{"id":3350,"date":"2022-07-05T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/singularityumexicosummit.com\/?p=3350"},"modified":"2022-07-05T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T15:00:00","slug":"what-is-the-metaverse-a-beginners-guide-to-techs-latest-obsession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/singularityumexico.com\/en\/what-is-the-metaverse-a-beginners-guide-to-techs-latest-obsession\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the Metaverse? A Beginner\u2019s Guide to Tech\u2019s Latest Obsession"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A couple months ago, friends and business contacts started asking me for a crash course on my professional research studying virtual environments. Their interest reflects an explosion\u2014which you\u2019ve probably noticed\u2014of noise and hype surrounding something called the \u201cmetaverse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is an introduction for a complete or almost beginner. There\u2019s plenty of mainstream coverage on the topic, but it often conflates concepts: virtual reality is not the metaverse (though it\u2019s related), and crypto\/Web3 by itself is not the metaverse (though also related). Confusing, I know. Whether you\u2019re a businessperson or bystander, this is my best effort to lay everything out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is the Metaverse?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In 99.99% of cases, provided the term is used correctly, you could replace the word \u201cmetaverse\u201d with \u201cinternet\u201d and the sentence will mean the same thing. So why is everyone using this fancy new word? I think analyst Doug Thompson<\/a>said it very well<\/a> when he noted that \u201cwe\u2019re using the term as a proxy for a sense that everything is about to change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if the metaverse is just the internet\u2014what about the internet is about to change? To answer that question, I\u2019ve broken this article into four parts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Spatial Computing <\/strong>(What is that?)<\/li>
  2. Game Engines <\/strong>(What are those?)<\/li>
  3. Virtual Environments <\/strong>(Is that the metaverse? \u2026sort of<\/em>)<\/li>
  4. Virtual Economies <\/strong>(Please don\u2019t tell me I have to learn about NFTs\u2026you might<\/em>)<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    For those that want my definition of the metaverse up front, I\u2019d say: The metaverse is the internet, but it\u2019s also a spatial (and often 3D), game-engine-driven collection of virtual environments. <\/strong>There is a lot missing from this definition (like avatars), but if you\u2019re like many people, that will already sound like a made-up buzzword salad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Let\u2019s explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Spatial Computing (and the History of the Interface)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    To understand the changes coming to life online, you have to start with the seemingly obvious way we currently access the internet: computers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And to understand where we\u2019re headed, you have to look at the history of computer interfaces. By computer interface, I\u2019m referring to the way that humans interact with digital machines to get them to do what we want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We take for granted how easy and intuitive working with computers has become in our lifetimes, but it wasn\u2019t always so easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    One of the first computers, the Colossus Mark 2, was developed by the British to break German codes in 1943. Image Credit:\u00a0The National Archives via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    In the middle of the 20th century, the \u201cprogramming language\u201d engineers used to get a computer to do things involved sticking their hands into the actual machines to wire cables. (Also, most early computer programmers were women<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Then engineers invented a new interface using punch cards, which allowed us to keep our hands to ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Thank you sweet punch cards. Image Credit:\u00a0UNDP Ukraine<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    After punch cards came command lines (like MS-DOS), which were a breakthrough because you could interact by typing words. But the real mainstream moment for computers was the invention of the graphical user interface (GUI). This is when working with computers came to involve clicking pictures and is what most of us take for granted as \u201cjust how they work today.\u201d GUIs are now used in everything from ATMs to ticketing machines, and they\u2019re the reason ordinary, non-programmer people like us can use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why go through this history?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The point is that at every stage in the development just described, working with computers became easier, more accessible, and more people could use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Clay Bavor, at Google, whose description<\/a> of this history and insights I am borrowing here, puts it this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cOver the past several decades, every time people made computers work more like we do\u2014every time we removed a layer of abstraction between us and them\u2014computers became more broadly accessible, useful, and valuable to us. We, in turn, became more capable and productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Today,\u00a0the next great computing interface is emerging\u2014it just doesn\u2019t have a good name yet<\/a>. You may have heard about concepts like augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, immersive computing, or whatever two-letter acronym.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n

    pic.twitter.com\/r382y8wm7k<\/a><\/p>— Hrafn Thorisson (@hrafntho) September 27, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>