What is the Metaverse?

www.opticpatchcord.com

In 2021, a novel concept term quickly became popular on the Internet, and attracted widespread attention from the technology and investment circles. This conceptual term is "metaverse".

In 1992, the famous American science fiction writer Neal Stephenson launched his novel "Snow Crash"

In the book, Neil Stephenson describes an online world parallel to the real world and named it "Meta-world". All people in the real world have a "network clone" in Metaverse.

?This is called "Metaverse" in the original English book. It consists of two roots: Meta and Verse. Meta means "transcendence" and "yuan", and verse means "universe".

It is worth mentioning that the English word for "network clone" in the book is called Avatar. Is everyone familiar?

?Yes,"Avatar". In 2009, the famous American director James Cameron's classic movie was named after it.

The original meaning of Avatar is "incarnation." In Hinduism and Buddhism, it specifically refers to a god transformed into a human or animal form. Nowadays, the virtual identity used by players in computer games or chat rooms is also called Avatar.

I believe you will soon realize that the metaverse is not a real world, but a virtual world. In fact, to be more precise, the meta universe is the virtual world of the future (which does not exist yet).

?In fact, if only to propose a virtual world, then Neil Stephenson is not the first person in the world.

As early as 1981, in the science fiction novel "Real Name and Real Name", American computer professor Frovinch conceived a virtual world that could be entered through a brain-computer interface and had sensory experiences. Neil Stephenson was sublimated and strengthened on the basis of Frovinch. But in any case, Neil Stephenson is still recognized as the official proponent of Metaverse.

Is the Metaverse a game?

This statement is also true and incorrect.

?According to Roblox, the "No. 1 Metaverse Company" (which is also a game company), a real Metaverse product should have eight elements: identity, friends, immersion, low latency, diversification, anywhere, and economy. System and civilization.?Identity and socialite, these two aspects of the game can be satisfied. Players can create the characters they want, complete the interaction with other players, and form social relationships.

Immersive and low latency. We explained this repeatedly when we introduced 5G and VR/AR. With the current technology, it can barely be satisfied, but there is still a big gap from a perfect experience (720° high-definition video above 16K, refresh rate above 180Hz, and delay below 5ms).All in all, the game can be regarded as the primary form of the meta-universe. In terms of technology, there is still a big gap between the two. In terms of philosophy and ideology, the meta universe has just started.

In the future, Metaverse is likely to use games as a starting point to develop into an alternative to the Internet, deeply integrating digital entertainment, social networks, and even socio-economic and commercial activities.

What technologies does Metaverse rely on??

Roughly speaking, Metaverse includes several technologies-chip technology, network communication technology, virtual reality technology (VR/AR/MR/XR), game technology (game engine, game code, multimedia resources), AI Artificial intelligence technology, block?chain technology.

The meta universe is a digital universe and a parallel world. Therefore, Metaverse is based on digital technology and is inseparable from IT and CT technology.

To support the operation of the huge meta-universe, it must first have extremely powerful computing power and algorithms.Virtual reality technology, game technology, and AI artificial intelligence all belong to the category of IT. From the perspective of CT communication, Meta Universe is also a big hot spot that can be rubbed against.

Metaverse, the carnival of capital? The Internet technology giants in the United States were the first to make arrangements for Metaverse.

In 2014, Facebook acquired the virtual reality company Oculus for a high price of US$2 billion. At present, it seems that it is for VR/AR, but it is actually for the "meta universe".

In addition to Facebook, Google, Amazon, Disney and other giants have also carried out the strategic layout of the meta universe.

In April 2020, Epic Games’ shooting game "Fortress Night" held an online virtual concert for American hip-hop singer Travis Scott in the game, which attracted more than 12 million players to participate online, shocking the entire network. In 2021, the meta-universe concept really begins to explode.

?On March 10, game company Roblox was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Its stock price rose 54.4% on the first day, and its market value exceeded US$40 billion. A year ago, Roblox was valued at only 4 billion U.S. dollars. Roblox is the first company in the world to include the concept of Metaverse in its IPO prospectus, and is called the "first stock of Metaverse." Soon after, at the end of March, the gaming platform Rec Room completed a new round of financing with a total amount of US$100 million.

Then, in April, Epic Games received a $1 billion investment to build a meta universe.

Conclusion: Experts believe that with the development of digital technology, mankind will definitely complete the digital migration from the real universe to the meta universe in the future.

The entire migration process is divided into three stages: digital twins, digital natives, and virtual reality.

After the digital migration, a complete set of economic and social systems will be formed in the digital space (meta universe), resulting in new currency markets, capital markets, and commodity markets.

The digital clone of human beings in the meta-universe will live forever. Even if the physical body in reality is annihilated, you in the digital world will continue to live in the meta-universe, retaining your personality, behavioral logic, and even memories in the real world.

If this is the case, the Metaverse brings not only technical issues, but ethical issues-the digital me, is it me? Is he able to fulfill human rights and obligations? Can I inherit my property? Is it still the husband of the father and wife of my child in the real world?

These issues require human beings to constantly think and formulate corresponding guidelines.

?