Origin and development of the metaverse concept Meta
The metaverse concept has recently become even more hotly speculated thanks to the addition of Facebook. The term Metaverse, born in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, depicts a vast virtual reality world where people use digital bodies to control and compete with each other to improve their status, and to this day, describes a world ahead of its time. One of the more recognised sources of ideas about the 'metaverse' is the American mathematician and computer expert Professor Vernor Vinci, who, in his 1981 novel The Real Name, creatively conceived of a virtual world that could be accessed and experienced through a brain-computer interface.
According to the relevant industry professor, "The meta-universe is a virtual world that is mapped and interacted with the real world using technological means for linking and creating, with a new type of social system of digital living space."
I. The concept and definition of metaverse
Through the "archaeological" conception and concept of metaverse, it is possible to cross-define metaverse in four aspects: spatio-temporality, authenticity, independence and connectivity.
In terms of spatio-temporality, the metaverse is a digital world that is virtual in the spatial dimension but real in the temporal dimension; in terms of authenticity, the metaverse contains both digital replicas of the real world and creations of the virtual world; in terms of independence, the metaverse is a parallel space that is both closely connected to the external real world and highly independent; in terms of connectivity, the metaverse is a perpetual universe that encompasses networks, hardware terminals and In terms of connectivity, the metaverse is a perpetual, wide-coverage virtual reality system that encompasses networks, hardware terminals and users.
To be precise, the metaverse is not a new concept, but rather a rebirth of a classic concept, a conceptualisation of new technologies such as extended reality (XR), blockchain, cloud computing and digital twins.
II. Characteristics and properties of the metaverse
The metaverse as defined by Roblox contains eight elements: identity, friends, immersion, low latency, diversity, anytime, anywhere, economic system and civilization. There are numerous elements, and behind each element, there is a chain of explanations. In short, it is not clear in a single sentence, which just goes to show the ambiguity of the concept.
In the START mapping of the characteristics and attributes of the metaverse, Professor Chen Gang and Dr. Dong Haoyu of Peking University have sorted out and systematically defined five major characteristics and attributes of the metaverse, namely: social & space attributes (Social & Space), technology empowered beyond extension (Technology Tension), co-creation of human, machine and artificial intelligence (ArtifIcal. The concept of the metaverse is based on the concept of "the universe".
III. The concept of metaverse domain
1. Technology
In March 2021, Roblox, the first share of the metaverse concept, was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange; in May, Facebook said it would transform itself into a metaverse company within five years (and on 28 October it changed its name to "Meta", from In May, Facebook said it would transform into a metaverse company within five years (and would change its name to "Meta" on October 28, derived from "Metaverse"); in August, Byte Jump acquired VR startup Pico ...... at a huge cost, and metaverse has undoubtedly become one of the hottest concepts in the technology field.
2、Related industries
From the perspective of enterprises, metaverse is still in the primary stage of industry development, whether it is the underlying technology or application scenarios, there is still a big gap compared to the mature form in the future, but this also means that there is huge space for expansion of metaverse-related industries. Therefore, digital technology giants with multiple advantages want to hold the market, and digital technology field startups must lay out in advance or even add to the meta-universe track if they want to gain the opportunity to bend and overtake.
From the government's perspective, the metaverse is not only an important emerging industry, but also an area of social governance that needs attention. Matthew Bauer, a senior research expert on metaverse, suggests that "metaverse is a concept on the same level as the mobile internet." By using the mobile internet as an analogy to the metaverse, the internal logic of government departments' interest in it can be better understood. By participating in the process of forming and developing the metaverse, the government hopes to prospectively consider and address the related issues arising from its development.
In December 2021, Baidu's Create AI developer conference will meet developers and netizens, and the 2021 Create conference will be held in a 'metaverse'.
It is widely believed that social platforms with social relationships are more likely to be the entrance to the meta-universe, and it is easier to build a meta-universe around social. 2021, Soul App is the first in the industry to propose building a "social meta-universe".
3. Concept extension
Long before the outbreak of the meta-universe, Mr. Zhai Shanying put forward the theory of "ecological planet" based on the development of finance, Internet and business, integrating the wisdom of Chinese studies and insight into the essence of the times. The "ecological planet" theory believes that the traditional laws of human survival and development will soon be completely broken, and that another kind of life, the Internet life, which coexists with real life, will increasingly dominate human development, and human beings will begin to live on the Internet. The ideology and mode of living under the Internet has evolved into a virtual world where the human spirit lives in the cyber world - the "ecological planet".
The "eco-planet" breaks the complete unity between the human spirit and the physical body, and establishes a form of existence for the human spirit in the digital world after it has been released from the bondage of the physical body. A virtual world that meets the specific spiritual needs of a certain group of people forms a complete "eco-planet", and the organisation that establishes the "eco-planet" has full property rights and The organisation that establishes the "eco-planet" has full property rights and the right to organise and build it, and the "eco-planet" operates according to the laws of survival in the online world, which are completely different from those of the real world, and the people who place a large number of vertical spiritual needs on the "eco-planet" are the "eco-planet's "The digital inhabitants of the Eco-Planet.
The "eco-planet" not only coincides with the concept of the "meta-universe", but is also the ultimate form of the "meta-universe", providing a more detailed and complete description of the laws of creation, rules of operation and organisation of the virtual world. The "nodal economy" is the ultimate form of the "metaverse".
The "node economy" is the underlying logic of the "ecological planet" theory. According to Mr. Zhai Shanying, users in the digital world can be transformed into a node as long as they satisfy at least three of the conditions such as stable emotional needs, stable hobby needs, stable ideological needs, stable interest needs, stable resource needs and stable honour needs, while the central organisations (including commercial organisations) providing various functions, products and services become super nodes. The "galaxy-like" chain of ordinary nodes around the super-node becomes an "eco-planet", and an infinite number of "eco-planets" can form an "eco-universe" encompassing all of humanity. An infinite number of "ecological planets" can form an "ecological universe" that encompasses all of humanity.
In the "eco-planet", smart contracts are widely used to make the network behaviour of each node recordable, traceable and measurable, thus realising digital identity confirmation, behavioural consensus, asset validation and credit sharing. The contribution of nodes to the ecology is precisely recorded and matched with the corresponding business points by the law of sharing economy according to the distribution of work, so that more points are awarded for more contributions and a virtuous cycle is formed between points and contributions, thus building a better system with a high degree of matching between productivity and production relations and "more work, more pay" to meet the material and spiritual needs of nodes. The meta-universe outlines a system for human beings that is better and more rewarding.
The meta-universe outlines a beautiful picture of the digital world for human beings, while the "eco-planet" theory builds a more reasonable and solid skeleton, and the business points are like a paintbrush, depicting a more concrete and realistic application scenario.
IV. The core technology of the metaverse
"It needs to integrate different new technologies, such as 5G, 6G, artificial intelligence, big data, etc., emphasising the integration of the real and the virtual." The meta-universe has the following core technologies: firstly, extended reality technology, including VR and AR. extended reality technology can provide an immersive experience and can solve problems that cannot be solved by mobile phones. The second is the digital twin, which can mirror the real world into the virtual world. This also means that inside the metaverse, one can see many virtual doppelgangers of oneself. The third is the use of blockchain to build an economic system. As the metaverse develops further and the simulation of the whole real society is enhanced, it is possible to not only spend money in the metaverse, but also to make money, thus forming an economic system in the virtual world as well.
V. Metaverse development history
In March 2021, Roblox, the first stock of the metaverse concept, was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
In May 2021, Facebook said it would transform into a metaverse company within 5 years (and on 28 October, it changed its name to "Meta", from "Metaverse").
In August 2021, Metaverse became one of the hottest concepts in the tech sector when Bytespring bought VR startup Pico ...... for a huge sum of money.
In November 2021, virtual world platform Decentraland announced that Barbados would be setting up the world's first embassy in the Metaverse, tentatively scheduled to open in January 2022.
On 18 November 2021, the WeChat public number "People's Daily Review" published an article stating that the popularity of the metaverse concept is backed by the appropriate technology and social life factors. The discussion on the metaverse continues, with some people full of optimism and aspiration, but also many sceptical voices. Whether it is a mirror or a touchable future, a capital hype or a new track, an old wine in a new bottle or a new technological breakthrough, it is worth letting the bullets fly for a while before jumping to conclusions.
The meta-universe is a vision of people's future technological development, but there is still a long way to go before it becomes practical. As many professionals have said, its development requires: virtual and extended reality technology, 5G and 6G communication technology, artificial intelligence, blockchain and other software and hardware to develop together in order to truly realise it. The real sea of technology is not just a day or two of feverish thinking, but also a long-term technological innovation.