REALITY CHECK OF
THE METAVERSE
2023 JULY ISSUE
Written by Andrew Sia
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From the Desk of the Publisher
Entering into the Next Big Thing we have encountered the two much-hyped possibilities—virtual-reality (VR) and augmented-reality (AR) headsets. It allows us to move on two-dimensional text, images and videos to three-dimensional and immerse in the metaverse.
It is encourage to know that almost every big firms in Silicon Valley have joined the Metaverse Standards Forum (MSF) to work on the interoperable technical standards.
We wait to see that the virtual-reality (VR) and augmented-reality (AR) are really the future of computing.
We have experienced from desktop and laptop computing to mobile phone. Through a network comprised to interconnected physical objects, referred to as “things”, that are capable of collecting and exchanging data without human interaction. The devices contain embedded systems—software, electronics, networks and sensors—that are able to collect data about the surrounding environment, transmit data over a network, respond to remote commands and take actions based on data collected. The IoT devices include all wearables, implants, vehicles, machinery, smartphones, appliances, computing systems and any other device that can send and receive data.
Storage and computing through Cloud-based Cyber-Physical Systems, and big data network can all be integrated with IoT.
Now we are entering into the Next Big Thing. Already the big tech firms are betting on two much-hyped possibilities—virtual-reality (VR) and augmented-reality (AR) headsets.
Currently our internet is still largely flat and based on two-dimensional text, images and video which is ready to replace with one that is three-dimensional and immersive. It can allow us to enter into the metaverse and it is taken by the video game. It was already adopted by Sony, whose PlayStation VR gaming headset launched in 2016 and has sold over 5 million units.
IDC, a company of analysts, reckons around 11 million headsets were sold in 2021, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, accounting for two-thirds of the sales with new products to be released soon. On October 11, 2022, it launched its latest headset, the Meta Quest Pro at $1,499 which is by far the priciest set.
Its VR acts like a digital blindfold and immerse users in a computer-generated world. Its AR involves providing useful information onto a user’s view of the real world.
This will lead to a new round of competition and Apple is likely to release its first attempt at an AR/VR headset in 2023 and will price around $3,000 probably.
The reason why Facebook changed its name to Meta is because of its hope that the VR users would like to inhabit in the metaverse. It was since 2021 that Mark Zuckerberg has been spending big moneys to build on this idea and already $27 billion has been spent. It has been working on their computer-generated avatars, playing in a cartoonish 3D environment that include boxing rings and virtual meeting rooms.
Rival tech giants, such as Microsoft and Nvidia have their own plans.
We mentioned earlier on the Sony PlayStation whose VR gaming headset has been leading the video-games business since its launch in 2016. There are several others like Epic Games and Unity who not only are in the video-games but also staged concerts and broadcast the sports event in 3D already.
The industry has also announced the co-operation and Microsoft took the first step in October 2022 that it would make its Windows operating system, all its business-focused apps, and games written for its Xbox games consoles available with Meta’s virtual world.
This has been followed by almost every big firms in Silicon Valley to join the Metaverse Standards Forum (MSF) which commits everyone to open, interoperable technical standards, so that any avatar designed for use in one company’s virtual world should work without trouble on another’s.
Naturally this remains to be seen whether the collaborative spirit of the MSF will survive if metaverse-based services start to make serious amounts of money. It is also uncertain whether VR, AR or the metaverse are really the future of computing. History told us that those pioneers like BlackBerry phones and Palm handheld who ventured into trendy technologies ended being harvested by Apple and the like. But at least they tried in the first instance. And who would even have thought that we would have shrunk computers into our pant-pockets. Now for the VR and AR, we start to strap them on our face which is something still difficult for us to imagine.