The imagination of the masses is the art of creation, and it is also the shackles of self-improvement. In 1981, Hilary Putnam put forward a conjecture in "Reason, Truth, and History": A person's brain was cut off from the body and put into In a tank containing a nutrient solution

 The imagination of the masses is the art of creation, and it is also the shackles of self-improvement. 

In 1981, Hilary Putnam put forward a conjecture in "Reason, Truth and History": A person's brain was cut off from the body. , put into a tank filled with nutrient solution to maintain brain survival, connect the nerve endings of the brain through a computer and transmit information to the brain according to the program, so that the brain maintains the illusion that everything is completely normal. So, for this person, it seems that all external objects exist, all his actions can be perceived and received feedback, and this brain can also be input or intercept memory. At this time, are you still able to distinguish the world? What about reality and fiction?

The above-mentioned hypothesis is actually the blueprint of "The Matrix", and it is also the beginning of the idea of ​​the metaverse we are going to talk about today.

"Metaverse" is not creation, it is just an extension of reality.

Metaverse is a virtual space parallel to the real world. It is an online virtual world that maps the real world. And with the advancement of digital technology , this world will become It is becoming more and more real. In this virtual space, users can experience a different life and play their own role according to the established script or some higher-level rules.

From this perspective, the primary form of the metaverse is "online games"

In online games, players can also experience another life in the virtual world, and enjoy as much as possible through various plots and tasks. Experience the existence of life within a reasonable story framework, but this method is too dull and full of artificial mechanical feeling to be immersed in it, and it is highly dependent on the physical world. When players experience online games, they must face the screen and use Controlling the mouse and keyboard handle with your hands, or clicking on the screen with your fingers, and the game may exit as soon as the Internet is disconnected, which is far from the imagined metaverse. The hit "Ready Player One" in the past two years is mankind's ideological exploration of the interaction methods and operating mechanisms of the "metaworld".

This is a technological exploration that spans half a century.

In 1965, Ivan Suzerland, the father of computer graphics, first described a computer display screen in the article "The Ultimate Display". The idea of ​​a virtual world window, which is generally considered to be the beginning of virtual reality technology . Three years later, the world's first helmet-mounted display came out. This was also the world's first virtual reality system . It has similar logic to the current head-mounted display. It is a piece of hardware that can link the human brain and three-dimensional virtual images. In equipment, this is also the technical basis for three-dimensional display technology.

Ivan and his head-mounted display device

In 1977, Jaylen Lanier, founder of VPL Company, first proposed the concept of "virtual reality".

In 1990, the SlGGRAPH International Conference held in Dallas, USA, defined the development and direction of VR technology and determined the three elements of VR technology, namely: three-dimensional graphics generation technology, interactive interface technology for multi-functional sensors, and high-resolution display technology.

In 2010, the first prototype of the Oculus RiftVR helmet was released.

Oculus RiftVR early prototype

In 2014, Facebook acquired Oculus at a high price of US$2 billion, and Facebook began to seek to transform into the "Metaverse".

In 2016, Roblox, the world's largest multiplayer online game creation platform, announced its launch on the Oculus Rift platform. Games have become the pioneering direction of the metaverse content ecology.

In 2021, the Yuanlai of the Yuanverse will officially open. Roblox became the first company to write the "Metaverse" in its prospectus and proposed eight key features of the "Metaverse": Identity, Friends, Immersive, Low Friction Delay), Variety (diversity), Anywhere (anywhere), Economy (economy), Civility (civilization). In the same year, Facebook officially changed its name to "Meta" and announced ALL IN "Metaverse". Domestically, ByteDance purchased VR equipment manufacturer Xiaoniaokan at a super high price of 9 billion. The first year of the industry has officially begun.

Zuckerberg virtual human image

What are the industrial prospects of the metaverse?

The metaverse is not an isolated concept, but a new social form that integrates almost all media technologies such as VR, digital twins, web3.0, AI, cloud computing , big data, and blockchain. It coexists in parallel with the real world, with parallel space and real symbiosis with time. It is a profound change in human life style. The metaverse and the real world will be deeply integrated in all aspects such as economy, social ecology, etc. Human beings will have to spend their limited time in the virtual world. redistribution with reality. Zuckerberg believes that the Metaverse is the next generation of newly upgraded mobile Internet Pinyin. The traversal and distributed Internet based on web 3.0 is also a complete subversion of the current Internet form. At that time, people can enter the metaverse through external devices such as headsets/glasses, establish their own virtual identities, and enjoy various spiritual satisfactions such as entertainment, transactions, and social interaction provided by the virtual world. Therefore, the social changes initiated by the Metaverse involve an extremely comprehensive range of industries, with too many directions. Here we only select three directions with the greatest value for a brief introduction, including:

(1) Lightweight and immersive terminal entrance

and In the past, terminal entrances such as PCs and smartphones were different (the difference in user experience between these terminals was not that big). The perceptual experience and interactive characteristics of virtual reality (VR/AR/MR/XR) headsets will directly affect the virtual world’s impact on the user experience. At present, there are still differences between the giants of all parties regarding the attractiveness of users and which path will become the mainstream in the future. The main reason is the dispute between VR represented by Meta and AR represented by and Microsoft :

In 2021, the global virtual reality headset market has experienced a According to IDC data, global VR/AR headset shipments totaled 11.23 million units in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 92.1%. Among them, VR headset shipments reached 10.95 million units, and this number is expected to exceed 15.73 million units in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 43.6%. Among them, Meta's Oculus Quest 2 shipped approximately 8.8 million units, with a market share of 80%. It has become a representative product in the global VR head display market. AR glasses currently have Microsoft’s dominant position, but compared to VR headsets, they are still relatively small. Domestically, Byte has also chosen the VR path. Its VR headset brand Pico has a market share of 6%, ranking second in the world. At present, my country's VR head-mounted display equipment market is small, with shipments of less than one million units in 2021. Among them, Pico and iQiyi have a combined market share of more than 50%, and there is broad space for the future. In addition, the continued development and iteration of virtual reality head-mounted display equipment will also promote the further development of core components such as chips, optical devices, and acoustic equipment.

(2) Relying on the content of WEB3.0 to co-create the era

The so-called WEB3.0 is compared to the earliest PC portal Internet era (one entrance blocked all traffic resources) and the later mobile Internet king platform era (several platforms In terms of land enclosures), Web 3.0 aims to promote the autonomy of content creation rights and self-retention of profits. Content creators enjoy full ownership of their own creative content, including sections, traffic revenue, etc. Creators can freely use their creative content assets transactions, in order to promote content into the era of explosion and fully meet the spiritual needs of virtual world users. Toutiao’s current self-media model and ROBLEX’s developer model are also similar to them, but they are not complete. In the digitization and development of assets There are still certain obstacles in pricing and transactions. In the future, among these content service providers, whether it is videos, graphics, or games, whoever has the most users, the most complete ecosystem, and the strongest monetization ability will be most likely to make the most profits. In theory, every content provider will become a transaction the potential of the place.

(3) Mature blockchain technology

Since the day society was formed, there has been an economy, and the virtual world is no exception. The assets in the

virtual world are completely digital. For example, the recently hyped NFT (non-fungible token) realizes the assetization of virtual items. The transfer of these digital assets and rights requires a decentralized settlement. , transaction method, namely blockchain technology.Blockchain technology provides a decentralized clearing and settlement platform, smart contracts, etc. on the underlying infrastructure. It can enable digital rights such as NFTs to be mapped to specific assets, and their transactions can be made smooth and seamless through smart contracts. In order to achieve the transaction, exchange and circulation of objects in the virtual world, and build the economic system of the metaverse, in the future virtual world, all services, equipment, etc. can be capitalized and digitized. This technology is already relatively mature. There will not be much difficulty in future applications.

Metaverse industrial chain

How far is the metaverse from us?

I am afraid there is still a long way to go before people can truly start their virtual lives. The first thing

needs to solve is the convenience and functional dependence of the terminal. Nowadays, the mainstream head-mounted display terminal style is too bulky. If you buy it, you can only play it at home. In this way, most social life scenes in modern society will block the use of the device. The use of the device is the same as people's habits, discontinuous. It will lose its inertia and eventually become a low-frequency indoor game console that can easily be forgotten in a corner; in addition, it has insufficient functionality. Whether it is a VR headset or AR eyes, the functions are still relatively lacking. And the functional value is not high. Although the current VR equipment does a good job in immersive experience, its social value is still insufficient. It functions more as a virtual game console, cutting off a part of the market of traditional console games, and has no impact on reality. The degree of integration into life is very limited, making people as dependent as on smartphones. Perhaps, when will the Metaverse make a breakthrough in three-dimensional social interaction and truly break the constraints of space, products will be able to penetrate into users' lives little by little.

Secondly, it is the issue of richness of information. The Metaverse is by definition a virtual world. Citizens in a virtual society will have various needs of real society, including factors such as culture, economy, social life, etc. In any society, it is not something that an individual or a company can rely on alone. It requires the joint participation and joint improvement of all citizens to slowly lay a foundation and then expand naturally. This will involve all types of information in the real world, and how to allow users from all walks of life to participate spontaneously. Going forward, this requires the builders of all parties in the metaverse to reach effective underlying social rules. However, unfortunately, there seems to be no sign of this yet.

The current metaverse form is still too rudimentary, and it is not an exaggeration to say it is a gimmick. However, it does represent a certain direction of human civilization, and the infinite potential behind it is still worth looking forward to. This is a long-term journey.

References:

[1]Hilary Putnam, "Reason, Truth, and History", 1982

[2] Tang Jiangshan, "Understanding the Metaverse", 2021

[3] Cheng Shenghui "Detailed Explanation of the 7-Layer Industrial Chain of the Metaverse" 2022