The advent of the internet has been many different things to many different people. For some, its a place to find information; for others, its a place to visit with far-flung friends and family. The Internet is a workplace; it is a source of entertainment and experience; it is a source of connection and division.
At its core, the internet is a collection of virtual spaces, so filled with people and ideas that they are more like virtual worlds. All over the world, people are increasingly living in a combination of the physical world and the virtual environment of the Internet.
Because of this, many believe we are one step closer to realizing a metaverse, a virtual universe parallel to and integrated with the physical world. As we approach this point, important questions arise about how best to structure a virtual realm that is economically and experientially connected to the real world.
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A Brief History of Metaverse
The term Metaverse is a portmanteau of meta, meaning beyond and universe. The concept is often understood as a shared space in a virtual world with an enhanced physical element - a kind of future internet where virtual 3D spaces are constantly connected to each other.
One definition describes the Metaverse as the sum of all virtual worlds. For example, imagine if the game worlds of multiplayer online games (MMOGs) such as World of Warcraft, Runescape, and Second Life were interconnected and had their own currencies and economies. This collective virtual space can exist permanently in parallel and independently of the actual physical world. In this space, people can continuously interact in real time, which is the Metaverse.
The concept first appeared in William Gibsons 1982 short story Chrome Burning, titled Cyberspace, and in his 1994 novel Neuromancer, which depicts the shift of the human mind to virtual realistic transmission.
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▲Neil Stephensons science fiction novel Avalanche published in 1992
When Avalanche was released, the Internet was in its infancy, and only a couple of MMOGs existed. But in conjuring a three-dimensional virtual universe, Stephenson isnt explicitly trying to predict the future. In 2017, he told Vanity Fair that he was just making [this] up.
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Does the metaverse already exist?
When Avalanche was first published, and for many years afterward, the technology to support a full realization of Stephensons Metaverse did not exist. In fact, the world is still years away from fully realizing the concept; there are still important technical limitations to what people can experience in virtual reality.
and"reality"and"virtual"Experiences are converging. Social media companies have been the dominant force in moving many events from the physical world to the digital world. People sharing ideas, liking and responding to each others events, and even hosting conferences and casual gatherings can all be virtual. These interactions are enhanced with audio and video, enhancing the experience"authenticity"and dynamics.
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▲ Player One, the fusion of reality and virtuality
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Can the virtual economy be linked to the real world?
As the technologies that support human connections and experiences in virtual spaces continue to develop, more and more of our lives may find their way into virtual worlds. While this nascent metaverse may not yet fully resemble Stephensons vision, some of its fundamental elements are reflected in the digital realms we so frequently frequent today.
reality"reality"The virtual economy of the economy; the disconnect between the two is a rhetorical device to illustrate the utopian nature of the physical world. This distinction between the real world and the virtual world economy also exists in todays reality. For example, someone who is unemployed in the physical world may be a very successful entrepreneur in Second Life.
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What form will the growing metaverse take?
The Rise of the Metaverse can be viewed as amoral: its moral impact is neither inherently good nor inherently bad. As is often the case with new technologies, the deciding factor is implementation. Early portents of our metaverse already show disturbing trends: tracking of users across websites and platforms, surreptitious recording and sharing of sensitive information, and government surveillance, all manifested through virtual worlds.
In addition, todays original ecological universe is actually owned by monopoly companies. As anyone who has ever been locked out of a Gmail account will understand, our most important files, digital assets, memories and thoughts are owned by the platforms that operate the services we use and are only licensed to the users.
The current Internet is premised on a centralized infrastructure. it is a series of"walled garden", in which independent platforms—Facebook, Amazon, Google—host information on centrally-owned servers that can be used by people as long as they abide by the platform’s terms. This structure offers conveniences unimaginable just a few decades ago: packages ordered and delivered the same day; gigabytes of email storage.
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▲Doug Stephens, Fortnite/Epic
Many privacy experts point out that on todays Internet, no one truly owns their identity. Instead, we delegate it to centralized services such as social media apps, online banking, etc. The many high-profile data breaches involving personally identifiable individuals demonstrate that information stored digitally by centralized platforms is never truly safe.
The issue of platform dependencies also has the potential to exacerbate fragmentation and impede metaverse interoperability. Facebook is a vast communication, media and memory store built over a decade for billions of people around the world. But all of this content belongs to Facebook and is only accessible within its closed ecosystem; not from Amazons servers.
A metaverse whose infrastructure reflects this platform-dependent design would be a danger to individual autonomy and privacy. Digital — a large portion of the physical world will be owned and operated by private companies — is bad for individuals. If the patterns of Web2 are replicated to the metaverse, the physical world will begin to experience the same pressures as the digital world in terms of identity, access and interoperability. It is conceivable that the entirety of the human experience could be controlled by a few powerful corporations, and that laws and customs emphasizing human rights such as privacy could become artifacts of a bygone era.
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Blockchain and the Metaverse
Blockchain technology has grown exponentially over the past year. The number of people using it, and the number of projects being built on networks like Ethereum, continues to expand. And, the technology is leaving its mark on our native environment in sometimes unexpected ways.
One such impact has come in the form of non-forgeable tokens (NFTs) — many of which are issued alongside works of art. Sothebys - one of the worlds most prestigious auction houses - saw the strength of this development and launched an exhibition at an important moment this year:"image description"。
▲ Sothebys auctioned NFT Metaverse artwork
The premise could be a harbinger of what’s to come: Sotheby’s created a digital replica of its London headquarters on the virtual streets of Decentraland — the first decentralized virtual world. According to a June 2021 report, the virtual gallery will have five ground-floor spaces to display digital art, as well as a digital avatar of its London commissioner, Hans Romulder, who greets visitors at the door.
NFTs are also playing a role in the digital fashion world, as people buy clothing items that can be used to dress up their avatars. For example, this spring Balenciaga showcased its fall collection in a playable video game. Around the same time, a digital version of Guccis Dionysus bag sold for more than $4,000 on Roblox, more than the physical bag itself.
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What does this mean for privacy?
What impact does the Metaverse have on personal privacy? It depends on our collective actions now. A dystopian future that transplants the constant surveillance, platform dependencies, and perverse economic incentives of the Web2 into the physical world is possible, but not inevitable.
If innovators and individuals strive to incorporate new technologies such as blockchain into emerging systems, we can build a dynamically connected world where people have unprecedented access to goods, services and information, while also protecting and enhancing individual privacy, autonomy and free.
