Facebook is not the only technology giant looking for the Golden Land of Metaverse, but it is the one with the most active layout and the fastest progress.
Original Title: “The Golden Land of Technological Giants-Meta Universe”
Written by: Chen Zou
In 2018, Spielberg described the specific scenes of virtual reality in the future world in the movie “The Number One Player”. These ideas for Metaverse not only inspired the audience, but also brought new inspiration to some technology companies.
Metaverse, the digital world merged by reality and virtuality. The term metaverse was first proposed by Neil Stephenson in the book “Avalanche” in 1992. Stephenson’s definition of metaspace is as follows: The meta-space based on technology (computer) must have an economic purpose (to use native currency to generate transactions and profits). Participants have an interactive avatar (to convey emotions). It must be able to represent a real number of individuals. Strengthen the similarity with the physical world (the crowd is made up of a few people, not the message “200 people in the waiting room”). Now it usually means that people access the same virtual world through different devices, and communicate in the virtual space through different devices.
The layout of the giant
In this new soil, the technology giant that has gone the farthest is Facebook. Its CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been working hard to promote its new ideas and the attempts that its new technical team is making. This technology giant Think of the virtual reality version of the Internet-Meta Universe, as the future.
In addition to Facebook, domestic Internet giants are not far behind. Recently, according to Tianyan Check, Alibaba Singapore Holdings Co., Ltd. has applied for the registration of trademarks such as “Ali Yuan Universe”, “Taobao Yuan Universe” and “Dingding Yuan Universe”. The international classification involves scientific instruments, advertising sales, education and entertainment, etc. The current trademark status is Application for registration. Alibaba’s one-stop operation also smoothly brought Meta Universe out of the circle.
In addition to Alibaba, Tencent, another domestic technology giant, has already embarked on a journey to find the home of gold. On September 14, Tencent applied for the registration of the “QQ Yuan Universe” trademark. Before that, Tencent had already applied for the “Wang Zhe Yuan Universe”. “Sky Dollar Universe” trademark, etc. The registered trademark is obviously only the tip of the iceberg that we can see.
Pioneer of Pioneers
But these giants are not pioneers. In 1997, Canal+ (France’s largest television business group) launched France’s first online virtual world, Le Deuxième Monde, the “Second World.” A three-dimensional digital map of Paris (part). Users can install the CD on their computer, create an avatar and walk in the city, meet friends and meet in groups, chat via text, and browse advertisements (imagine 1997) Internet speed, you will think this is a miracle). This “meta universe” can satisfy three of the four rules proposed by Stephenson above, and the economic aspect is limited to the advertising of real-world products.
In 2003, the famous “Second Life” (Second Life) proposed a more complete and universal version of the meta space, and also advanced the use of the basic concepts including the local currency Linden Dollar (L$). It can be purchased with fiat currency.
Set off again, looking for the golden town
Although they look beautiful, in the end these projects were ruthlessly crushed by the wheels of history. Then why, now Internet giants are beginning to jump into this “muddy water”?
Material basis: Today’s market is obviously more mature than it was in the 2000s. At least in Europe and the United States, computer equipment and broadband Internet access rates account for almost 90% of the population, and ordinary people have the economic ability to use bandwidth above 2G/S. Optical fiber network, and many VR and AR access devices.
Social foundation: The epidemic is the propellant of online life. The audience of virtual games that are closest to the concept of Metaverse is becoming wider and wider, and even many elderly users are participating. The popularity of cryptocurrency has also made the economic foundation of Metaverse more stable. .
Technical basis: The current virtual reality equipment has been able to solve the biggest threshold of the meta-universe-immersion. The role of the user can now be changed from the “watcher” to the “actor” for many years, and truly participate in this virtual drama.
For giants like Facebook and Alibaba, Meta Universe can increase user stickiness by providing users with an immersive experience. For example, on Tmall Metaverse, imagine that you don’t need to change clothes or go to the mall physically, just bring a wearable device, you can immediately “just like” buying a product in a physical store, see and touch what you want If it is an electronic product, it can also display all related functions in front of you. If it is a clothing, it can show you a large number of collocations in an instant, and so on. It’s not impossible, only you can’t think of it.
And Facebook, with 2 billion users around the world, explores the meta-universe to solve the pain points of virtual social interaction, and the energy it can burst is immeasurable.
Facebook’s 10,000 jobs in Europe plan to launch the meta-universe development express
On Monday, Facebook reiterated its determination to dig deeper into the meta-universe realm with a more ambitious plan. In a blog post, it was announced that in the next five years, 10,000 new high-skilled jobs will be created in the European Union, where the meta-universe originated, to establish the meta-universe. Of course, there is indeed a part of the public relations component of the “credit crisis” (Many regions in Europe have spontaneously organized anti-facebook activities, including friends around the author who have participated in many online and offline protests, and advised people around them to stop Use facebook), as the company’s interest, is understandable. But this will still not change Facebook’s process of mining the meta universe. The advancement of science and technology must be driven by interests, but in the end it will feed back the people, allowing more people to have fairer opportunities and more rights. In the long run, it is ultimately a good deed.
In the next few years, I expect that people will transition from seeing us as a social media company to seeing us as a meta-universe company.
——Mark Zuckerberg, The Verge
The social media giant also said that investing in the EU has many advantages, such as a huge consumer market, first-class universities, and high-quality talent.
In addition to investing in the European market to develop Metaverse, Facebook has invested heavily in virtual reality and augmented reality. It has acquired hardware developers such as Oculus VR headsets, and is committed to developing AR glasses and wristband technology. It also bought a large number of VR game studios, including BigBox VR. According to a March report by the Information Daily, about 10,000 employees are currently engaged in VR work.
Zuckerberg believes that this digital alternative to the physical world will enable users in the new era to live another life and communicate in a completely different way. This is the future of the Internet. And Metaverse will enable users to truly feel the feeling of being together with others online.
The meta-universe concept conceived in 1992 is now becoming more and more real through the integration of various elements. Technical prerequisites (the quality and low cost of broadband connections, the decline in the price of VR headsets), the social environment (the acceptance of virtual relationships, the use of social networks and online games), and an increasingly mature service environment. How do games (“Fortress Night”), e-commerce (Alibaba), social (Facebook), and work (Zoom) come together in a virtual world? The participation of giants does not mean success. Google’s Waterloo in the social field, Facebook’s failure in e-mail or e-commerce business, these are still vivid. In the field of meta-universe, new challengers are bound to appear, and this will make our future more interesting and worth looking forward to.
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