the metaverse — various takes on the future virtual utopia
Depending on who is talking this virtual utopia will have many names, the metaverse seems to be the most widely used, to reference the whole, but certain companies are striving towards their own. AR Cloud, Magicverse, Mirrorworld, Cyberverse, etc. Calling this virtual goal a utopia seems fitting, seeing as with every grand new tech comes a utopian idealized society surrounding it. I think the virtual reality utopia has the ability to be realized if these tech companies who are working towards it are willing to flex as tech is realized and as the constraints of society are met.
AR Cloud:
The AR Cloud is (or will be) a cloud system that houses this virtual world. The important factors of the AR Cloud are that it includes (1) a persistent point cloud that is aligned with real world coordinates, (2) the ability to localize from anywhere and on multiple devices, and (3) the ability to place virtual content in the world soft-copy and interact with it in realtime.
- A point cloud is the set of data points (x,y,z) in a coordinate system, by having persistent coordinates that pertain to real world coordinates, the AR Cloud would be able to accurately capture the physical world based on your device location, and display accurate virtual content.
- With the ability to align the real world with the virtual copy (or soft-copy) from anywhere and from multiple points the exact angle and height of the device would be able to be recognized and displayed.
- With the ability to place virtual content in real time, it opens the possibility to essentially have true MMO (massively multi user online)/shared experience with others, rather than a sort of shared experience like Pokemon Go (you can interact with other in certain situations, but not all)
An interesting point about the AR Cloud is that one of the large companies (Apple, Google, Microsoft) will likely be the company that pulls off the full AR Cloud, with the help of start-ups who are ambitious about the creation of aspects of the AR Cloud.
A difficult aspect of the AR Cloud will be the storage of personal data and location. Privacy and security are dicey points in technology now (i.e TikTok), if the virtual space is owned by one entity, what rules or policy will they implement? Who would they make the rules in favor of? That’s an important question for any service, but especially one like this which will know and have so many photos of personal spaces.
Magicverse:
The Magicverse is being developed by Magic Leap, and is based on a concept Walt Disney was developing before he died. They’re calling it an Emergent System of Systems, which in itself is confusing. It’s based on layers, the base layers being the physical world and the digital world ( a copy of the physical world), on top of that are spatial application layers (mobility, energy & water, Health & wellness, communications, and entertainment).
The Magicverse has a proposed list of qualities sees as critical components of spatial computing: presence, persistence, scale, awareness, interactivity, sentience, and respect. There are key hurdles to jump with the whole AR Cloud/ other-verse stuff — particularly respecting the space. Rules and policy will have to be created for this new space, and this should be created with transparency and input from the consumers.
Because in a virtual space like they are striving towards, respect for the virtual space as well as the data stored and collected by and for the individual will need to be protected, and shouldn’t necessarily be owned by the space.
Mirrorworld:
The mirrorworld, which is a term popularized by a Yale computer scientist named David Gelernter, is a 1:1 replica of the world in a digital space. This tech is meant to be utilized though AR glasses, rather than through a closed off VR headset. Gaming is where technology goes to incubate so the technology for mirrorworld will likely go though gaming systems to solve the problems that the world needs. Pokemon Go is a good glimpse at what the mirrorworld would be like. You get to experience the virtual elements while physically exploring the real world. This tech utilizes SLAM — simultaneous localization and mapping, though the users device and cameras. This comes back around to the privacy issue — with so many cameras mapping the world who is in charge of that data?
Cyberverse:
The Cyberverse is Huawei’s version of the metaverse, utilizing 3d capable cameras in their smartphones to map the world around us. Currently, this tech is being used at tourist locations to display information about an attraction on smartphones.
Spatial Computing allows smartphones to accurately pinpoint where a user is to sense the orientation of the device and efficiently display accurate 3D information about their surroundings.
Huawei’s goal is to bring this tech to “every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world”.
Key Ideas:
- Almost every article speaks to privacy, security, and how the space will be governed. It should be treated as a utility, it should be decentralized, it should not be all ad space, etc.
- Regardless of what we call it, the goal is to immerse physical reality in a virtual space, to the benefit of various industries and personal aspects of daily life. This includes fun new ways to communicate with friends, play games in a virtual environment to maintenance of dangerous machines and the streamlining of production floors.
- Local infrastructure will play an important role in who can access this metaverse, tech like 5G and whatever comes next will likely be the basis of the network hosting the metaverse.
- spatial computing is humans interacting with technology with reference to physical objects and virtual objects in either a physical or virtual space.
- metaverse technology should be open to everyone and every home.
No matter what it’s called, the core elements seem to be the same: using reality as the basis of virtual elements to further an unimaginable amount of facets of society. Anyone can edit or add or remove, companies can use it to streamline business, individuals can use it for personal entertainment or communication, the limit does not yet exist.
Broader Implications of the metaverse and the ownership of virtual goods:
What needs to be explored surrounding the creation and implementation of the metaverse is the policy and governing surrounding it. Who owns it, who governs it, is it free, is there a pay scale, who gets the money, how much advertising is too much, what in this space is mine, what is yours? Is my data protected, by who? I think the idea of it is great, using technology to better life (work life, personal life, etc). But what are the rules of society within this communal AR space?
Mathematical Thinking, Linguistic thinking, and Visual Thinking:
Society (particularly public schools) base education on math/science and reading/writing, but with our world becoming increasingly visual (emojis, shortened attention span, etc) we are struggling to communicate in the quickest way. Visual thinking tends to utilize basic art skills, and basic communication skills to convey ideas and thoughts in a clear and concise way. In a world that’s moving toward an augmented reality space, visual elements will be more popular than text elements, I imagine it just being easier. But how do we communicate visually? Visual Thinking is a skill that can be learned and honed to become a better communicator in an increasingly visual world. Why we don’t emphasize that is becoming more and more archaic, as we become more visual, we should put more weight on visual talents.
