The meta universe is a basket, everything can be put in it?
Editor’s note: This article is from the micro-channel public number “geek park” (ID: geekpark), Author: biu.
The executives of Google, Amazon, and Facebook, in addition to reading books about organization and management, also have an old science fiction novel-“Avalanche” on their bookshelves. This novel published 29 years ago is like a prophecy.
In 2000, Google founder Sergey Brin said, “This novel foresaw what was about to happen.” One year later, Google Earth turned out. Interestingly, the real-time earth map model was written in “Avalanche” 9 years ago.
Once science fiction becomes true, books will slowly be forgotten. But until now, “Avalanche” still affects Silicon Valley’s nerves, because the “Metaverse” it refers to is still a universe that is very far from forming.
Movie “Number One Player” poster
In this novel, human beings live in a virtual three-dimensional space through “Avatar” (digital avatar). The author calls the man-made space “Metaverse”. Metaverse is born out of the real world, parallel to the real world, and always online, just like the “Oasis” in “Ready Player One”. It has a fully operational economy, data, digital items, content, and IP can all pass through it. Users and companies can create content and products, making Metaverse more and more prosperous.
Even though Metaverse still has a strong sci-fi color, recently, a number of companies have taken advantage of the concept of “metaverse” and caught the high valuation express. Many VR/AR companies announced billions of financing; and Roblox, a game platform company that went public this month, has a market value of more than 40 billion U.S. dollars, which is 10 times higher than its valuation a year ago, and is considered “Metaverse’s first share.” ; The dating software Soul even said that it is “a social meta-universe with Soul as a link for Gen Z.”
What is the magic of the concept of Metaverse that can make the market willing to give generously to it? This is the uncultivated new west, or is it a newly created capital market buzzword?
Dismantling Metaverse
The word “Metaverse” is composed of meta and verse. Meta means transcendence, and verse is taken from universe. Together, it means “transcendence universe”, which is also translated as “meta universe”. This concept points to the magnificent vision of man-made dimensional space.
And this vision originated from the day when computers came out, and the Internet allowed the real world to continuously implement “digital uploads.” For example, the identity information and behavioral preferences of users like you and me are collected by apps and platforms. WeChat and Facebook record social information, Taobao and Amazon collect consumption information, and game and video platforms know entertainment preferences. In this process, people are anchored in the Internet, and people begin to have their own digital identities. Virtual, and even begin to “erode” reality.
If you give this digital identity a “digital body” that is more easily perceivable by people, then people will be able to live in virtual space more immersively, socializing, consuming, and trading in the Metaverse.
When people play games, they enter the fictitious world in the game, but if this world cannot communicate with other worlds, people cannot enter each virtual world with a unified identity similar to “one-pass” to socialize and consume In terms of trading, that single virtual world or the entire collection is not considered Metaverse. Because people are in it, they cannot conduct transactions in a unified economic system.
To put it simply, Metaverse is like a more immersive and participatory Internet that is shared by all people. It is the next stage of the Internet.
Oasis VR CEO Yin Sang emphasized that Metaverse is not a game. The real Metaverse is to completely move productive social activities and organizations in real life to the virtual world. Roblox CEO Dave Baszucki gave several definitions of Metaverse in his mind: identity, friends, immersion, low latency, diversification, anytime, anywhere, economic system, and civilization.
In addition, the industry now generally believes that the technology to build a “lifelike” digital double is VR/AR. Among them, VR does have natural advantages, from hand, face to whole body tracking, it can make people feel that the avatar in the virtual world is themselves. “VR allows us to truly have a strong sense of identity with individuals in the Metaverse. At this moment, users really take this new world seriously and embrace this new world,” Yin Sang said.
Is Metaverse worth so much money?
Why does Metaverse let the capital market compete?