Manoeuvring the Metaverse: A guide to the technology backing this platform
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“With the Metaverse, we are transitioning from viewing a 2D world looking at the internet, to living inside the internet in a 3D world.”
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Why look at something when you can immerse yourself and experience it? The exciting and futuristic Metaverse isn’t just shaping the future; it’s also shaping the present. The way that people interact and communicate with each other has witnessed a dramatic shift in the recent past itself. The Metaverse is an ecosystem created using advanced technologies as not just a utility, but a way of life. This virtual landscape has been created using new innovations and emerging technologies. Today, the functionality of this universe is still limited; yet, experts are determined to tap into and unlock the vast potential this space offers.?
Core Technologies Involved to Develop the Metaverse
The development of the Metaverse is backed by technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Internet of Things (IoT) etc. These contribute towards creating a virtual environment. In addition, AR technology allows users to embed virtual components in the physical (real) world.
Simply put, the Metaverse has been created through the convergence of?AR & VR technologies. The combination of the two allow digital products, virtual environments, and people to undertake multimodal interactions. These interactions have culminated into a network of immersive experiences across platforms.
Here’s an overview of the core technologies that make up the Metaverse –
·??????Blockchain & Cryptocurrency: Blockchain technology has been around for a few years now and has helped many organizations with transparent decentralization solutions. Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, are digital currencies used to boost a user’s purchasing power which allows the user to socialize and work in a 3D world. How are the two connected? Cryptocurrencies allow users to purchase products in the Metaverse and blockchain technology helps secure the transaction and establish ownership.
·??????AR & VR: AR and VR technologies are used to create 3D immersive experiences through interactive digital imagery. Users use VR headsets, gloves and sensors fully experience a simulation.
·??????AI: AI is industry agnostic; from applications across strategy and decision-making to face recognition and computing, AI is now set to explore the Metaverse. Considering AI can process information at lightning speed, AI algorithms are typically devised to generate insights. In the Metaverse, AI has been used to create detailed user avatars through 2D and 3D scans.
·??????3D Reconstruction: 3D reconstruction allows users to recreate physical spaces in the form of virtual spaces, which users in the Metaverse can then explore and experience. ???????
·??????Web 3.0: From web 1.0 to 2.0, there was a huge leap towards social networking and content sharing. Web 3.0 is a more advanced and beneficial space where decentralised blockchain thrives. Some other defining features of web 3.0 include stronger user utility and more openness, leading to the concept of “permissionlessness” and “trustlessness”. Web 3.0 also encompasses better connectivity through AI and machine learning.?
·??????IoT: The IoT uses gadgets and sensors to connect things in the physical world – for example, voice-activated devices, medical gadgets, surveillance technology etc. are all connected to data sources. Similarly, in the Metaverse, IoT has been designed to gather data from various sources to create more accurate digital representations.
Different Standards Developed Related to the Metaverse
To govern and regulate the workings of the Metaverse, industry heavyweights like Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia and Unity, led by the Khronos Group have joined hands to form the Metaverse Standards Forum (MSF). The primary aim of this body is to drive open interoperability. The members of the body feel that this will enable developers to build universes across platforms more seamlessly. The MSF is free and open for anyone to join.
With major players like Adobe, Epic Games and Sony on board, the MSF’s focus remains on projects that are action-oriented and pragmatic such as opensource tooling and hackathons.
According to Nick Clegg, President, Global Affairs, Meta, “Like the internet, the metaverse will be an interconnected system that transcends national borders, so there will need to be a web of public and private standards, norms and rules to allow for it to operate across jurisdictions.”
In addition to the MSF, Spectrum Labs has launched the Oasis Consortium (OC) with a view to promote safety commitments in the Metaverse on behalf of social and gaming companies. The OC aims to advance digital sustainability through the use of ethical standards and technologies, and has already launched a laundry list of safety standards which it hopes will become the industry’s norm.
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According to the chief security officer of Spectrum Labs, Tiffany Xingyu Wang, for the Metaverse to survive, grow, and thrive, there needs to be the assurance of safety and governance, especially in a world where it has become increasingly important to moderate content and deal with issues like cyber fraud, online harassment and abuse etc. Companies in this space also need to regulate and prioritize product development.
Government Regulations & Policies Adopted for the Metaverse
With great technology comes greater responsibility – the responsibility to protect, act ethically, and ensure safety. To avoid misuse of technologies and ensure user protection against data breaches, there needs to be globally accepted regulations in place to govern the workings of the complex Metaverse.?
Governments around the world are deploying resources to support privacy and security concerns in the Metaverse. Take for example South Korea, a digitally superior country, where large financial and capital investments have been made to enable Metaverse services and applications to their citizens.
In India presently, digital data falls under the purview of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the recently enacted Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which regulate and protect users from hazardous content, and promote aspects like consent, choice, data accuracy, and disclosure.
World over, governments are now quickly scrambling to oversee the Metaverse so as to reduce the risk to its users. Considering the Metaverse is still in its nascent stages, it is imperative that global standards are adopted so that future supervision becomes effortless.
Conclusion
If you think about it, the Metaverse is a result of the dissatisfied experiences that people have been having in their personal and professional lives – something that was exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, from this dissonance arose a stronger way to ensure connectivity, which allowed people and businesses to thrive. The technology backing the Metaverse needs to be used ethically and responsibly, especially if people are proceeding towards dependency on them. We must remember, these technologies are not here to replace the real world, but to supplement it in a way that people can expand their reach across the internet, and share experiences effortlessly.
Snapshot: Next Series
Stay tuned to understand more about the Metaverse ecosystem. In the next post, we will be decoding how the Metaverse is categorized and how the virtual world is increasing in importance day by day.
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