Big Tech has its eyes on the metaverse. This is what it means

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The idea is to create a space similar to the Internet, but in which users (via digital avatars) can walk around inside and where they can interact with each other in real time. In theory, you could, for example, sit around a virtual meeting table with colleagues from around the world – instead of staring at their 2D faces on Zoom – and then walk to a virtual Starbucks to meet your mom, who lives on. on the other side the country.

Despite the current cycle of hype, the idea is still amorphous, and a fully functioning metaverse is probably years and billions of dollars away – if that happens. The big companies joining the discussion now may just want to reassure investors that they won’t miss out on what could be the next big thing, or that their investments in virtual reality, which have yet to gain momentum. wide commercial appeal, will eventually pay off. And, particularly in the case of Facebook, harnessing the long-term potential of the metaverse could be a useful way to distract from the scrutiny of the here and now.

Whatever the motivations, big questions remain, from how tech companies can handle security and privacy concerns in the Metaverse to whether people really want to live a large chunk of their lives in a simulation. immersive virtual.

“My biggest concern with the Metaverse is, are we ready?” said Avi Bar-Zeev, founder of augmented and virtual reality consulting firm RealityPrime and a former employee of Apple, Amazon and Microsoft, where he worked on the HoloLens.

“Are we emotionally evolved enough to move beyond the sure division of having screens between us and typing words?” he said. “Are we sure we’re starting to interact on a more personal level, or will the holes ** still mess it up for everyone?”

Facebook's investments in its Oculus VR headsets are a key part of its metaverse ambitions.

What is the “metaverse”?

The “metaverse” was coined in the 1992 cyberpunk novel “Snow Crash”. In the book, the main character Hiro Protagonist – a hacker and, for a short time, a pizza delivery boy – uses the Metaverse as an escape from his life, in which he lives with a roommate in a 20ft storage container. on 30 feet in a dark world where government has been replaced by corrupt corporations.

In this story, the Metaverse is a virtual creation platform, but it’s also riddled with issues, including tech addiction, discrimination, harassment, and violence, that sometimes spill over into the real world.

That’s a far cry from the optimistic potential that Zuckerberg and others have presented. But a sign that the Metaverse is still a long way off: No one can quite agree on a clear definition of what it is, or could be.

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Experts working in space tend to agree on a few key aspects of the metaverse, including the idea that users will experience a sense of “embodiment” or “presence”. That is, they will feel like they are in a virtual space with other people, seeing things in first person and possibly in 3D. It will also be able to host many users who will be able to interact with each other in real time.

“You can kind of think of [the metaverse] like an embodied Internet that you are in rather than just watching, ”Zuckerberg said on the call.

Much like the internet today, the metaverse will not be a single technology that gets activated at the same time, but rather an ecosystem built over time by many different companies using a variety of technologies. Ideally, these different parts of the ecosystem will be interconnected and interoperable, said Jesse Alton, head of Open Metaverse, a group developing open source standards for the metaverse.

“Someone who plays a video game could win a flaming sword in their favorite game on Xbox, put it in their inventory, and later in VR, they can show it to their friend and their friend can hold it,” he said. said Alton, who is also the founder of extended reality company AngellXR. “It is the capacity to transport [information] from one world to another, regardless of what platform it is on. ”

Parts of the metaverse already exist. Services like Fortnite, an online game in which users can compete, socialize and create virtual worlds with millions of other players, can give users a first impression of how it works. And some people have already spent thousands of dollars on virtual homes, staking their metaverse plot.

Why is everyone suddenly talking about it?

The metaverse is a relatively old idea that seems to gain momentum every few years, only to fade from the conversation instead of more immediate opportunities. Perhaps predictably, those working on this technology are seeing signs that this time around could be different.

“A lot of the people who worked there before… are still involved, it’s just that we were waiting for some technological advancement,” Alton said.

Improvements to mobile device processors, gaming systems, internet infrastructure, virtual reality headsets, and cryptocurrency are all critical to creating the metaverse and ensuring consumer adoption.

Additionally, after the pandemic forced much of the world to work, learn, and socialize from home, many people may feel more comfortable interacting virtually than they did two years ago, which is why technology companies can try to capitalize.

“[A change like] it’s still an iterative decades-long process … and yet, despite this fact, there is an undeniable feeling over the last few years that the foundational pieces come together in a way that seems very new and very different ”, Ball, the venture capitalist, said.

Will the metaverse have the same problems as the internet?

Supporters of the Metaverse say there could eventually be huge business potential – a whole new platform on which to sell digital goods and services. It could also have benefits for the way humans interact with technology.

“What we’re really doing is finding ways to add technology into our lives to improve our lives and improve our communication with others,” said Bar-Zeev of RealityPrime. “It’s not just about conquering a whole new world.”

But there are also a host of concerns about how the Metaverse might be used or exploited.

Zuckerberg said last week that ads are likely to be a key source of revenue in the Metaverse, just as they are for the company today. But some in the space fear that an advertising-based business model creates haves, who can afford to pay for an ad-free headset or metaverse experience, and haves who can’t, replicating the inequalities present. in the real world.

“I don’t want to see a world where we separate people between those who can afford it to get a better experience and those who can’t afford it have this shitty experience of being exploited for advertising,” said Bar-Zeev. He added that online harassment could become more intense when users can assault others’ virtual bodies, rather than just exchanging ugly words on a screen.

Data privacy and security could also become more of a concern when “more of our lives, of our data, of our work, of our investments now exist in a purely virtual form,” Ball said. And other issues, such as misinformation and radicalization, could also worsen in the Metaverse.

“If you can now replace someone’s entire reality with an alternate reality, you can make them believe just about anything,” Bar-Zeev said. “Everyone’s responsibility on the ground is to prevent bad things as much as possible and to promote good things.”

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