The Stage of Infinite Possibilities Shown by Metaverse and XR

I don't need a stage to perform.
We just need something to stand on.

You don't need a stage to perform.
We just need something to stand on.

American hip hop artist, Travis Scott

concert in game

Travis Scott, one of the most popular artists throughout the 2010s and the present, is a well-known hip-hop artist both abroad and in Korea. He collaborates with Fortnite in-game The virtual live concert 'Astronomical' (2020) he held was a huge success, and his revenue is estimated to reach about 20 million dollars, including sales of related goods and in-game items.

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Performances in the game impossible in reality You can create special effects and movements. Scott is shown as a gigantic avatar, and back dancers are expressed as holograms on a virtual screen. Neon effects, shining people, and Scott's music that can be heard on the seabed are fantastic. Users may jump or dance in response to this.

The metaverse connects the virtual world and the real world and has a wider and deeper space, There will be a need for XR technology that can be developed. This is because XR technologies, which were used only in specific fields, are gradually being applied to real life, and data transmission speed is getting faster due to the development of communication.

Market research firm Strategy Analytics predicted that the global XR market would reach $280 billion (about 316 trillion won) by 2025. As the metaverse and XR market grows, not only games our life It will affect everywhere.

Metaverse

Let's turn our attention for a moment and visit the place where the word metaverse first appeared. The Metaverse is a 1992 film by Neil Stevenson. science fiction snow crashIt first appeared in (Snow Crash). It may come as a surprise that a novel from about 20 years ago portrays current XR technology similarly. Below is a description of the metaverse that appears in the novel.

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By presenting slightly different images to each eye, a three-dimensional image was created. And by changing the image seventy-two times a second, it could be expressed as a moving image. When this three-dimensional moving image was displayed with a resolution of two kilopixels per side, it became the clearest picture within the limits of vision.

Furthermore, when digital stereo sound was fed through the tiny earphones, this moving three-dimensional moving image had a perfectly realistic soundtrack. If that happened, Hiro wouldn't be here. He would enter a virtual world created by a computer and fed continuously to his goggles and earphones.

in computer terms <Metaverse>It was a world called

As such, audiovisual output devices such as goggles and earphones are similar to the functions of today's XR devices. Because the metaverse in the novel is a world of graphics that does not exist no limit to the laws of physics On the other hand, in the metaverse Economic and social activities take a form similar to realitycontains the contents of

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So the metaverse A compound word of virtual transcendence (Meta) and world/universe, 3D virtual worldcast it means More specifically, in the overall aspects of politics, economy, society and culture Both reality and unreality can coexist Life type, game type virtual worldIt means that it is currently widely used in various fields.

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As the term metaverse is widely used, it is not easy to define and explain it. This is because the scope is so wide, and the meaning varies slightly depending on the person or organization defining it.

So today, the metaverse 'Convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically permanent virtual space', a non-profit technology research organization ASF(Acceleration Studies Foundation) I will explain the metaverse divided into four categories according to the classification.

Four types of metaverse

Augmented Reality

AR, i.e. augmented realitymeans an environment in which a virtual interface made in 2D or 3D overlaps a real space to provide augmented information and interact with it. It has a feature that can induce a higher sense of immersion while giving less resistance to people, and the main devices are smartphones and smart glasses.

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Virtual Worlds

The virtual world is a world that is similar to or completely different from the real world. built with digital dataam. In the virtual world, the economy of the real world through the avatar · It is characterized by activities similar to social activities.

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As the most familiar form of metaverse to us, everything from online RPG games to 3D computer graphic environments is implemented. concept of communityam. I wrote about fashion and XR. last postZEPETO and The Sandbox, which have precedents described in , and Fortnite, a concert venue in the game used as an example, fall into this category.

Lifelogging

Lifelogging is the daily routine of things and people. Capture experiences and informationIt is a technique to create, store, and use. Users can leave moments that occur in their daily lives as text, video, sound, etc., and can save and organize them in the cloud or server.

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Alternatively, by using sportswear with a sensor attached in conjunction with a smart phone capable of network connection, information such as distance run and calories consumed can be viewed, and sharing it with others can be an example of lifelogging.

Mirror Worlds)

The mirror world refers to an informationally expanded virtual world that reflects the real world as realistically as possible. A typical example is Google Earth, which updates pictures at regular intervals and shows the real world as it changes from moment to moment.

It may feel a bit paradoxical that information about the real world can be obtained by browsing the virtual world. However, as technology continues to develop, the mirror world will become closer and closer to the real world, which is a virtual reality. immersion factorbecomes And by applying this close mirror world to other metaverses, we will be able to create new content.

The shadow behind the splendid future technology, the problems of the metaverse

Of course, there are many problems in the metaverse.

within the metaverse illegal act(Gambling, fraud, etc.) may occur, but since this is a virtual space, it is unreasonable to apply the legal order of the real world. First, there is a problem that the traditional concept of physical place does not apply, and when a crime that is not stipulated by the current law occurs, it cannot be controlled.

In the case of a metaverse that sometimes resembles reality and social and economic activities Addicted to the virtual worldmay become Unlike existing online games, it is pointed out that it can be recognized as a daily life and thus addictive. Excessive immersion in the virtual world can destroy reality and cause problems with individual identities.

concluding remarks

As Scott said, we can perform anywhere. Through the metaverse, technology that felt like a distant future is gradually approaching, and people's daily lives are changing. Of course, the problems mentioned above should also be recalled once again. While anticipating what kind of future the world of the metaverse will bring, we always have to think about where we will stand.