Metaverse: a coin still flipping in the air

Meta-universe, is it a windfall or a "tiger's mouth", is it an opportunity or a "bubble"? At an international big data industry expo, many industry experts and enterprise representatives discussed this in depth. They believe that the meta-universe is like a coin tossed into the air, which is still flipping rapidly and has not yet landed.

The wave has come

For the concept and connotation of metaverse, the industry is still inconclusive. It is more commonly referred to as "a virtual world that is mapped and interacted with the real world by using technology to link and create, and a digital living space with a new social system".

Some experts metaphorically say: "metaverse can make all human dreams come true in perception". As in the science fiction movie "Top Gun", the hero put on the virtual reality helmet and instantly entered the "Oasis" - a virtual game world of his own design and realism.

Such a scenario is not only in the movie, but also in real life. Through the virtual meeting space, scholars can be in the unique ancient style of the scene of high-end academic discussions; wearing VR glasses, fans can be "in person" at the concert site, the virtual stand-in movements and expressions will change with the reality of the real body.

Professionals believe that the metaverse is essentially a virtualization and digitization of the real world, which requires a lot of transformation of content production, economic system, user experience and content of the physical world, and will promote the upgrading of creation, computing, experience, decision-making and business.

Experts believe that the meta-universe wave has come, but it is still in the initial exploration and preparation stage, the basic technology support is weak, and there are risky "reefs" that induce economic bubbles, privacy leakage and abuse, virtual crime, etc. If there is a lack of effective governance, the meta-universe is afraid to turn into a "dark universe If there is no effective governance, the metaverse may turn into a "dark universe".

Some experts have suggested that the current metaverse has emerged in the name of application promotion, stock fundraising and virtual asset speculation, promoting a large amount of money into the virtual market, creating and stirring the virtual economic bubble. There are also hints of fraud under the banner of metaverse blockchain game, malicious speculation on metaverse real estate to make money, and disguised engagement in metaverse virtual coins for illegal profit.

The development of metaverse will bring new challenges to financial supervision. The NFT (Non-Fungible Token), which is the core element of the "metaverse", has been prompted by the United States, South Korea and other countries to suggest the risk of money laundering. Some experts are also concerned that the metaverse is hard to distinguish between real and imaginary, and its decentralized characteristics can be easily exploited to produce and spread undesirable information. The data left in the metaverse, such as biometric features and transaction information, may lead to personal privacy leakage and abuse.

Normative Piloting

Experts believe that the orderly and healthy development of the metaverse requires strengthening top-level design and institutional regulation, in addition to key technology research. In the opinion of Shan Zhiguang, director of the Information Technology and Industrial Development Department of the State Information Center, although metaverse is a more advanced manifestation of the Internet, it is not out of the scope of the Internet and is not a place outside the law, and should comply with all applicable existing laws in China.

"It is necessary to have a symbiosis between the real and the virtual, to harmonize the virtual and the real, and to strengthen the real with the virtual." According to Shen Yang, director of the Metaverse Culture Lab at Tsinghua University's School of Journalism and Communication, China needs to adhere to the basic logic of "encouraging technology, preventing risks, accommodating concepts, supporting exploration and eliminating hype" in developing metaverse.

"The industry is still in the stage of blind people feeling the elephant, and it can also be said that it is crossing the river on a small horse, so it needs to keep feeling out." The stakeholders believe that the cognition of the metaverse should eventually return from virtual space to physical space, and its real value is to work for the well-being of humanity.