The metaverse is about to arrive
Facebook、 Microsoft and many other companies are competing to define the next iteration of the Internet.
You may have heard of the hype that the metaverse will change your way of life.
As the vision of the next step in the development of the Internet, the meta universe refers to the digital world where people gather to work, play and roam together. Some of these online spaces will be immersive 3D experiences that require fancy goggles to enjoy. Others will play on the computer screen. The term has been constantly changing and may still be evolving and renaming.
The technology hype cycle comes and goes. The meta section may have failed before implementation. However, so far, people's interest has been growing. It has become a game Popular phrases that repeatedly appear in NFTs and shopping.
Microsoft's plan to acquire Activision Blizzard for $69 billion is explained as part of its expansion into Metaverse. Last year, Facebook has renamed itself Meta, in recognition of the ambition of social networks to become the main driving force of the new world. World building games such as Rec Room, Roblox, and Minecraft are all drawn to discussions about what the metaverse is or will be.
The term metaverse has existed for decades. Virtual reality, augmented reality, and 3D computing - the technological concepts behind them - are outdated. The current interest craze is just the latest achievements that have driven these advancements over the years and are useful to everyone.
What has changed is the change of understanding, a belief that the Internet needs to be re conceived. The ultimate impact of these changes is anyone's guess. After all, the roadmap of the Metaverse is already halfway completed. It is currently unclear whether it will be completed as promised.
It can be certain that if there is money, large companies will participate. In addition to Microsoft and Meta, Qualcomm, Nvidia Valve, Epic, HTC, and Apple are all brainstorming new ways to connect online. Therefore, you will hear more information about the metaverse in the coming years.
What is the metaverse?
Disappointingly, the metaverse is a vague concept. The development of the Internet is often described as an online space in which people can act as avatars to socialize, work and play. These spaces are shared and always available; When you finish using them, they won't disappear, such as Zoom calls. The description is so broad that many people say that the virtual world already exists in Roblox Minecraft and Fortnite's digital world allows players to gather in a 2D environment. The social and gaming platform Second Life, which has a history of nearly 20 years, is the OG Metaverse. (Under renovation.)
Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and other supporters have seen a deeper and more immersive experience that integrates many existing technologies, such as VR headphones, mobile devices, and more PC and cloud connected servers. These futurists envision developing a 3D virtual world where you can enter through headphones or AR glasses. There is no consensus that you need VR or AR to enter the virtual world, but they are almost advancing side by side. This indicates that these headphones will be compatible with any product provided. Expected Meta Sony, Apple and other companies will launch a new wave of VR and mixed reality headphones.
A common theme: The metaverse will be a virtual world parallel to our IRL life. Digital communities, parks, and clubs will emerge like mushrooms after rain, possibly in one virtual world or distributed across multiple virtual worlds. Some people see a virtual world that overlaps with the physical world and contains AR coverage. Investors have invested heavily in virtual land. Barbados has expressed its desire to establish an embassy in the virtual world, highlighting the prestige that this concept has generated.
Opponents suspect that Metaverse will become everything Zuck and others suggest. Many people point out that accessing the most exciting parts of the virtual world requires bulky headphones. The inventors of Playstation called them "simply annoying," while Meta executives called their own company's headphones "terrible." They believe that large technology companies have not yet come up with ways to curb hate speech, misinformation, and bullying. Network. They said that dealing with these issues in a more free environment would be a daunting task.
Will there be a metaverse? Or many yuan festivals?
It still needs to be observed. The virtual world standard does not exist, and many companies are competing to lay the foundation for other companies to follow suit. Facebook、 Microsoft, Sony Epic Games and some smaller companies are working on projects, hoping to gain a first mover advantage. It is currently unclear whether one company's VR headset will be compatible with another company's vast multiplayer gaming world or cloud based graphics. Most companies promise to establish a metaverse that allows other companies to enter. But this requires them to reach an agreement on how to cooperate.
Meta plans to spend billions of dollars on its Metaverse project, stating that interoperability is crucial. If you have a profile picture on Facebook, you should be able to use it on the Microsoft platform. This represents a single meta section. Try moving the skins you purchased in Fortnite to another platform, and you will soon find that these additional components are stuck in the big escape game.
The vision of a single meta universe support service from many different companies reminds us of the utopian ideal of the early Internet. However, when early pioneers figured out how much money could be earned online, all bets were cancelled. It is very likely that the same is true for the metaverse. If Zuck and others are right, then the company will have too much money for customers to pick up and move.
Our best guess - this is just a guess - the Metaverse will start as a series of competing platforms, each claiming to be the Metaverse. Think of an environment that looked like early instant messaging, where services were decentralized. However, over time, standards will emerge, and eventually big players will use compatible technologies that evolve into something similar to email protocols. The Internet now operates extensively in this way, fighting a battle between agreed protocols and proprietary standards, content from many companies, and competing software ecosystems.
What would it look like in the metaverse?
The idea behind the luxurious metaverse that requires headphones is an immersive 360 degree digital world. You will have your own avatar, you will be able to design it, you will have digital assets whose names may be recorded on the blockchain. Some people believe that you will purchase digital land and establish an online home where you can entertain your friends (or at least their incarnations).
This may sound absurd or absurd, but betting on the value of digital land has already begun. Canadian company Tokens.com spent nearly $2.5 million on Decentraland's virtual property, a 3D world platform that is a spiritual descendant of Geocities or Second Life. (The purchase in Decentraland is made using Ethereum blockchain tokens.)
Others saw a smoother experience. A simpler version of the metaverse experience, such as Roblox or Fortnite, is already available. These games are not as immersive as Zuck's metaverse, but they provide a reasonable understanding of the planned content.
Everything we do on the Internet points to the development mode of the metauniverse. This will be some games, some Zoom remote presentations The splashing of VR and AR, as well as a large amount of social media. Looking forward to many attempts to combine them together to make them interesting or useful.
What equipment is needed to enter the metaverse?
It depends on where you want to go. Facebook would like you to purchase one of the Oculus Quest 2 VR earphones. Although the hardware is independent and does not require a PC or console to use, this will result in a refund of $300. There are many other VR headphone manufacturers: Valve HTC, HP, and Sony all offer devices suitable for PC or PlayStation 4/5. It is expected that more headphones will appear by the end of this year, some of which may start connecting to mobile phones.
Several other companies - Microsoft and Magic Leap, to name just a few - produce AR headsets that can overlay digital information over the real world, and the prices are often much higher. Qualcomm and other companies are developing methods to combine AR glasses with mobile phones, although most applications so far have been experimental or commercially focused. Snap's prototype AR glasses, or glasses like Nreal Light, demonstrate how much more work is needed to make them something you can even consider purchasing.
You can also import existing meta sections, such as Roblox and Minecraft, from your computer, tablet, or phone. This is not a 360 degree experience, but the popularity of these platforms indicates their attractiveness.
Where did the metaverse come from?
Niels Stephenson coined this term in his 1992 novel "Avalanche", in which the protagonist is a pizza delivery driver wandering in an online virtual fantasy world. This idea was updated in the 2011 Ready Player One, a novel where people gather in the Oasis virtual world, which sparked the launch of Facebook Oculus Rift.
Besides novels, Linden Lab also created Second Life, a virtual world launched in 2003 that attracted car companies, record companies, and computer manufacturers to open digital outposts. (CNET also appears in Second Life.) After a round of hype, Second Life's popularity gradually declined, although it is still very active.
Games such as Minecraft, Roblox, and Fortnite are also described as virtual worlds. Fortnite held concerts, including performances by rapper Travis Scott and pop star Ariana Grande, which drew attention to this already popular shooter. Fortnite's Sonic collection is international, including musicians from Egypt, Mali, and Japan. These three games allow players to create worlds, which is the cornerstone of the concept of the metaverse.
The two-year pandemic has prompted us to redefine "virtuality". No one can perfect the future. However, people are rethinking what virtual and large-scale collection mean. Many people want to define it.