What exactly is the Metacosm? If you have seen any of the movies "Avatar", "First Class Player", "Off-Script Player", or even you have visited IKEA and played Pokémon... then in fact, the concept of "metaverse" and NFT, you already know!
Table of contents of articles
- Avatar avatar relationship with NFT avatars
- Tier 1 Player: Put on a VR headset and enter the virtual world to start your adventure
- Off-The-Script Player: Put on ar sunglasses and you can see more things
- In addition to VR and AR, what is the MR that everyone is talking about now? In fact, there is one in "Iron Man"!
- Coupled with the maturity of blockchain technology, the metaverse metaverse appeared
- After the rapid development of science and technology, ethics and law have slowed down
- Edit postscript with next week's preview
Women's fan series column "#歡迎光臨元宇宙" has been online for two weeks, we used "Zhang Huimei" to talk about what NFT is in the front, and also borrowed "STEPN" to talk about Game-Fi and other applications, but readers may still think that the metaverse is so difficult, what is the metacosm about my life?
Did you know, in fact, the "metaverse" is not a new concept, it has long appeared in many movies and daily life, today let the female fan editor Emilie, take you through three movies to understand the metaverse!
Avatar: Avatar vs. NFT Avatar
2009 director James. Cameron's film Avatar tells the story of a paralyzed veteran who arrives on the planet Pandora, and after entering a special conversion capsule, he can teleport consciousness to the mixed-race Avatar that is combined with his human genes and Na'vi, and when he wakes up again, he is a tall Na'vi with blue skin and a long tail, and embarks on a series of adventure stories.
The word "avatar", many people should have heard it for the first time in this movie, there is no character named Avatar, so in fact, "Avatar" means "avatar, avatar", that is, the body in the story where the protagonist transfers consciousness.
The real-life protagonist Jack is paralyzed by his lower limbs and is unable to move freely, living in an inconvenient life and needing to be taken care of, but once he is replaced by a Na'vi body, he can run, jump, and feel the wind and freedom again.
Therefore, during the frequent transitions with "real self-reality" and "Na'vi's self-virtual", he said:
"Everything is turned upside down, as if that's where the real world is, where it's the dream."
Which identity is the true self? The movie ends with the answer – both.
The picture | stills from "Avatar"
The planet Pandora in the movie is the real world in the setting, and the protagonist lives in another life through "Avatar", is this somewhat similar to our current online world?
Living in the virtual world called FB, IG, tiktok, the account number is our "avatar", but the substitution of this avatar is extremely high, and security and uniqueness are difficult to guarantee.
Therefore, when blockchain technology has matured in recent years and can make digital forms of things into "non-homogeneous tokens" (NFTs) with inseparable, irreplaceable and unique characteristics, the NFTs we have become the "Avatars, avatars, avatars" that we use in different worlds, giving users specific identities to carry out activities.
The "digital identity authentication" represented by the NFT is like the body that only the protagonist Jack can operate in the movie "Avatar", no one can replace him, once the yellow eyes on the blue face are bright, we can be sure that it is Jack; once our NFT is verified by the "smart contract", we can confirm that we are the holder, and in the characteristics of the blockchain, there is almost no possibility of fraud.
(What is NFT: Welcome to the Metaverse| what is Zhang Huimei's "Sister Universe" and "ASMeiR" NFT? Do you understand the Queen of Heaven's pet fan action? ）
Tier 1 Player: Put on a VR headset and enter the virtual world to start your adventure
Released in 2018, it was also directed by the famous director Steven Spielberg. Spielberg's "Level 1 Player One" depicts a poor and chaotic future world where people spend most of their time escaping from reality in the virtual world oasis (OASIS) as a leisure life.
In the movie, if you want to work or play in the "oasis", you need to wear VR glasses, equipped with sensor devices, and even stand on a "universal treadmill" with tracks, like this experience that simulates the real world as much as possible, which is called "immersive experience".
In the story, Wade, the protagonist who is classified as a Lu snake in the real world, repeatedly solves puzzles and breaks levels in the virtual world with his unique avatar "Parsifal", and finally affects the real world.
The image | stills from "Tier 1 Player"
What is VR? - Virtual Reality
What is the biggest difference between the game "Oasis" in the movie and our online game? That's the pair of VR glasses!
Now if we want to live in the Internet, we can operate through mobile phones, computers, mouse and keyboards, and interact with people on it.
However, in the case of "virtual reality", VR glasses, helmets, surround sound effects, wired gloves, etc., will be simulated as much as possible, allowing users to enter the 3D virtual space designed by the computer, as if they have fallen into another world.
Although the relevant technology is not yet perfect, there are still many difficulties to be overcome, and it is currently practically applied to pilot training, surgical training, virtual museums, house viewing, entertainment industry and so on. [1]
Off-The-Script Player: Put on ar sunglasses and you can see more things
Released in 2021 by Ryan. Free Guy, starring Reynolds, is also set in an "immersive game", but the player characters in the game wear special sunglasses, become "sunglasses", and use violence against "non-player characters" (NPCs) to satisfy the unattainable game experience in life.
However, it is funny that the protagonist of this movie is not a human, but an NPC "Guy" who has developed artificial intelligence!
He went from being a banker who was robbed every day to one day grabbing the player's "sunglasses" and discovering a whole new world after putting them on.
The building that originally looked clean appeared different mission descriptions and words after putting on sunglasses, and you could see the medicine box floating in the air on the road, and you could see your own health, level, props, etc., that is, the glasses of "AR Amplification Reality".
The film also implies more in-depth discussions, such as the possibility of artificial intelligence life, human rights of NPCs and other social issues.
Image | stills from "Off-The-Box Player"
What is AR? Augmented Reality
The situation of "augmented reality" is that we are still in real life, but through the device, we can see that things in the virtual world appear in reality.
In addition to the key props of the movie "Off-the-Script Player", the most common example is the 2016 popular app mobile game "Pokémon Pokémon Go", when people can be seen holding their mobile phones as if looking for something on the front floor, and found their favorite Pokémon genie in the screen, and then interacted with the game.
Image | uploadvr
Another example is the well-known furniture brand IKEA, in their catalog, some commodity fields have added AR functions, so that consumers do not have to look at the paper in the mind to imagine the furniture in the home, as long as the mobile phone is aimed at the space at home, you can call out the virtual furniture, and move freely in the mobile phone, directly with the real environment to make color matching, style and position placement and other choices.
Combining mobile phone photography and GPS positioning, when we shoot a specific location in the lens, there will be virtual objects, so at the same time we will see real + virtual content.
Interestingly, the "filter" of line videos that people often use on Instagram — a situation where virtual objects are superimposed on real objects — is also AR!
So in fact, there are many related applications in life, and the difference is only whether we are aware of it or not.
(More ways to play: Welcome to the Meta-Universe | let you run and earn NFT? STEPN's App Guide and Health Psychology)
In addition to VR and AR, what is the MR that everyone is talking about now? In fact, there is one in "Iron Man"!
- VR Virtual Reality + AR Augmented Reality = MR Mixed Reality
Mixed Reality literally translates to "mixed reality," which means that its technology is so good that it's hard to tell the difference between "real" and "virtual." If you want to dig deeper, check out the following Microsoft-introduced Mixed Reality MR video to help you better imagine and understand:
In fact, there are some pictures that are also close to our imagination of MR, that is, the protagonist of the movie "Iron Man", Tony. Stark's frequent tech scenes, such as his hand sliding in the air, or even moving to the desktop, waving his hand to the big screen on the wall, or interacting with the artificial intelligence Jarvis, etc.— are these all a bit indistinguishable from reality or virtuality?
Image | stills from Avengers 4
Coupled with the maturity of blockchain technology, the metaverse metaverse appeared
After explaining the plot content of the three movies and explaining the applications of NFT, VR, AR, etc., we can better understand what the "metaverse metaverse" is.
The term is composed of "meta transcendence, meta" and "verse universe", which was once transliterated as "meheta domain" and is now mostly translated as "meta universe".
The word and basic concept are derived from the 1992 American dystopian novel Snow Crash, which describes people most of their time living in a parallel virtual world with the real world as "Avatar".
Summarizing the imagination of the future of the above three films, we can speculate: If you want to enter the "metaverse" to live, what conditions need to be met?
- NFT: As a "virtual avatar" used in the metaverse
- The maturity of science and technology: VR, AR, MR and other immersive experience devices, 5G, advanced computer computers, blockchain technology and so on
- Independent financial system: economic applications such as cryptocurrencies
If you want to cross from one-way web-style Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, which interacts through the internet, to the world of Web 3.0 that is in progress, all three are indispensable.
Among them, the maturity of blockchain technology in recent years has promoted the popularization of NFTs, as well as the technical application of cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence, and the outbreak of COVID-19, which has led to the concept of metacosmity, although it has long existed, but in 2021 and 2022, the concept has been discussed a lot.
People are becoming accustomed to online meetings in order to work remotely; schools are closed, so students use online teaching at home; the government restricts people's social gatherings, so people turn to the virtual world to communicate and entertain...
These are the opportunities for the rapid development of the "meta-universe", and people who are locked up at home begin to look for new possibilities in another world. As long as we live in the modern age, we will inevitably be affected.
How much of our lives will the "meta-universe" related industries occupy in the future? No one can say for sure, but paying attention to its development is the most infallible choice.
A Small Dictionary of The Metaverse of Women - Metaverse
It is a combination of "Meta Yuan" and "Universe Universe", which is derived from the 1992 science fiction novel "SnowFall". It means that in a virtual space, through the "augmented reality" AR and "virtual reality" VR, in one (or more) virtual avatars, into the virtual world to live, work, play.
(Self-study recommendation: After work, the charming club | Po's NFT and Metaverse Usage Guide, easy to understand and super fast to get started!) ）
After the rapid development of science and technology, ethics and law have slowed down
After the development of science and technology, follow-up problems will follow. Just like deepfake synthesizes facial images into other photos or videos, causing a lot of fake news to spread and revenge.
Countless people have been harmed by technology, but this does not mean that technology is evil and should be banned, and these processes have always appeared in human history - smartphones can be used to secretly take pictures of others' privacy, is it necessary to ban the camera function?
Therefore, it is important that our current laws and moral ethics need to catch up with the rapid development of science and technology.
Finally, I'd like to conclude with a conversation between the protagonist Guy in Off-The-Box and his NPC guard friend Buddy:
When Guy discovers that neither his life nor his memories are real, that he and his friends are just a bunch of programs, he asks Buddy if we are not real, is everything we do meaningless?
And Buddy replied to him:
"If that's not true, what's true?"
"At this moment, this moment is real."
Yes, whether we are in real life or in the virtual world, as long as there is human interaction, as long as there is emotional communication and love and hate, all this is real, irreplaceable and precious.
Where is the evidence for the existence of humans? Maybe it's not about the medium, it's about these moments.
Image | stills from "Off-The-Box Player"
I'm a woman fan editor Emilie, thank you for reading this. If you like this article, please click "Favorite Articles" and "Share" to your friends who think you will be interested.
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