The term " meta-universe " was first coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel "Avalanche". Over the past few decades, the concept of meta-universe has been continuously derived and developed. In 2021, Facebook announced the rename of "Meta" in order to seek to transform from social media to a "metaverse" company. Amazon , Apple , Google , Tencent and other giants have successively begun to make efforts to layout the metaverse. The metaverse concept has gained widespread attention from all walks of life, academic and media, and has also further entered the public's vision.
Author: Wang Yingyue
Unit: China Mobile Smart Home Operation Center
Metauniverse, essentially a generalized cyberspace. Based on the physical space, social space, cyberspace and thinking space, it integrates a variety of digital technologies , and aggregates network, hardware and software devices and users in a virtual reality system , forming a virtual world that is both mapped and independent of the real world [1]. The value chain is divided into seven levels: experience, discovery, creator economy, spatial computing, decentralization, human-computer interaction, and infrastructure.
➤ Experience
The concept of meta-universe is not limited to the realistic 3D expression of passive viewing of humans. It breaks through the materialization limitations of things, and the limitations of spatial dimensions and distances will no longer exist. For example, in " Fortnite ", the distance between users and celebrities can be very close. From games and social interactions to shopping, drama and esports , the real meta universe can subvert human existing ways of living behavior and experience.
➤ Discover how users of
can obtain relevant information about the metaverse? When reading this article, you are obtaining resources from the metaverse. You may obtain links to the article through search engines, or you may be guided by the community. In the metaverse, real-time online is a unique and powerful factor in discovery. For example, on the Xbox game platform, users can know what their friends are doing, and they can also choose to join them, so that real-time interaction can better promote the development of the metaverse. Of course, the metaverse also has interactive methods such as advertising, notifications, emails and social media.
➤ Creator Economy
The meta-universe will provide a virtual space connected to reality, in which users have virtual identities, can conduct virtual currency transactions, and even realize virtual life here. It is not difficult to see that this virtual world contains huge economic growth potential. And content creators will play a key role in this new world.
➤ Space computing
Space computing combines AR, VR and MR to turn the concept of "metauniverse" into reality. Through vision, hearing and touch, users can immerse themselves in the 3D surreal world. "PokemonGo" is a successful technical commercial application, combining virtual 3D models with real-world scenarios.
➤ A common principle of decentralized
blockchain and the Web3 community is to make everything as decentralized as possible.
From a technical perspective, the metaverse is a trusted digital value interaction network supported by the blockchain technology system and operating mechanism, as well as a new digital ecosystem with blockchain as the core, which can promote digital industrialization and industrial digitalization [2]. Web3.0 frees financial assets from central control and custody. With the emergence of NFT and blockchain, we are likely to witness a new wave of innovation in market decentralization and game asset applications.
➤ Human-computer interaction
In an article titled "Robot Manifesto" written by famous technical and scientific research scholar Donna Haraway in 1985, it emphasized the reality that the distance between humans and gadgets is shrinking. For example, a mobile phone that has been widely popular is no longer just a phone, but a smart device carrying micro chips. The VR device is also developing further. I believe that in the near future, smart glasses will be as popular as smart watch .
➤ Infrastructure
Infrastructure ensures the development and operation of the metaverse.Including computing power and network technology, as well as spatial positioning algorithms, edge computing , real-time network transmission, etc.; artificial intelligence technology, including deep learning, neural network , etc.; video game technology, including 3D game engines such as Unreal Engine and Unity, is used to create resources such as animation, sound and images; display technologies such as AR, VR, MR, ER and XR provide an immersive audio-visual experience; blockchain technology, supported by decentralized value transfer mechanisms, settlement platforms and smart contracts, will ensure the ownership and liquidity of value.
➪ References
[1] Wang Wenxi, Zhou Fang, Wan Yueliang, et al. Review of Metauniverse Technology [J]. Journal of Engineering Science, 2022, 44(4):13.
[2] Li Ming, Zhang Liang, Song Wenpeng, et al. Blockchain: The core infrastructure of Metauniverse [J]. Computer Engineering, 2022(048-006).
