I've spent rather a lot of time lately in an online environment that nails the Oxford Dictionary's definition of a metaverse – "a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users" – and I find it so useful I expect to visit it frequently in future.

Is this thing a metaverse?

My metaverse of choice, in which I've spent more than 80 hours over the last four months, is called [1]Zwift – a virtual environment that recreates cycling or running with an interface a lot like a first-person shooter.

For cyclists, Zwift requires an actual bicycle mounted on a "trainer" – a device that lets the pedals and rear wheel spin but prevents the bike going anywhere. A sensor is also required to measure the speed of the rear wheel, and Zwift asks players to tell the game how much they weigh. The game is at its best with a "smart trainer" that can also measure the cadence at which a rider pedals and how many watts they are producing, plus hardware to vary resistance applied to the rear wheel. The last item is key, because it enables Zwift to simulate riding up a virtual mountain by making it harder.

Trainers with all the sensors and dynamic resistance control start at around $500. Zwift also requires a PC, Mac or AppleTV (plus display) or it can run on iOS or Android devices.

Whatever device you choose, you connect it to your trainer with Bluetooth, then ride Zwiftly through simulated environments. You can travers cities and towns, sylvan glades, transparent underwater tunnels, the lava-filled bowels of an active volcano, and even the platforms of a London train station located about where you'd find real-world Waterloo – but which offers an exit that's a 40km shortcut to a famous climb in Surrey.

[2]

Riding inside the Zwift volcano. Click to enlarge

You can experience Zwift alone, in groups, or race other players in real time. The harder you ride, the faster you travel through the virtual worlds. The image above shows me on a solo ride, with a list of nearby riders to the right. The game lets you chat with those riders – but most of the time you're too puffed to use the keyboard.

The game never requires goggles or glasses – I use a PC and a 28-inch monitor. Third-party accessories are available to simulate steering or even tilt bikes to replicate the angles riders experience when ascending or descending – but that kit costs plenty. And it's not used by the vast majority of Zwift's three-million-plus users, who make do with the game's pretty visuals and real-time performance data.

[3]Chip makers aren't all-in on metaverse hardware yet – we should know, we asked them

[4]Get ready for full holograms and 6G while living in the metaverse, says Samsung

[5]The web was done right the first time. An ancient 3D banana shows Microsoft does a lot right, too

[6]Zuck shows Virtual Empathy by visiting storm-wrecked Puerto Rico in VR

Meta-what?

In case you've missed recent metaverse hype, the term comes from Neal Stephenson's 1992 novel [7]Snow Crash , which used the term to describe a goggle-mediated multi-user virtual reality into which users can code discrete environments and gather to do almost anything.

Earlier this year, Korea's big tech players [8]decided to build one in the hope locals would use it to attend conferences and concerts.

Two weeks ago, Facebook decided its destiny is to [9]build and operate a metaverse. Founder Mark Zuckerberg described what he wants to build as conveying "a feeling of presence – like you are right there with another person or in another place" and suggested we'll be able to manifest as holograms in physical spaces, or perhaps experience shared virtual spaces that he illustrated with a video that looked cribbed from the [10]film adaptation of Ernest Cline's novel [11]Ready Player One .

Microsoft has also added metaverse-ish features to [12]Teams . It's definitely going mainstream.

I think Zwift nails the Oxford definition of a metaverse because the game imposes its reality upon your real-world effort. You simply can't get anywhere without putting out the power required to propel a rider of your mass from virtual point A to virtual point B. Cycling authorities therefore recognise Zwift as a sufficiently rigorous environment for professional races (and have even [13]sanctioned cheats who fudge their data to improve performance).

With the addition of a real-time voice service to connect participants, Zwift hits the Zuckerbergian definition of a metaverse by allowing participants to hear one another puffing as they all hit virtual hills.

Why ride in VR?

I started using Zwift during Sydney's June–October 2021 COVID lockdown because gyms were closed and time spent outdoors was restricted. Zwift offered longer and more satisfying rides, and the chance to replicate one of my favourite activities. The game's training programs offered just the goal-oriented activities I needed as July smeared into Locktember.

Since lockdown ended I'm Zwifting about twice a week for an hour or more each time – rather more hard riding than I did before I started. And I've just signed up for another virtual training program to get ready for a cycling event in the real world.

[14]

I'm using Zwift for that training because the game is convenient and avoids the messy and dangerous parts of cycling. On Zwift I can be halfway up a mountain half an hour after waking up, without stopping at a red light or dodging big-city traffic. That traffic means most cyclists head out early. On Zwift I can ride anytime.

[15]

A nice flat bit of Zwift's main virtual world, "Watopia". Click to enlarge

In conversation with bike club teammates and fellow Zwift users, my sentiments seem common. One clubmate, Ben, also agreed that Zwift is more convenient than real-world cycling and that the game's structured workouts can build fitness and endurance more effectively than riding in the real world. He added the observation that Zwift marries two of his passions – cycling and gaming – but feels the game isn't a great substitute for real-world racing. "Zwift is Mario Kart," he told me. He described a Zwift rival's racing as closer to Gran Turismo – a racing sim that tries to replicate actual cars and tracks more faithfully than Nintendo's kart-racing game.

Another cycling clubmate, Douglas, also appreciates Zwift as a training aide but finds it most useful when he also uses Discord to chat with friends while on virtual rides. He even goes on virtual Zwift rides with a friend in Canada.

[16]

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"I'm not enamoured of the fake scenery," he told The Register . Instead, it's the chance to train hard without risk – and to socialise – that make the experience a part of his life.

US Army slows ~$20bn project to put Microsoft's HoloLens VR headsets into the field [18]READ MORE

Doug also opined that Zwift could be a guy thing. He told your correspondent he's heard the theory that "Men have side-by-side relationships, women have face-to-face relationships". Cycling in the real world is definitely side-by-side, and Doug feels that COVID lockdowns saw Zwift emerge as a replacement for that social experience.

Will Zwift stick?

Our collective experience of the metaverse suggests these things could take off – if they make an existing experience more social and/or more convenient.

Virtual reality has already proven this. I'm aware, for example, of VR and haptic feedback being used to [19]train student dentists how to administer injections, while architects and CAD types use it to experience their designs without the need for any real-world construction.

But I've never seen VR take off for entertainment, despite endless attempts at virtual presentations of concerts or other events.

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Yet if I'm right, and Zwift is as good as it gets, I think metaverses will be very popular. If they improve on Zwift, things could get really interesting. ®

Bootnote : For any readers interested in a Reg -reading Zwift meetup, feel free to [21]e-mail me your Zwift ID so I can link to you. I've changed my Zwift handle to "Simon Sharwood – DHBC Vulture" if that helps. I'll aim for rides early in the UK morning and/or evenings on the US West Coast.

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[1] https://www.zwift.com/eu

[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/11/08/screenshot_zwift_volcano.jpg

[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/05/chip_makers_metaverse/

[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/28/samsung_previews_6g/

[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/11/column_cyberbanana_windows/

[6] https://www.theregister.com/2017/10/10/mark_zuckerberg_vr_visit_to_puerto_rico/

[7] https://www.nealstephenson.com/snow-crash.html

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/14/sk_telecom_ifland_metaverse/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/29/zuckerberg_meta_facebook/

[10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSp1dM2Vj48

[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_Player_One

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/02/microsoft_ignite/

[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/02/zwift_suspends_digital_dopers/

[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YYlXwro0-NBTGX6sTi1ALAAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[15] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/11/08/screenshot_zwift.jpg

[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YYlXwro0-NBTGX6sTi1ALAAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YYlXwro0-NBTGX6sTi1ALAAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[18] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/15/us_army_delays_microsoft_ivas_vr_project/

[19] https://www.itnews.com.au/news/newcastle-dental-students-practice-with-vr-needles-to-spare-patients-pain-514794

[20] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YYlXwro0-NBTGX6sTi1ALAAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[21] mailto:simon.sharwood@sitpub.com

[22] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/