Most people treat the Metaverse like some VR game, so every time a 'Metaverse is dead' article pops up, the comments are just full of mockery. I wanted to break down what it actually is and who the real winner is.
To quote Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, itโs about treating people/places/things digitallyโembedding computing into the real world and, conversely, bringing the real world into a digital space. This creates a 'real presence' in the digital world. It's a bit hard to grasp at first, so let's take it step by step.
First, 'I' have a relationship with the real world. Seeing, hearing, feeling, and acting to influence reality. Basically, just living life.
And I also form a relationship with a virtual world.
Just like the real world, there's a virtual world where I can see, hear, and influence things. We're already used to this concept.
Now, if you link the real world and the virtual world together, that virtual world becomes the Metaverse.
Take VR games as an example: I have a relationship with the virtual world, but other people from the real world also interact in that same space. By being interactive, they affect both the virtual space and the real world.
At this point, you're probably like, 'WTF, how is this any different from GTA Online?' And yeah, itโs true that many companies and the public tried to cash in on the bubble with that narrow mindset and ended up failing. But let's expand the perspective a bit.
What if it's not just people, but that car, that vehicle, and every other object that has a relationship with reality? Then it's a whole different story.
Youโve probably thought about this at least once: 'Could we solve real-world traffic jams by simulating city traffic in a game like SimCity?' It's a valid idea, but it didn't work before because SimCity had no connection to reality. The simulation data was inaccurate, so the results weren't reliable. But if SimCity is connected to reality, it suddenly has immense value.
And people are actually doing this. They collect real-world city data, reflect it in a virtual city, and then test different road layouts. The reliability of those tests sky-rockets.
The utility is endless. You can create virtual prototypes before making a new product. Instead of a test driver risking their life for a new car prototype, you can test everything in an XR virtual space. You can crash a robot a thousand times in the virtual world without worryโjust one 'click' to restart. You can test factory layouts virtually before finalizing them. This has led to massive breakthroughs in robotics and Physical AI.
The risk of trial and error is drastically reduced. Accumulating experience and references used to be a companyโs core assetโthe gap between big tech and small firms, or developed and developing nations. Just like ChatGPT closed the gap between laypeople and experts, this tech is closing the gap in capital and trial-and-error costs in the industrial sector. Anyway, who is the game-changer making the most certain moves in this field?
"It's me again lol;;" (NVIDIA)
"Users agree that while 'Metaverse' sounds like a buzzword, its real value lies in industrial simulations and data processingโthough some suspect it'll just be used for gaming and porn first, as is tradition with new tech."
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