Part 1: What is the metaverse?
The metaverse like many significant advances kept evolving and growing to a form where it can be used to further progress diverse fields of today’s world.
The story with the metaverse, however, is unique, distinct, hopeful, optimistic, futuristic and inclusive one, compared to other inventions. The metaverse is an all-encompassing forward-thinking realm of endless realities that looks to “Create the Future of X” – where X resembles a limitless scope of possible futures centered around shared virtual spaces that aims to foster collaboration and engagement between a wide spectrum of players striving to make a difference in the world.
That wide spectrum comprises of (but not limited to) the following key players:
A. Innovators and originators focused on building digital spaces and providing virtual means to attract creatives to build lifetime experiences on the metaverse
B. Experienced creators, designers and builders working on constructing the next experience of borderless collaboration and engagement in the metaverse
C. Users and consumers looking to harness the power of these vast spaces to enjoy and express themselves and contribute to shaping the direction of these experiences through continuous engagement and feedback
D. SDOs working together with all to develop standards for furthering and ensuring a safe, equitable, efficient and effective metaverse that does not contradict with the spirit and rule of law
E. Industry envisioning transformative realities and leveraging best in class platforms to respond to today’s global citizens and consumers needs
F. Academia equipping, preparing, and engaging students and future leaders through best-in-class metaverse use cases and applications
As the metaverse becomes more mainstream through its game changing and wide use cases and applications, more thought leaders and industry voices will be confronted with the challenge of being more specific about its definition, and hence being able to answer questions such as:
What are the basic underlying technologies comprising the metaverse that the industry can agree on today?
Can Neal Stephenson’s definition be added as a strategic and historical angle to interpret the basic underlying enablers of the metaverse in today’s technologies?
What is a reasonable extension of the basic underlying enablers of the metaverse that Neal Stephenson coined when he first introduced the term in his novel Snow Crash in 1992? For example, is a 3D interactive, shared, immersive and avatar enabled environment with interoperability features to ensure enhanced, transferrable and continuous experiences across many spaces a reasonable extension?
How does an optimal metaverse look from a mix of technologies standpoint? For example, should it beside being built on an environment such as 3D, expand to include blockchain, digital twin and IoT as underlying technologies?
Can consensus be formed around the definition of the metaverse? If not, what are the key principles that can help different schools of thought find a middle ground for collaboration (for e.g. data provenance, identity, safety and privacy)?
It is crucial to invigorate this discussion to lay a firm foundation for global cooperation between advocates of a metaverse being:
A metaverse only if it is built on multiple technologies, even if this goes against the natural extension of the underlying enabling technology that could’ve been used at the time Neal Stephenson coined the term in 1992 (i.e. 2D)
A natural extension of technologies that were available at the time the term was coined (i.e. 3D), while living up to the promise of an inclusive, immersive, interoperable, and avatar-based space
To conclude, many leading entities (for e.g. Metaverse Standards Forum) are already committed and working on solving real metaverse issues; contributing to the development of cross-sector use cases to the benefit of individuals and societies; examining identity, privacy, cybersecurity, legal and emerging topics; answering tough questions, and fostering collaboration amongst various players shaping the metaverse ecosystem.
Coming next in this series: “A Peak View into The Metaverse”. Stay tuned!
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Let's connect at metaverse@hkdolts.com
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