From Sci-Fi to Everyday Life: The Evolution of the Metaverse
I was somewhat skeptical about the Metaverse.
That was until I came across a video on YouTube that shows how a guy immerses himself into the virtual reality.
And suddenly, in literally one second, my whole perspective changed. Like an on and off switch.
The video felt so real, exciting and genuine that I literally caught a breath when the guy jumped in. Even though I was conscious of the fact I’m watching this on a laptop, my brain completely tricked me into putting myself in that guy’s shoes… or VR set.
And I got extremely hooked.
Don’t get me wrong — I didn’t manage to catch the whole ‘living inside the metaverse’ hype, however I did start reflecting on the underlying mechanisms of emerging technologies, particularly in the aspect of multiple-dimension living, and cloning one’s consciousness on to a virtual space.
People have long been puzzled by questions like ‘Who am I?’, ‘What is this world?’, ‘What are dreams?’, and ‘Is everything I see all there is?’.
From Plato, to Descartes, to Kant, the hypotheses and, let’s say it, fantasies people wrote about existence, reality, and the mind, first started to emerge in Sci-Fi writing and movies. Yes, The Matrix, but also Star Trek, Ready Player One, and Tron.
Like many things, people became interested in these possibilities of technological advancements through popular culture. What used to be fiction is now part of our everyday digital experience.
As we’re advancing into a new world built by technology, we’ll have to bring philosophical debate back on the table before we build what will be the biggest reinvention of not only technology, but the essence of human existence…
The Metaverse.
The Metaverse is described as an emerging 3-D-enabled digital space that uses virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and internet technologies to create the illusion of immersion, providing real-time interactivity with other users, and giving individual power and agency.
The term became popular after Facebook’s rebranding to Meta.
Mark Zuckerberg actually borrowed the term ‘metaverse’ from Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel Snow Crash. The novel’s plot revolves around a virus in the cyber space (metaverse), which reduces avatars in the digital world to dust and infects users in real life, leaving them in a vegetative state (bummer, huh?).
Once you clone yourself in the Metaverse through a virtual reality headset, anything and everything can happen. That might be pretty confusing.
To be able successfully observe, examine and adapt to this new, overstimulating environment, we should turn towards the realm of contemporary research and philosophy.
A Journey Towards Understanding the Metaverse
In the following series of articles, I’ll cover various concepts around the Metaverse: from introductory pieces about the Metaverse to more nuanced explorations of VR/AR, and digital wellbeing.
I’ll tap into the psychology behind virtual immersion, examine digital wellbeing in the Metaverse, and discuss how societies are being built online.
In my writings, I’ll often refer to some key contributors to modern research are David Chalmers, Dr. Jim Gates and Nick Bostrom, so I thought to quickly summarise what each of them covers, as it will be a useful point of reference for this and future articles:
- David Chalmers: An Australian philosopher and cognitive scientist, Chalmers is best known for his work in the philosophy of mind. He’s famous for formulating the “hard problem” of consciousness, which questions why and how physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experiences. Chalmers has also delved into the Simulation hypothesis, considering the philosophical implications of living in a simulated reality. He’s an excellent writer — I highly recommend his book Reality+, which I’ll often use in the future.
- James Gates: An American theoretical physicist, Gates is key contributor to research in supersymmetry, supergravity, and superstring theory. He’s also known for discovering what he describes as “error-correcting codes” in the equations of supersymmetry — a finding that some interpret as suggesting a bridge between the worlds of physics and digital computation, indirectly contributing to discussions around the simulation theory.
- Nick Bostrom: A Swedish philosopher at the University of Oxford, Bostrom is well-known for his work on existential risk, human enhancement ethics, and the future of humanity. His work towards Simulation theory is the “Simulation Argument,” which suggests that a) humanity is likely to go extinct before reaching a “posthuman” stage, b) any posthuman civilization is unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history, or c) we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation.
I always love discovering new writers, and thinkers in general, so if you have any suggestions that come to mind, please leave them in the comments below.
The ideas of Chalmers, Gates, and Bostrom deeply resonate with the concepts underlying the Metaverse and AR/VR technologies, and they’re kind enough to often share them with the wider audience.
I’ll try to make the best use of that, and use them as tools for analysis and lenses for interpreting the unknown world.
The Future is Now
Metaverse, multiverse, digital realm, whatever you wanna call it — it’s here, and it’s now.
The Metaverse today is a melting pot of various technologies. Beyond VR and AR, it incorporates elements of artificial intelligence, blockchain, and 3D holography, creating a multifaceted digital environment
VR and AR are advancing to offer more than visual immersion. Haptic feedback, 3D audio, and even olfactory experiences are being explored to deepen the sensory experience in the Metaverse.
The increasing dominance of the Metaverse is pretty visible in the economy as well — virtual/augmented reality technology is expected to grow significantly, with investments rising across the globe. The European AR/VR Market is projected to reach $10.5 billion by 2027. Things are slightly more drastic in the U.S., where augmented and virtual reality market size was valued at $4.39 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $134.76 billion by 2030.
The absolute pioneers in immersive experience are the gaming industry leaders, who have been providing access to multi-verses for decades.
Pokémon GO — the game that became a global hit by giving every child of the world the possibility to be a Pokémon collector, is probably first mass-immersive augmented reality experience. Pokémon Go generated over 15 million downloads within a week of its launch, and passed $5B in revenue by 2021.
Epic Games, famously known for Fortnite, they have been creating metaverse-like environments for a long time now. Fortnite progressively creates more and more more immersive, interactive virtual experiences, with things like Fortnite Festival — “a new music-driven, rhythm-based game”, and live events featuring Eminem-like avatars (see The Big Bang Event).
Brands and marketers have widely started using contemporary technology tools as well. IKEA, my favourite example, is one of the first brands using augmented reality for their customers.
The IKEA Place App, launched in 2017, uses AR to allow customers to virtually place furniture in their homes, offering a true-to-scale, 3D view of products. The app’s “Scan and Pack” feature streamlines shopping, enabling customers to scan and pay for items effortlessly.
They have started building their own IKEA Metaverse by adding in 50 virtual showrooms in the app empower users to design spaces and visualise IKEA’s 3D products in their own homes.
Volkswagen already integrates augmented reality (AR) in production — the engineers use AR glasses that receive real-time information and visuals for more complex tasks. Speaking of Volkswagen, two weeks ago, they announced they’re “putting ChatGPT in its cars for enriching conversations”.
Other examples of the all-encompassing Metaverse that’s already created include apps that allow you to try on clothes, make up, and park your BMW better.
(I promise I’m not sponsored by German car manufacturers…sadly).
Where Does it All Lead?
The Metaverse, a concept born from curiosity and fiction, now holds the potential to be more than a mere escape from reality; it most likely will become an integral part of our lives.
It’s a space where the boundaries between work, play, socialisation, and self-development blur, offering new evolutionary pathways for interaction and experience. This digital universe will transform how we connect with others, conduct business, and even perceive our own existence.
Could this new virtual reality serve as a means of escapism, prompting more and more depression, loneliness, and (not to sound extreme) but turning us into those vegetative zombies from the Snow Crash novel? Is it possible that sometimes fantasies should stay fantasies?
It’s funny how we can trace the fundamentals of this major innovation from the ancient to the ultra-modern, from the philosophical to the palpable, and it’s happening right here, right now.
Is that frightening or fascinating?
⬇ I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the development of the Metaverse below! ⬇
