This transcript was prepared by a transcription service. This version may not be in its final form and may be updated.

Kate Linebaugh: Hi, I’m Kate, one of the hosts of The Journal. Today on your feed, we are launching a new series. It’s about the Metaverse. Over the past year, more and more companies have started talking about building virtual 3D worlds. So one of our producers, Annie, started digging into the Metaverse idea. And she became a bit obsessed with one Metaverse in particular, one that is already up and running, where people have already started businesses, built houses, socialized and fallen in love, all as avatars. Over the next four Fridays, he will tell us the history of that Metaverse and what it might teach us about a future that seems to be coming. Here it is…