The Metaverse: A Systematic Literature Review to Map Scholarly Definitions

Abstract

Metaverse is the new buzz word in the field of technology, particularly in the media and industry. Studies of virtual spaces have been going on in academia for decades, and industry has been creating such spaces as commercial products. However, the specific term "metaverse" has been used sparingly, and when used, the definitions have been inconsistent. In an effort to understand how researchers are using this term, we conducted a systematic literature review and reviewed articles that used and defined the term metaverse. We categorized the main characteristics that researchers have defined as being properties of the metaverse, finding broad overlaps but divergence in details.