The fusion of the real and virtual world in a "metaverse", is it for tomorrow?

In our new episode of the

podcast 

, we talk about technologies and futures with Laure Beaudonnet, journalist at

, who explores these questions for our media. We talk about the “metaverse”, a universe where the borders between physical and virtual spaces are broken. Imagined in

by Neal Stephenson (1992), a science fiction novel that has become cult, the “metaverse” is notably illustrated in the film

, by Steven Spielberg, or the anticipation series 

.

In these fictions, the characters use technologies, such as full suits with virtual reality glasses, to access a universe combining reality and virtual. Today, video game publishers, like Roblox or Epic Games, are the most advanced in these parallel universe projects. The Fortnite video game (Epic Games) is organizing more and more “live” entertainment events, becoming a concert hall of the future. Several avatars of artists, such as those of rapper Travis Scott or singer Ariana Grande, have already performed there.

These universe projects are the dream of digital giants, including Mark Zuckerberg, boss of Facebook.

Describing the “metaverse” as the future of social interactions, he announced at

at the end of July to

invest heavily in this project.

People who connect to the social network could meet without leaving their homes.

But when we talk about futures and technologies, there is often wanting and power.

In this episode of

, the journalist Laure Beaudonnet looks back on what the “metaverse” is and the different actors who work on it. She then underlines the constraints and difficulties of creating parallel universes, reported by Sylvain Louradour, director of the Netexplo digital innovation observatory. She recalls in particular the difficulty of replicating the human senses, such as touch and taste, in a parallel universe. However, several organizations are working on this issue, such as the Japanese Meiji University in Tokyo and its “Norimaki Synthesizer” project, which has created a kind of technological lollipop that allows, thanks to gels, to compose tastes like acid, l 'bitter or sweet. All the information to listen to in this podcast with Laure Beaudonnet.

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You can also find all our episodes in the “Podcasts” section of the 20minutes.fr site.

To send us comments, reviews and ideas: audio@20minutes.fr

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