The concept of meta-universe is hot and controversial
Our reporter Zhao Yuhan
The American social media giant Facebook (facebook) announced that it was renamed "Meta". A virtual beauty anchor named "Liu Yexi" took advantage of the concept of the meta universe to have more than 4 million followers on the short video platform in a few days. Nvidia, Internet technology giants such as Microsoft, ByteDance, Tencent and other domestic and foreign Internet technology giants have announced their entry into the meta-universe field...
Since the beginning of this year, the concept of meta-universe has continued to heat up, and it has also caused considerable controversy. Liu Cixin, the author of classic science fiction works such as "Three-Body" and "The Wandering Earth", even pointedly said that "meta-universe will lead mankind to a dead end."
But this has not prevented Metaverse from becoming a new wave after Bitcoin and blockchain.
With the pursuit of the technology circle and the capital circle, will Metaverse really be an epoch-making opportunity comparable to the mobile Internet?
Virtual humans became popular with the concept of meta-universe
"Are you a human?" the little boy asked ignorantly. Opposite was a woman with a magic makeup pencil and silver patterns running through her cheeks, long hair and waist.
This woman is currently the hottest beauty blogger on Douyin, but she is not a "person".
On October 31st, after the first video content of the virtual person "Liu Yexi" was released, it quickly gained more than one million likes and attention. Up to now, it has more than 4 million fans.
And in the title of this video, it is "rubbing" the hottest term nowadays-meta universe.
When talking about the birth of Liu Yexi, Liang Zikang, the head of the team behind Liu Yexi and the CEO of Chuangyi Technology, said that it is related to the concept of meta universe.
Half a year ago, the concept of meta universe was not yet popular, and the team had paid attention to this field and started to produce content.
During this period, more and more giants began to enter the meta universe, but the team did not rush to publish content, but strived for excellence and made unique ideas.
The birth of Liu Yexi has become a vivid example of interpreting the concept of meta-universe.
According to the setting, she will become a virtual KOL (opinion leader) and be given a mysterious image of national style.
2021 is considered the first year of the meta universe.
In March of this year, Robles Games of the United States went public and proposed the concept of Metaverse for the first time, known as the first stock of Metaverse.
"Meta universe" is composed of "meta" (transcendence) and "universe" (universe), that is, "world beyond the universe", which means to build a parallel world similar to the real world by VR, AR and other technical means.
In fact, the meta universe has been reflected in some science fiction movies.
For example, in the movie "Number One Player", wearing a VR helmet can enter the "Oasis" virtual world, where there is a complete virtual social form. The protagonist can not only "see", but also perceive the body caused by conflict in the virtual world through the somatosensory suit. pain.
Giants and capital run into the arena
After the meta-universe concept was put forward, it attracted a high degree of attention from the technology circle and the capital circle. Some domestic and foreign technology giants and capital ran into the market. The American social media giant Facebook is one of them.
Earlier, Facebook had stated that it would invest heavily in the field of meta universe, and just last week, Facebook even directly changed its name to "meta" (元), which is the prefix part of the English name of meta universe.
At the same time, technology giants such as Microsoft, Apple, and Nvidia are not idle.
Recently, Microsoft announced that it will add 3D avatars and immersive meetings to its own conference and video calling software to create an "enterprise version of the meta universe."
Apple has also been exposed, the new VR equipment has entered the testing phase, is expected to be released in 2022.
Domestic Internet technology giants are also vying to enter the meta universe.
ByteDance recently acquired VR and chip companies one after another, with the intention of laying out the meta-universe.
The Tianyan Check shows that recently Tencent, Alibaba, NetEase and other giants have also applied for registration of Meta Universe related trademarks, such as "QQ Meta Universe", "King Yuan Universe", "NetEase Yuan Universe", and "Lei Huo Yuan Universe".
Even Luo Yonghao, who failed to start his own business and relied on live broadcast to bring goods to popularity, recently said that he will start his own business and establish a company in the field of meta universe.
Why is the meta universe so popular?
According to industry analysis, technology is eager for new products, capital is looking for new exports, and users are looking forward to new experiences are the main reasons why the concept of Metaverse is booming.
From the perspective of demand, the new crown epidemic has weakened people's connection in the physical world and strengthened the demand for virtual interaction. The "home economy" is greatly bullish.
From a technical perspective, technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, 5G, artificial intelligence, and blockchain have become the basis for supporting the development of the meta-universe.
The concept is controversial and technical difficulties need to be broken through
After the meta-universe concept fired, controversy also followed.
Liu Cixin, who has created many sci-fi masterpieces and is known as "China's first meta-universe architect", said bluntly that the meta-universe will be an involution of the entire human civilization, and will eventually lead mankind to a dead end.
In "Time Immigration", Liu Cixin stated that people in this era are gradually turning to the invisible world. Although there can be a copy of the brain in both worlds, life in the invisible world is like drugs. Once you experience life there, who It is impossible to return to the tangible world.
Recently, Su Dechao, a professor at the School of Philosophy of Wuhan University, also criticized Metaverse on the Internet, believing that it is nothing more than a "happy machine" proposed by the philosopher Nozick.
Once this kind of machine is connected to the brain, the connected person will not be able to distinguish the difference between the illusion created by the machine and the real life.
If you indulge in this, it will be a disaster in your life.
"The value of digital life exceeds that of real life in the physical world? Too much?" Many young people are skeptical about the future of Metaverse, but still look forward to the ultimate happiness of complete immersion. More capital also hopes to seize the concept of Metaverse early. Great business opportunities brought by.
But what is the meta universe?
At present, there is no recognized concept, and all companies are trying their own practice paths.
According to industry analysis, Metaverse's industry construction is still far away.
At the Baidu AI Open Day held recently, Baidu Vice President Ma Jie said frankly, "There are too many car rubbings, and it is difficult to distinguish between true and false." For Metaverse to become a reality, there are three major technical difficulties that need to be broken through, including computing power and algorithms. And the high cost of VR content production.
He believes that the current meta-universe is in a period of excessive expectations, and the tide will recede in the second half of next year or the next year.