To understand the wave of exploration of the metaverse, we need to understand the ins and outs of the metaverse, so that we can better grasp the current coordinate position of the metaverse, not only can we avoid missing the opportunities brought about by the origin and development of the metaverse, but also can clearly understand, fully prepare, Actively adapt.
1. The Two Origins of the Metaverse
The Metaverse describes a vast virtual space, the Internet of the future. The first generation of Internet is the era of personal computer (PC), the second generation is the era of mobile Internet, and the third generation of Internet is the future Internet, which is composed of virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, digital twin, big data, Internet of Things , cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain and other digital intelligent technologies are integrated into the virtual world, it will be a persistent, shared, three-dimensional space.
The social and technological origins of the metaverse reflect the dialectical unity of productive forces and production relations.
1. Social origin
In the 1950s and 1960s, Western society was full of material desires, and people indulged in the consumption of symbols and objects in the trap of apparent wealth. Later, the “middle class” rose in some parts of the world. Their leisure time during holidays increased, and their working time was relatively reduced. Many people gradually lost themselves in material consumption, and interpersonal relationships gradually became empty, and society was constantly materialized and alienated. Under the cover of cynical and hostile emotions, people are eager to find spiritual sustenance, hope for spiritual purification, and get some comfort. The metaverse in the novel “Avalanche” 30 years ago is a reflection of people’s longing for the spiritual world.
Human beings have two functions, biological and spiritual, which are integrated and inseparable. For basic survival and development, such as food, clothing, and housing, human beings always exert biological functions and rarely use spiritual functions. However, spiritual function is still very important, and human beings yearn for the spiritual world in higher-level needs. However, only when people’s physical labor is less and their material needs are guaranteed to a certain extent, can the real world and the spiritual world be better connected. Robots are replacing human labor, which is exactly the trend of development. That sci-fi metaverse will conditionally become reality.
With only social origins and no technological follow-up, the metaverse may stay in an ideal and sci-fi state forever. Fortunately, the technology of the Metaverse and people’s visions are keeping pace.
2. The origin of technology
The initiation and development of technology is the surest way to turn an ideal and sci-fi into reality. What people can think of, technology will generally shape for us. The development of technology makes this sentence more and more like the truth.
One is to create a virtual environment. The emergence of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in the 1960s, generating the earliest virtual environment, seems to reflect people’s urgent need for a virtual spiritual world.
The second is the small integration of virtual technology. In the 1990s, virtual reality and augmented reality set off a boom. After learning about virtual reality technology, Qian Xuesen thought of using it in the level of human-computer integration and human brain development, and named it “spiritual realm”. The combined experience brings the combination of human and computer into the era of deep integration. ①
As virtual reality and augmented reality gradually converge, the two complement each other’s advantages to form mixed reality (MR), which enables real-time interaction between synthetic objects and real objects.
The third is the emergence of digital twins. At the beginning of the 21st century, a technology with simulation as the core was produced, which brought digital mapping and digital mirroring, similar to the twins of physical systems in the information platform, which can play an important role in the interaction of physical and virtual data and information.
Fourth, the integration of virtual technology. Extended Reality (XR), which emerged in 2016, combines virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality to create, collaborate and explore in computer-generated environments, and ushered in the hot development of virtual technology in 2018.
The fifth is the support of digital technology. The accelerated development of general-purpose digital technologies such as the Internet, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, sensors, blockchain, and 5G promotes the combination of virtual technology and general-purpose digital technology in supporting immersive technology. As distributed storage technology reduces the cost of trust for the underlying Web 3.0, it provides the possibility of decentralization, allows value to come online, and makes the virtual world more grand and rich.
After several technological fusions, the Metaverse formed its working mechanism. The biggest difference from the previous virtual products based on digital technology is that “the goal of the metaverse is a systematic and complex digital world based on a variety of digital technologies.” ②
Sixth, the Metaverse was born. In 2021, two events will mark the emergence of the metaverse: first, some game companies with metaverse properties have made some breakthroughs in the original game, allowing participants to not only integrate into the game, but also design in the game. Games make players become part of the game and can communicate and interact just like the real world. This operating mechanism encourages such game companies, such as the game platform Roblox, which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange that year.
Second, Facebook changed its name to Mate. Regardless of the motivation at the time, some Internet companies followed suit and formulated their own strategies similar to the Metaverse. In fact, before this, Internet companies have also thought of the development of virtual technology. For example, at the end of 2020, Tencent Ma Huateng proposed the concept of “full Internet”, which is committed to opening the door to the interaction between the virtual world and the real world. These all reflect the objective trend of the development of the metaverse, and the wave of exploration of the metaverse has begun.
To sum up, the technological origin of the Metaverse is a process of fusion and integration of related technologies, coupled with social phenomena and people’s motivations, the goal of the Metaverse is more clearly driven, which is to actively promote the rational and better structure of people’s material and spiritual functions. The comprehensive effect makes the metaverse always develop in the direction of serving mankind, and it has a strong development momentum.
2. Two Developments of the Metaverse
After the metaverse is born, it must not only move forward towards the ultimate vision of people’s science fiction and ideals, but also respect reality, follow the rules, and advance step by step and conditionally. In particular, it is necessary to clarify the difference between the long-term development and the short-term development, so as to avoid confusing the different goal setting of the long-term development and the short-term development. For a while, some people mistook long-term development for short-term development, and lost rational guidance for the development of the Metaverse, resulting in ups and downs in related investments. Therefore, we must be alert to the repetition of such phenomena and protect people’s confidence in the development of the Metaverse.
1. Long-term development
The future development of the metaverse has an ultimate vision, which is to usher in a metaverse era. As an era, regardless of the main body of participation, function, and technological conditions, it is different from the recent development.
First, in terms of the main body, the majority of people should participate in the metaverse. At that time, robots may replace the labor and work of a considerable number of people, and human beings are mainly engaged in intelligent labor. In addition, after the widespread use of robots, the corresponding distribution system changes, people’s material and cultural consumption may be guaranteed, and many people are engaged in technology and research. , entertainment, games, creation and other intelligent labor to obtain spiritual happiness.
The metaverse is a virtual world environment parallel to the physical world, which is just suitable for the work of human beings, which is mainly spiritual, cultural, intelligent, and creative. This is a bit like the description of the comprehensive development of man and the association of free men envisioned by Marx.
Second, functionally, the interaction between virtual and reality can do many things. It will bring more value to people’s lives and industries. For example, in the Metaverse, you can gather with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop, create, and gain new experiences that are unimaginable with the current knowledge of computers and mobile phones. For example, the future will be teleported in the form of holograms to reach the office without the need for transportation, or to go to a concert with friends, or to return to the parents’ house. For example, in real industrial scenarios, we can achieve remote collaboration to guide maintenance and other work.
Of course, people will not waste the convenience of the metaverse, and will spend more time on meaningful things, including economic, social, cultural and other development. The application of digital intelligence technology in social culture now has an advantage, and the society and culture of the metaverse will be more developed in the future.
The digital economy has become an important growth pole for economic development, and the Metaverse will become a stronger brigade of the digital economy, bringing greater prosperity to the digital economy.
In particular, the two-dimensional application of digital technology will be transformed into a three-dimensional virtual world, the data and traffic generated will increase exponentially, and the Internet of Things, sensors, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, big data and advanced networks will be widely used. The full circulation of technology and data elements will inevitably bring about an exponential increase in economic benefits. The scale and quality of the digital economy at that time are unmatched today.
It can be said, “The Metaverse is a typical form of the digital economy, with characteristics such as sustainability, openness, autonomy and immersion, which is in line with the development trend of the modern economy.” ③ Zuckerberg said that the Metaverse “will become the part of the daily lives of billions of people,” will have a profound impact on human development.
Third, technically, the problems encountered now will be solved. After several stages, at least decades or even a century of development in the Metaverse, coupled with the introduction period and industrialization process of the Metaverse fusion technology, the technology and its fusion will be quite mature. At that time, the Metaverse will no longer need 3D glasses. Or VR-style headrests, mobile phones and everyday devices will be able to pop up 3D holograms, 3D holographic displays can improve the fidelity of moving images, and acoustic holograms can improve ultrasound imaging. Basically, it can guarantee and support most people to enter the metaverse, and anything they come into contact with in the virtual world can be immersive. Of course, old technical problems are solved, and new problems will arise.
With the ultimate vision, there will be confidence and progress in the near-term development, and gradually realize the beautiful ideal from the near to the far.
2. Recent Development
Restricted by factors such as technology and social conditions, the recent metaverse can only be a partial and exploratory development. Although the single technology that constitutes the Metaverse has matured its industrial application, the integration of multiple technologies still needs to be constantly refined and improved in the exploration and operation of the Metaverse mechanism. Therefore, the recent development will have some lacking characteristics compared to the future metaverse.
First, in terms of the main body, there will be no extensive social participation for the time being. Because most people are forced by real employment and material life needs, they do not have more time and mood to enter the virtual world. The metaverse being explored in the near future is likely to be a new generation of digital natives, intellectuals, middle class, and leisurely people. Even if the majority of people come in, the technology and content are unbearable and satisfying.
Second, in terms of function, some functions are still immature or not yet produced. The metaverse that integrates the overall technology cannot be involved in more industries, and cannot become a kind of daily life for people.
The recent development of the metaverse may be more applied to games, entertainment, tourism, training, exhibitions, sports and individual physical industries. It cannot truly build a complete digital image of the existing physical world, and it cannot fully cover all work and life of human beings. The recent development is an active exploration of future metaverse development and requires accumulation of experience. Of course, strategic investment and long-term investment can be made in some industries involving the Metaverse.
Third, technically, the current metaverse is still an extensive fusion of various technologies. It is still necessary to wear a headset. Even if the 5G network is used, if there are problems with bandwidth and network quality, and the number of people applying virtual technology is relatively concentrated, there will be stuttering. In particular, the interactive network architecture, operating system, application software and other technologies still need to strengthen research and development.
Paying attention to recent development and exploration, and advancing toward the future, it is possible to be familiar with it, and to draw inferences from other facts, and gradually expand the development coverage of the Metaverse.
3. Two preparations for exploring the metaverse
Exploring the metaverse requires preparation in both thought and behavior.
1. Getting to know
The biggest consensus on the metaverse right now is that it is a virtual world parallel to the real world. It is very important to understand the three viewpoints.
One is that the immersive virtual world will be larger than the real world. In the past, we learned about the world by reading newspapers and books, watching various film and television content, and lacked a sense of immersion and reality. To truly understand the world, we need to walk or take various tools such as planes, high-speed trains, and cars to reach the real place in person. Even if we are engaged in foreign affairs, foreign trade, tourism, and exploration, we can reach places in our lifetime. It is also very limited and cannot go to a larger range.
However, the metaverse interacts with entities, and through immersion, will help us enter the wider world, including cities and villages in various countries, various geographical environments, including outer space. The metaverse will allow us to reach places that reality cannot, and it will all have a sense of realism. Therefore, some people say that the future is a real world facing multiple virtual worlds.
The second is that the metaverse will allow its own consciousness to exist forever. With the help of brain-computer interface technology, human beings upload their thinking system to the digital world. Human beings will gradually get rid of the shackles of the physical body and be replaced by eternal spiritual consciousness. The metaverse can directly stimulate human neurons to achieve any sensory stimulation we want. Humans may complete a high degree of migration from the physical world to the digital world, thereby achieving immortality in the form of consciousness.
With the continuous development of artificial intelligence, the user’s “avatar” or digital person in the virtual world will become more and more realistic, and will still exist after the death of the real person. At the same time, based on the principle of complete voluntary, participants can stop at any time and delete all the collected data. It should be noted whether doing so is ethical or not.
Musk has always suspected that the current human society is a virtual world that may be manipulated by a higher civilization. He constantly wants to make technological breakthroughs, trying to discover whether there is an alien civilization, whether there is another game world like ours. Our current “real world” may just be the “virtual world” of a higher-dimensional creature.
Third, the virtual reality and the real world are becoming more and more realistic. In essence, the virtual world is also a product derived from the real world. From the perspective of materialist dialectics, nothing is imaginary. All problems that solve the virtual world will be answered in reality.
The virtual mainstream trend of the metaverse will make the virtual world as real as the physical world. We are connected to the Internet all the time, and the boundary between the virtual world and the real world is becoming more and more blurred. For example, machine intelligence is doing more of the work that was previously done by humans, machines will interpret gestures, predict where our eyes will look, recognize emotions, and even bioelectricity of our neurons, and so on. ④
Moreover, the metaverse is virtual, but it is actually full of matter and energy. For example, micro-nano technology, micro-electronics, micro-electromechanical, and micro-intelligent systems highly condense a large number of refined materials and energy. In 1991, there were only 2,250 transistors on a chip. By 2020, Apple’s A15 will integrate 5.5 billion transistors. The small terminals are amazing, and together with related technologies, they can deduce the stories of many virtual scenes.
Quantum physics has also revolutionized our understanding of the world. For example, the billions of microprocessors placed on Intel’s cutting-edge chips are due to quantum mechanics. In fact, this phenomenon is in line with the coexistence of matter, energy and information, and the proportion of information is increasing.
With the cognitive preparation, in the exploration of adapting to the metaverse, you will be aware of it and gradually advance.
2. Prepare for adaptation
The metaverse came suddenly, and for many people, it was a bit unclear and unclear. In addition to the above-mentioned foreshadowing of the origin and development, three aspects must be adapted.
One is the progressive adaptation of technology. All kinds of commonly used network links are quickly upgraded without knowing it. Fixed telephones connect fixed locations, mobile communications and the Internet enable everyone to be interconnected, the Internet of Things connects everything, and the Metaverse will connect places, people, and things in a three-dimensional scene.
The second is the adaptation from flat application to three-dimensional application. Now, we live in the real world, in fact, we also live in several virtual worlds such as WeChat, blog, Douyin, etc. Wechat is like a flat metaverse. Every day we express our views, send Pictures, share all kinds of life. For most people, the personalities and social relationships shown in offline and online life are not much different. But there are also a lot of people who are completely different online and offline. ⑤
The metaverse of the future is the three-dimensionalization and dynamism of every small plane metaverse that we see today. All the technology companies we see today, such as Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, JD.com, ByteDance, Meituan, Xiaomi, Mate, Apple, and Amazon, are advancing a metaverse of technological integration.
The third is the adaptation from partial application to extensive application. The current entertainment, games, exhibitions, training, education, sports, tourism, and individual pioneering entity industries often use the metaverse, which is an exercise in the application of the metaverse in daily life and work in the future, which will naturally transition to the metaverse. Commonly used.
Consciously paying attention to the adaptation process, under the guidance of correct understanding, we will avoid detours, follow logic, and turn rational understanding into conscious behavior.
In short, to seize the opportunity of the origin and development of the Metaverse and make our own choices lies in a profound understanding and adaptation to the wave of exploration of the Metaverse.
References:
①People’s Daily Online, Qian Xuesen Library of Shanghai Jiaotong University, November 26, 2021
②③Wu Tong and Wang Long, “Metaverse: The Practice of a Generalized Token Economy” Journal of Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, 2022
④JON RADOFF “9 Trends Shaping the Metaverse” Worth World November 13, 2021
⑤Refer to Xia Chun’s “Facebook changed its name to Meta, “It’s hard to imagine the Metaverse!”” Caijing Zhizhi, October 29, 2021
(This content is the author’s keynote speech at “My Metaverse Home – Worker Metaverse GTVerse Conference” on July 6)
The author Shao Chunbao is a researcher at the China Strategic Research Center of Peking University and a researcher at the National Governance Institute of Communication University of China.
July 16, 2022
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