Better technology, uncertainty of metaverse

It seems like everyone is talking about the metaverse, especially in light of Facebook’s recent name change to Meta. So what exactly is the metaverse?

The term metaverse has been around for decades. It refers to things like virtual reality, digital twins, and telepresence. Video games like Second Life and others where users interact through online avatars are a basic form of the metaverse.

But the metaverse that is envisioned by Facebook and others goes far beyond that and requires technology that is not available yet. It requires large amounts of data, processing power, artificial intelligence, and high-bandwidth low-latency communication.

At its core, the metaverse is about virtual worlds and trying to make those virtual worlds more interactive and interoperable with each other and with the real world. Some intend it to be a platform similar to the web.

This Seattle Times article describes it as: “a futuristic world where plugged-in people re-create their whole lives online.”

One reason metaverse is a hard term to grasp is that the meaning is fluid, and easily gets lost in the IT and social media narrative about where it is headed. It is a convenient buzzword — the virtual equivalent to the next shiny object. It is part concept, part inspiration, and part marketing.

At a basic level, metaverse means information about the real world. The term “… verse” is short for “universe”, and “meta” means referring to itself or beyond; similar to the way “metadata” means data about data. For example, metadata about a Word document might include the author’s name, date created, and how many words it has. Metadata about an email might include date sent and to whom.

Origin of the term

According to Wikipedia: “The term metaverse was coined in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, where humans, as avatars, interact with each other and software agents, in a three-dimensional virtual space that uses the metaphor of the real world. Stephenson used the term to describe a virtual reality-based successor to the internet.”

You may see the term “presence” or “immersion” used when talking about the metaverse. A recent article in VRFocus says: “Presence is the magic of virtual reality (VR), the feeling that you’re actually in the virtual world. Presence will cause the user to suspend disbelief and believe they are in the virtual environment, reacting to stimuli as if they were in the real world. It’s the holy grail, the purpose of VR.”

It says for true presence to happen, all of our senses must be convinced of the new reality.

“Currently, VR can satisfy our vision and hearing, and there are some significant developments in regards to touch, but there is still much work to do in regards to smell and taste.”

Facebook is now Meta

Mark Zuckerberg recently announced Facebook’s corporate name change to “Meta” and talked about his plans to invest a billion dollars in a metaverse platform. He said: “Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company, and I want to anchor our work and identity on what we’re building toward.” He envisions a “virtual world where people can play, learn, exercise, share and even work”, and believes “the metaverse will be a successor to the mobile internet”.

Part of Facebook’s goal is to have a common set of standards so everyone’s virtual world will be compatible and interoperable.

Is this just a Facebook thing?

Facebook is just one of many companies working in the space.

Microsoft’s CEO and chairman Satya Nadella recently announced their metaverse master plan. He tweeted: “The metaverse is here, and it’s not only transforming how we see the world but how we participate in it — from the factory floor to the meeting room.”

The first part of Microsoft’s metaverse will be available next year. Mesh for Teams is a mixed reality platform that lets people hang out in virtual rooms. Think of it as a way to connect a hybrid post-pandemic workforce.

Nvidia has a product called Omniverse that creates digital twins. Nvidia’s CEO says the virtual world will be larger than the physical one in terms of economics.

NFTs and the metaverse

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have so far been mostly associated with art, but are poised for a role in the metaverse. They will tie people to their avatars, and document ownership of virtual assets.

Should I be afraid of the metaverse?

Perhaps.

This ZDNet article talks about the various companies that might try to control all or parts of it and those (Apple) that might try to lock parts of it off.

“While the metaverse is slated to be the next version of the internet, it will be born in a completely different environment,” the article says. “For the metaverse, it’s going to be born in a world of unbridled surveillance capitalism, where corporations will try to create the ground rules, and own the natural monopoly on offer, while governments attempt to regulate it in an effort to reduce potential harms…”

Wired’s Steven Levy asks: “Does Meta see the coming reality paradigm as a land grab of its own, or can it be trusted to make its offering interoperable in a way it hasn’t done in almost 20 years of social networking? History is not reassuring.”

This Wired article says: “The Metaverse Is Simply Big Tech, but Bigger. It’s a rebrand of Silicon Valley’s increasing power and reach. And it’s made for companies, not people.”

This ZDNet article is titled “Why I will never use Zuckerberg’s metaverse. It sounds like a nightmare from Black Mirror or a bad Netflix or Amazon Prime movie.” It paints a picture of a platform that would have even more trolls and misinformation than the web.

The CEO of Niantic Labs (it developed Pokémon GO) has a different vision of the metaverse than Zuckerberg, and different than the books and movies that first imagined the metaverse. Instead, he wants to take reality and make it better. He wrote a piece called “The Metaverse is a Dystopian Nightmare. Let’s Build a Better Reality.” He says: “As a society, we can hope that the world doesn’t devolve into the kind of place that drives sci-fi heroes to escape into a virtual one.” He adds: “Technology should be used to make these core human experiences better — not to replace them.”

This The Byte article says: “Louis Rosenberg, a computer scientist and developer of the first functional AR system at the Air Force Research Laboratory, penned an op-ed in Big Think this weekend that warned the metaverse — an immersive VR and AR world currently being developed by The Company Formerly Known as Facebook — could create what sounds like a real-life cyberpunk dystopia.” He says that the metaverse has the potential to amplify social media untruths and division to incomprehensible levels.

What is the real future of the metaverse?

In the short term (let’s call it metaverse light) we will get some potentially useful things. Digital twin technology can be useful. Microsoft’s Mesh for Teams offers an interesting way to connect hybrid workers. And of course, gamers will enjoy elements of it.

The bigger question is where it is headed in the long run. Will we end up with a common platform or standards that operate similar to the web? Will any of the current visions be realized? To what extent will the numerous predictions of a metaverse dystopia come true, and to what extent are they just the usual exaggerated fears that come with new technology?

We will have to keep a close eye on where the metaverse is headed, figure out how to deal with the dystopian aspects, and consider whether some aspects of it need legislative intervention. Hopefully, we can learn from our experiences with social media and head off the darker aspects of it. Artificial Intelligence has spawned numerous ethical guidelines and proposed legislation in Europe. The metaverse will no doubt result in the same.

David Canton is a business lawyer and trademark agent at Harrison Pensa with a practice focusing on technology, privacy law, technology companies and intellectual property. Connect with David on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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