While the mention of a metaverse may feel novel, the idea has been around for a while—first coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel, Snow Crash. Then, it referred to a hybrid augmented virtual and physical reality connected by the internet. It wasn’t a “this is how cool the future will be” depiction, but more of a “this is how much of a nightmare the future will be if we transition our society to a digital space controlled by various corporations.”