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cross-posted from my Second Life blog
Call me slow, but I only just came across this — a roadmap for where the internet is going in the next 20 years.
Sure, some of it is fanciful, but when you consider who the authors and editors are, you get a sense that this may well be what will happen (cataclysmic events not withstanding).
Co-Authors:
John Smart, Acceleration Studies Foundation
Jamais Cascio, Open the Future
Jerry Paffendorf, The Electric Sheep Company
Contributing Authors:
Corey Bridges, Multiverse
Jochen Hummel, Metaversum
James Hursthouse, OGSi
Randal Moss, American Cancer Society
Lead Reviewers:
Edward Castronova, Indiana University
Alexander Macris, Themis Group
Richard Marks, Sony Computer Entertainment
Rueben Steiger, Millions of Us
As they say,
The Metaverse is a complex concept. In recent years, the term has grown beyond Stephenson?s 1992 vision of an immersive 3D virtual world, to include aspects of the physical world objects, actors, interfaces, and networks that construct and interact with virtual environments. We have collected several definitions in the Glossary (Sec. 20) of the MVR Inputs. Here is one that seems as good a starting point as any: The Metaverse is the convergence of 1) virtually-enhanced physical reality and 2) physically persistent virtual space. It is a fusion of both, while allowing users to experience it as either.
There is no single, unified entity called the Metaverse?rather, there are multiple mutually-reinforcing ways in which virtualization and 3D web tools and objects are being embedded everywhere in our environment and becoming persistent features of our lives. These technologies will emerge contingent upon potential benefits, investments, and customer interest, and will be subject to drawbacks and unintended consequences.
In time, many of the Internet activities we now associate with the 2D Web will migrate to the 3D spaces of the Metaverse. This does not mean all or even most of our web pages will become 3D, or even that we’ll typically read web content in 3D spaces. It means that as new tools develop, we?ll be able to intelligently mesh 2D and 3D to gain the unique advantages of each, in the appropriate context.
Although the “Web” technically refers to a particular set of protocols and online applications, the term has become shorthand for online life. It’s possible that “Metaverse” will come to have this same duality: referring to both a particular set of virtualizing and 3D web technologies, and the standard way in which we think of life online. Like the Web, the Metaverse wouldn’t be the entirety of the Internet?but like the Web, it would be seen by many as the most important part.
The emergence of a robust Metaverse will shape the development of many technological realms that presently appear non-Internet-related. In manufacturing, 3D environments offer ideal design spaces for rapid-prototyping and customized and decentralized production. In logistics and transportation, spatially-aware tags and real-time world modeling will bring new efficiencies, insights, and markets. In artificial intelligence, virtual worlds offer low-risk, transparent platforms for the development and testing of autonomous machine behaviors, many of which may be also used in the physical world. These are just a sampling of coming developments based on early stage Metaverse technologies.
In sum, for the best view of the changes ahead, we suggest thinking of the Metaverse not as virtual space but as the junction or nexus of our physical and virtual worlds.
Moore’s Law is just one of a large family of accelerating technology capacity and performance growth curves.
Download the Overview pdf and take a fascinating peek into the crystal ball – I defy you not to be enthralled by what you see!
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