, Oxford University explained.
The prestigious English-speaking institution has “Metaverse” nominated as a candidate for word of the year 2022, highlighting that the use of this technological innovation experienced a significant increase as society discussed the need to explore hybrid work in virtual reality and the ethics and feasibility of building a completely online future.
For the election of the word of the year 2022, the University of Oxford has opened voting to the public on its website for the first time in its history. Even on Twitter, the institution is conducting a survey to find out which is the favorite word among the millions of users of the social network. Currently, The word “Metaverse” has 36,6% of the votes in favor.
The other two candidate words, which are being debated for the nomination for Word of the Year 2022, are “#IStandWith” and “Goblin Mode,” which refer, respectively, to the activism and division that characterized this year and the rejection of “returning to normality” after the confinement caused by the Covid pandemic. Each of these three words is relevant to 2022 in a different way, the institution indicated.
On the other hand, the team of lexicographers at the university, who are in charge of studying languages and writing dictionaries and vocabularies, has reduced the long list of words aspiring to this year's vote and final choice to just these three words.
For the second time, “Metaverse” is nominated as word of the year
Current technological advances are driving the construction of the Metaverse beyond a space for games and entertainment, leading it to become a virtual environment where users can enjoy new immersive experiences based on virtual reality.
Although the metaverse is still in a development stage, the impact it has had on different industries and society as one of the main technological innovations has driven dozens of companies to enter the virtual world. Even government organizations such as the Embassy of Barbados and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tuvalu have arrived in the Metaverse.
Given the scope of this rapidly developing technological innovation, the word “Metaverse” was nominated by the Fundación del Español Urgente (FundéuRAE) as the word of the year in 2021. This year is the first time that the University of Oxford has nominated “Metaverse” to be the word of the year.
It should be noted that the proposal of "Metaverse" as the word of the year, in both cases, has been related to the impact and interest that this technology has aroused globally.
Companies are embracing the metaverse
One of the sectors of society that is most exploring the opportunities of the metaverse is education.
In September this year, Nanjing University (China) launched the first specialization focused on the metaverse. Also, Tokyo Imperial University (Japan) has plans to create your own metaverse to offer its students specialized courses in the field of engineering. Similarly, the University of Arizona (United States) considers teach their classes in the virtual world with the aim of strengthening its strategies for distance education.
Other sectors that are exploring the potential of the metaverse include healthcare, banking and real estate. In the fashion and gaming sectors, the metaverse has already become a popular technology, with companies such as Gucci, Adidas, Nike, Animoca Brands and Epic Games, among others, positioning themselves within this virtual environment.
Continue reading: Shiba Inu and the World Economic Forum will work on the metaverse
Main image by Rachael Wass, from Oxford University Press
