Metaverse

Metaverse is not a brand new idea. There was Second Life, an online multimedia platform that came about in 2000s, developed and owned by Linden Lab.

These are virtual reality products designed to capitalise on your time, in return of what they call an “immersive experience”. It is worth to note, unlike video games “there is no manufactured conflict, no set objective” in them.

I watched Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for socialising in the Metaverse video. Under his tight black sweatshirt and denim, a paunch appeared. He seemed to have lost his boyish college dropout edge. With a frozen smile he now looks more like a James Bond villain or a wax model in Madame Tussauds. Something is amiss, loss of spark maybe.

The possibility of meeting your grandchild’s 3d avatar rather than seeing them in a Zoom meeting, or sharing your 3D art in a virtual street corner, may sound attractive to some. But like Elon Musk, I doubt anyone would be willing to wear a TV set on their nose just to play poker with their friends’ avatars.

We have to acknowledge virtual reality hardware technology is still in its infancy. It is too bulky and invasive, setting significant barriers against immersive experience.

But even if we assume technological setbacks are temporary and one day we might wear contact lenses and just whisper to teleport ourselves into the VR world, would you want that?

Metaverse tells us, If you fail to realise your dreams, don’t worry, you can wear your headset and become “who you want to be” in a virtual world. You can create as many avatars you can, Zuckerberg said. It will be entirely in your control whom you want to interact with. 

The chances are, you will go back to your Facebook friends. 

Rest assured once you open your mouth you will be the same person to anybody who knows you or about to know you regardless you wear Genghis Khan, Einstein, Jane Mansfield, or T-Rex avatars.

Maybe you wouldn’t be sweating in a bunny suit but the glorification you will get will not be much different from being in a fancy dress party. The entertainment sensation will wear out in minutes. In the end you will look and feel pathetic, rather than authentic.

Then there is the experience bit. Supposedly you would be able to hang out with your friends in different environments, a street in Milan, a villa in Switzerland and so on.

But would you invite your high school friend whom you haven’t seen for 30 years to a backgammon tournament on the banks of River Seine?

Or would you do or talk about anything different even with your favourite buddy whether you are virtually hiking in Iceland or virtually flying across NYC? What are you going to talk about? Oh, look at this virtual pink volcano?

By the way your “immersive” hiking experience over Iceland may be interrupted with an advertisement tailored for you; environmentally friendly toilet paper packaged in a card box sliding on slopes of black ash. 

Perhaps you should be grateful and think about Mark Zuckerberg when you use that square.