The term -- and the concept behind it -- came from Neal Stephenson's 1992 sci-fi bestseller Snow Crash, but it only gained more mainstream attention over the past few years as more advanced virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets hit the market. The bulls believe the metaverse will eventually blur the lines between the physical and digital worlds by enhancing real-world environments with digital overlays, virtually transporting people to both imaginary places and digital twins of real-world locations, and enabling people to remotely interact with each other without PCs or smartphones. It could also revolutionize video games by replacing monitors, TVs, consoles, and controllers with mixed-reality headsets.