Metaverse: Some random thoughts

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in the Metaverse . I don’t think anyone is - yet. We’re only hearing predictions of what it could be. That’s all. This just reflects my thoughts - whether my thought is worthy of your time, only the future will tell. So I apologize in advance if you thought that the time could've been better spent. This is just another opinion - albeit a biased one because of what my company and I do.

The Culmination of Confluence of Convergent Technologies (CCC Tech) such as AI/ML, Blockchain, Cryptos, NFT, AR/VR, 5G to name a few is the Metaverse. This will be a form of spatial (or 3D) internet, that I think will be accessible using some kind of headgear such as MR (Mixed reality) or XR (eXtended Reality) devices. This is probably 3-5 years down the road.

Initially there will be multiple mini verses (for lack of a better phrase) dedicated to doing one thing and one thing well and all those mini verses will, over time, once interoperability issues are sorted, congregate to become the metaverse.

What interoperable issues?

Easiest way to explain this will be using the gaming terminology. Think of NFTs (in the loosest sense possible) in games: skins, weapons and what have you? These are not persistent across the mini verses. They cannot be carried from one mini verse to another or from say Decentraland to Sandbox. While NFTs are being sneered at now, when people begin to spend more and more time in the mini verses, this will take on a whole new dimension. Think of this like how people dress up to go to a party IRL, why wouldn’t they do the same if they’re in some kind of verse - mini or meta?

Then comes the notion of Crypto: most countries aren’t clear about how to manage (regulate?) them. India, for example, said that they would tax crypto earnings at the highest rate (IMO justifiably), the Central Bank still says that crypto is like the Dutch Tulip bubble and could yet be made illegal. And that’s just one large economy. Same is with China. That said, everyone does want to launch their own CBDC - which makes little sense. Now most Mini verses will be on the Blockchain which means wallets and therefore Crypto exchanges will have to be able to handle very large volumes of data in real time globally when they all merge to become the Metaverse.

Why?

This is because of many things:

The mentioned technologies, right now, are still discrete. There are use cases for each of the mentioned tech and each of them are working to solve different problems individually.

Two of the foremost and more contentious tech coming out of Blockchain are Crypto and NFTs. 

AI/ML is a horse already flogged and I don’t intend to do any more flogging - I mean that the horse is already dead and cannot die anymore.

AR & VR will merge to become MR or XR. This is already happening. While these have been separate technologies, they’re already merging and I expect we will see devices that’ll do both seamlessly over the next couple of years.

There are other technologies such as 5G where the rollout globally is slow and will probably take another 3-5 years to reach where 4G is today.

Then there's Cloud and related technologies such as CloudXR from Nvidia, that I believe will change how content will change in the Mini or the Meta verse - Things will look more realistic and will depend less on the cartoon shaders that we see in today's mini verses.

My big worry: when the CCC Tech is here, the gap between the digital haves and the have-nots will become a chasm. Especially when the entry point into a mini or the meta verse will be a Crypto Wallet (whether from Crypto currencies or CBD Currencies), if a person or a group of people will not have access to 5G, a whole lot of humanity will be left behind in this "revolution".

This defeats the very meaning of technology if it cannot change the circumstances of people who are left behind in this world due to changes in environment or wars or pandemics or something else that might happen.

Interoperability will be key and entry barriers low whether it is for 5G or for wallets for the Metaverse to thrive.