Oou may have heard of the metaverse — but let’s be honest: do you really know what that means? If you’re unsure, you’re not alone: The metaverse is hard to pinpoint. It doesn’t even have a definition in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Cathy Hackl, tells Freethink. A “Chief Metaverse Officer,” Hackl is a professionally trained futurist and strategist, who has worked with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Magic Leap, and HTC VIVE, and helps brands understand how this new paradigm will affect their businesses.

If you think of Web 1.0 as the internet that connected us to information, and Web 2.0 as the social-media iteration, which connects people, Web 3.0 (which we’re now entering) is connecting people, places, and things, says Hackl.

“Sometimes, these people, places, and things can be in a fully virtual or synthetic environment, or they could be in a physical world with some level of augmentation,” she said. “It’s in the nascent phase,” I spoke to Hackl about the role of gaming in the metaverse, how it can change our sense of identity, and other subjects.