Metaverse

[Costello]

The "metaverse" is a concept that has always appeared remote but is being given spotlight recently with Facebook Inc.'s big rebranding, the company being now known as Meta.

But what is the metaverse?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaverse

Metaverse is a speculative future iteration of the Internet, made up of persistent, shared, 3D virtual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe.[1] The metaverse in a broader sense may not only refer to virtual worlds, but Internet as a whole, including the entire spectrum of augmented reality.[2]

Elements of the metaverse​

The elements of the metaverse include "video-conferencing, games like Minecraft or Roblox, email, virtual reality, social media and live-streaming."[10] The aforementioned cyberspace has kept evolving and included various computer-mediated virtual environments. Such expanding cyberspace indicates a digital 'big bang' driven by various technologies and ecosystems. Technologies are the enablers that drive the transition from the current Internet to the metaverse, such as Extended Reality, User Interactivity (Human-Computer Interaction), Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Edge and Cloud computing, and Future Mobile Networks. Remarkably, the metaverse ecosystem allows human users to live and play within a self-sustaining, persistent, and shared realm. Therefore, the metaverse ecosystem considers user-centric elements including Avatar, Content Creation, Virtual Economy, Social Acceptability, Security and Privacy, and Trust and Accountability.[11]

Does this mean anything to you?
Does this interest you?
Do you see yourself using this, and how?
Does the fact that Facebook/Meta is betting big on it encourage you, or deter you?

Just curious. I'll post my own opinion later, separately.

 

[Dr_Faustus]

Why am I getting Lawnmower man 2 vibes from this.

 

[DBlaze]

Zuck's ultimate endgame is plugging everyone in with a cable in their neck

 

[GeekyGuy]

I still am unclear as to whether or not they will change the name of the actual website/app of Facebook to Meta (or just the company name), merge all sites into one "Meta" site...

My feeling on it, though, if they do, is curiosity. I'm wondering about the response current users will have to it. Will be interesting.

 

[Vila_]

I still am unclear as to whether or not they will change the name of the actual website/app of Facebook to Meta (or just the company name), merge all sites into one "Meta" site...

My feeling on it, though, if they do, is curiosity. I'm wondering about the response current users will have to it. Will be interesting.

Facebook, insta & whatsapp's names will stay the same while facebook the company will change their name to Meta, kind of like when google the company changed their name to Alphabet.

 

[Costello]

just as I thought, there doesn't seem to be a lot of excitement around this.

I'm still not even sure what that thing is supposed to be, kind of a parallel world of some kind, but what I'm guessing is even if it takes off, a lot of people are going to be reject it or unable to access/use it...

 

[subcon959]

just as I thought, there doesn't seem to be a lot of excitement around this.

I'm still not even sure what that thing is supposed to be, kind of a parallel world of some kind, but what I'm guessing is even if it takes off, a lot of people are going to be reject it or unable to access/use it...

The description isn't the easiest thing to understand but it seems to me like it will just be normal stuff that people already do, so I'm not sure we will even realise we are in the metaverse.

 

[smilodon]

Heeey, Facebook is finally catching up on their 26 years lag with worlds.com, congratz Zuckerberg!

 

[The Catboy]

My honest thoughts are, why did Mark put a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's on a bookshelf?

 

[Veho]

The Metaverse is the idea of a virtual world that allows social and business interaction in various virtual environments, that can be accessed through your PC, phone, or for better immersion, a VR setup. Think Other Life, but more.

In some versions the virtual space would be anchored to some real life locations and landmarks, and would be an AR overlay over the real location. In others it would be completely virtual.

It's a very popular concept in SF works. It never caught on in real life because all the interfaces we use for online socializing, shopping, entertainment and work are infinitely more flexible and practical than "mimicking real life interactions but in VR", and if people want to frolic through pretty virtual worlds, there are apps for that too.

 

[Costello]

The Metaverse is the idea of a virtual world that allows social and business interaction in various virtual environments, that can be accessed through your PC, phone, or for better immersion, a VR setup. Think Other Life, but more.

In some versions the virtual space would be anchored to some real life locations and landmarks, and would be an AR overlay over the real location. In others it would be completely virtual.

It's a very popular concept in SF works. It never caught on in real life because all the interfaces we use for online socializing, shopping, entertainment and work are infinitely more flexible and practical than "mimicking real life interactions but in VR", and if people want to frolic through pretty virtual worlds, there are apps for that too.

that’s what I understood from it too.
However, this doesn’t interest me or appeal to me in any way and I fail to see how it will appeal to anyone with Zuckerberg’s breath down everyone’s neck.
I was trying to gauge excitement with this thread but so far I’m not seeing any. What is Zuck smoking?

 

[M7L7NK7]

Meh

 

[SAIYAN48]

That android is up to no good.

 

[slaphappygamer]

Meh

Tah

 

[chrisrlink]

this has digimon/code lyoko written all over it (in a sense)

 

[draftguy]

25 cent only?

 

[Costello]

TBH the metaverse looks like something that's pulled straight from Black Mirror, and what's worrying to me is that some people like Zuckerberg saw this and thought, not only "we can make money off it", but more importantly "this is what people will want for their future" ?! The hell no it's not.

Article translated from https://www.lesnumeriques.com/vie-d...a-trop-fantasme-ready-player-one-n170651.html
which is a pretty good summary for my opinion:

Coincidence or not, Mark Zuckerberg put on the costume of Sam the fireman on Thursday, October 29, extinguishing for a few hours the Frances Haugen fire. The head of the Facebook fire unveiled the new physical and visual identity of the group: Facebook is now called Meta, and its logo looks like an infinity symbol, in a 3D plane. A strategy that is not unlike Google's with Alphabet. From now on, therefore, the company's services will be declined under this model: Facebook by Meta, Instagram by Meta, WhatsApp by Meta, etc.

But that's not the main point. The bulk of the Connect conference revolved around the metaverse, a virtual universe that does not yet exist, but which is the new priority project of the company, which intends to hire 10,000 people to build it. That's all. And Zuckerberg spent more than an hour on stage selling us a project that nobody seems to understand.

The creation of needs
After having tried to seduce tech journalists with teasing, the stage of Thursday, October 29 consisted in testing the power of seduction of Facebook on the general public. This future depicted in video by Zuckerberg is obviously inspired by works of dystopian science fiction, where you attend a concert with your best friend (who seems to see you?), where you play basketball (with a ball you can feel at your fingertips?), where you box and take punches against a giant robot (will it hurt?), and where you organize work meetings (are you as involved in front of a virtual avatar as you are on Zoom?). The technical challenge seems immense.

The images are flashy, the universe is ideal, and the metaverse imagined by Facebook has something of the virtual reality depicted by Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One (and Ernest Cline's book). Everything is focused on games, positive social relations, culture: nothing like Facebook is today.

And that's exactly what whistleblowers and experts are criticizing it for. The platform would not do enough to fight against inappropriate behavior, the malaise of the youngest, and would even adopt reverse strategies to create more engagement, make more profits, by promoting outrage and hateful content.

Mark Zuckerberg also mentioned more "concrete" things, such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs, whose potential can be felt in a virtual reality marketplace. These interactions remind us of what the game Fortnite already does, where you can watch live artist performances. So why not imagine exhibitions of NFT art objects on the metaverse? The thing risks to remain a niche (and rich?) delirium, but has nothing aberrant.

Ultra-connection and the nightmare of immobility
Facebook is very realistic about the technical aspect of the thing: "We have to install hologram screens, projectors, batteries, radios, chips, cameras, speakers, sensors to map the world around you, and more, in five-millimeter-thick glasses," explains Zuckerberg. We can get caught up in the dream of bluffing technological performance, but virtual/mixed/augmented reality has been disappointing since its launch, despite the marketing efforts of major companies. How many sensors, gadgets and devices will it take to make all these theories real?

After the "wow" effect of the first experiences - mainly video games and porn to be honest - VR headsets quickly ended their short life in closets, when Google Glasses and Snapchat Spectacles simply disappeared from conversations. Not much better for Facebook's glasses, which have mostly animated the debate about privacy. And should we even mention 3D or 4DX cinema, which is supposed to offer us exceptional experiences, and has become just a box to check on our list of social experiences?

"The defining quality of the metaverse will be a sense of presence - as if you were right there with another person or in another place," the company explains. Feeling truly present with another person is the ultimate dream of social technology." A technological dream that's simply called reality, right? Who wants to go to a concert with a friend who isn't actually there to push you into a pogo and share a pint of beer? Even if you project yourself years or even decades ahead, these metaverse "dreams" described by Zuckerberg sound more like a nightmare of absolute individualism.

He continues, "In this future, you'll be able to teleport instantly as a hologram to be at the office without moving, at a concert with friends, or in your parents' living room." If the pandemic has given us a taste of the perfect world according to the technocrats of Silicon Valley, where each individual can work from home and in addition bring money to social networks, the biological reality is much more complex: the being has a body that requires to be maintained by activity and social interactions. And one only has to look at the increase in stress and physical and psychological disorders caused by the various confinements and lack of real interactions to be convinced of this. Of course, the idea of the metaverse is probably not to lock people up 24 hours a day in a virtual universe, but isn't the goal of Facebook to be used more and more?

Only a nerd's dream?
Finally, we have to admit that Zuckerberg's presentation is a very long term plan, a goal towards which to aim, an axis of evolution. But without overplaying the technological criticism, we are entitled to be extremely skeptical about this project. So what will the metaverse look like? The concept is still too vague to answer with certainty, and perhaps the doubts expressed in this article will finally be swept away within 10 years. However, it is highly unlikely that the metaverse will look like what Facebook showed on Thursday.

Another question: does the metaverse have the potential to really interest users? An already very technophile public is looking at all this with curiosity, but nobody is really asking for a transformation of our relationship with the world. For the moment, augmented and virtual realities, except for a few Pokémon Go-like stunts, are of no interest to anyone. The PSVR, announced as the evangelist of consumer VR, has not yet been renewed for the PlayStation 5, and Apple's AR device projects are constantly being postponed. It now remains to be seen whether the company of 2031 will express the desire for a new world connected to the extreme.

 

[Zajumino]

Reminds me of Accel World

 

[GeekyGuy]

TBH the metaverse looks like something that's pulled straight from Black Mirror, and what's worrying to me is that some people like Zuckerberg saw this and thought, not only "we can make money off it", but more importantly "this is what people will want for their future" ?! The hell no it's not.

...

Another question: does the metaverse have the potential to really interest users? An already very technophile public is looking at all this with curiosity, but nobody is really asking for a transformation of our relationship with the world. For the moment, augmented and virtual realities, except for a few Pokémon Go-like stunts, are of no interest to anyone. The PSVR, announced as the evangelist of consumer VR, has not yet been renewed for the PlayStation 5, and Apple's AR device projects are constantly being postponed. It now remains to be seen whether the company of 2031 will express the desire for a new world connected to the extreme.

But does it have to be? Perhaps, like most of the shit we consume these days, we just have to think it's stuff we want. Like Inception. I mean, that's all advertising agencies have ever focused on: putting thoughts in peoples' heads that they'll attach positive associations with to get them to consume said products and services.

 

[hippy dave]

What is Zuck smoking?

My honest thoughts are, why did Mark put a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's on a bookshelf?

It turns out BBQ sauce is basically crack for reptilians, and Sweet Baby Ray's is the seriously dank shit.