Unveiling the potential and possibilities of virtual worlds in shaping our future.
Meta is placing a significant bet on the metaverse. CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated that Meta would invest $10 billion in its metaverse projects in 2021.
The Metaverse isn't about Facebook's relevance, Zuckerberg bets the young generation will flourish here during the next 20 years
Zuckerberg possesses a 'reality-distortion field' (RDF). Individuals possessed that trait saw what technology is and will be capable of doing.
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have been around for quite some time. Zuckerberg just bet that this is where the young generation will flourish during the next 20 years.
Philip Rosedale the original visionary of SL, suddenly announced his return in January 2022. He suddenly saw the vindication of his dream in the Metaverse’s creation.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are two different areas currently converging. They are part of the same theories, applications, and sciences.
VR concentrates on the user experience within a predefined world. RPGs allow users to build their own experience requiring interaction with the user, known as an 'avatar.'
AR refers to the tools we use to process a VR environment with allowances in a 3D environment. These tools may be special glasses and sound devices.
We do not use AR only in VR. It is utilized within our own normal reality to augment our view. The applications of AR are numerous, and in the medical and automotive industry, it is already implemented.
AR requires the creation of a VR so that it can operate within the parameters of that VR. VR alone needs only a computer with an excellent graphics card and connection.
There is a programming language open to developers, they can apply programming to virtual objects causing them to work in diverse ways.
Data can leave and return to the system, it also opens up the door for AI algorithms to be run upon collected avatar data on the server end.
Avatars will soon experience the same type of individual tagging and advertisements that their real identities already have on the Web.
One real person can have many virtual personas each acting differently. In VR & AR, the world of AI will face incredible challenges.
Coupling AI with Avatar behavior is crucial for the system to grow. Companies operating within the Metaverse will be built upon this foundation.
The data collected on what an avatar does, likes, and dislikes will point to a 'real person.' The very idea of RPG and Metaverse is that there is an alter-ego wholly separated from the actual individual.
In most cases, the actual user will want to remain anonymous behind that alter-ego, especially in RPGs. Predictive analytics becomes a whole other science here.
The data collected will be from virtual people within a virtual universe. Strict laws will be legislated on connecting a virtual user to the physical counterpart.
This will create 'split personalities' in the data world. Data lakes, data integrity, and bias are all affected here.
There is the traditional security of the technological systems involved. The second mode of security results from keeping the 'virtual user' secure from the 'physical user.'
The considerable difference in the Metaverse will be the acceptance of the cryptocurrency. This may help bring Bitcoin and other currencies into the mainstream.
It will also bring distributed systems on which cryptocurrencies are based into maturity. Research into spending habits and profits made is another area not to be ignored.
Many RPG systems such as Second Life run their own currencies based on real currencies. They even have a currency exchange market, where the price fluctuates minute by minute depending on demand.
When I convert real USD to Lindens, the SL currency, my receipt comes back with my SL avatar name, while my real name, the one on the credit card, never appears.
The natural tendency is to think of it as a cryptocurrency, which it is not, though the Metaverse may change that paradigm.
One creates a virtual product only once, and it can be delivered to ten thousand customers or a million customers. There is no 'stock' in the traditional sense, no replication of a physical product, and no need for a warehouse.
It is essential to wrap one’s head around this, as it becomes vital to 3rd party businesses who create items in the Metaverse.
Nike recently purchased a Metaverse startup that created virtual Nike sneakers based on their actual models. The data collected is precious for continued business.
Nikeland, which is the sporting goods brand’s micro Metaverse built in Roblox, has attracted 6.7 million people from 224 countries since its launch in November.
Nike Digital continues to be the fastest-growing component of its marketplace, now representing 26% of our total Nike Brand revenue.
VR/AR are obvious points of innovation in their purest sense. RPG stands for “role-playing games,” and role-play can come in infinite forms leading to an endless amount of creation and innovation.
The user experience will become more substantial, less expensive, and more immersive. AR will truly benefit here, and this area will be full of theory, technology, and user experience.
Within VR/AR, disruption will become even more constant. As the technology improves, disruption.
VR/AR are obvious points of innovation in their purest sense.
The user experience will become more substantial, less expensive, and more immersive.
Within psychology, there is so much to investigate, understand, and theorize it is in and of itself a massive area of investigation.
Consider the immersive experience and how it will affect current lifestyles.
Consider the requirements for maintaining a real and virtual identity and the possibility of developing a “Dissociative Identity Disorder.”
Consider the effect on study and education.
Consider the effect on a real business within a virtual environment.
The legal ramifications will affect “freedom of choice” and our own identities.
Crypto Currencies can they or should they even be regulated? And if so, how do we go about doing it.
Who owns what? Do the corporations own the objects you maintain in the VR or the user? Who has to indemnify the end-user if that stock is lost through server faults?
Will business carried out in a virtual environment and contracts signed by virtual users take on the same validity as an actual contract?
Will it be ethical to connect a virtual user to their physical counterpart without permission?
Thank you for taking the time to explore the metaverse.
We hope this presentation has inspired you.
We hope this presentation has informed you.
May our discussions in the metaverse, be filled with more fruitful knowledge in the near future.
Thank you for being part of this immersive experience.