blog posts

Will Metaverse End Up Being Like The Novel Snow Crash?

As Of This Writing, The Future Of Many Phenomena Popular With Blockchain Technology Enthusiasts Is In Limbo. 

The thick atmosphere of digital currencies has not yet given way to an attractive upward leap, the future of Blockchain games. It is not precisely known, and the same concerns aboutMetaverseIt also apply.

Meanwhile, every person can have their speculations or prove these speculations with reasons and evidence; But it cannot be denied that nothing is certain. And when nothing is certain, everything is possible.

In something Published on the Cointelegraph website, the author compared the future of the Metaverse with the famous novel Snow Crash and shared his speculations and opinions with users.

Stay with us by translating this article to see if, in this author’s opinion, the future of Metaverse will be similar to the Snow Crash novel.

The world of Metaverse and the novel Falling Snow; Similarities and Differences

In the past few years, the popularity of Metaverse has increased under the influence of the digital currency market and blockchain technology. Still, the Metaverse is not a new term, and in 1992, Neal Stephenson used this term for the first time in the science fiction novel “Snow Crash.”

The story’s main character, “Hiro,” is trying to destroy a virus in a virtual world with the help of his hacker friend, which causes mind control.

The novel describes a future world ravaged by inflation and injustice and run by corrupt governments, corporations, and criminal gangs. As a result, the physical world is an unpleasant reality that people try to escape from.

Will Metaverse end up being like the novel Snow Crash?

In many ways, this book has incredibly predicted the realities of today’s world; In such a way, reading this novel may seem like you are reading a book about today’s technologies.

The virtual world the story’s main character enters is called Metaverse, an environment where every person has his digital avatar. This avatar allows him to communicate with friends, purchase, or attend concerts.

However, Stephenson’s Metaverse is not a perfect utopia and digital space, and its infrastructure is owned by an evil billionaire who wants to control people’s minds inside and outside the Metaverse with a tool called Snow Crash.

Of course, you don’t have to worry; Because, at least until today, metaverse platforms cannot control users’ minds.

However, our experience with social networks shows that the Metaverse can be addictive and even become a substitute for the real world for some.

Metaverse is a virtual world where everyone can fix their appearance defects, communicate with people worldwide with their ideal appearance, and experience adventures and impossible activities.

While Metaverse technology has found various uses today, and many use it for entertainment or various adventures, there are also many motives for profit; We are witnessing the beginning of a power battle in this field.

Now, however, many global companies see the Metaverse platform as a new continent that they must seize and take control of before others, An issue that has caused some concerns about the activities of large companies such as Amazon and Google and their entry into Metaverse technology; a movement that has already started on a large scale and even Facebook has changed its name to Meta in line with the goals of Metaverse.

For this reason, many metaverse enthusiasts prefer this technology to be developed in a decentralized and blockchain-based way so that we don’t see events similar to the novel Snow Crash; Because no one will be in control of these metaverses, and blockchain metaverses protect users’ assets, respect privacy, and provide equal and fair opportunities to all.

Entering the fascinating world of Metaverse

Dr. Christina Yan Zhang, also known as Dr. Metaverse, wrote her thesis in 2012 on the topic of massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and the game Second Life, one of the first popular global metaverses; Therefore, he is among the people who have been familiar with Metaverse technology for a long time and has closely followed the development and activity of these platforms. He is also currently the CEO of the Metaverse Institute.

Will Metaverse end up being like the novel Snow Crash? An image from the game Second Life

He considers Metaverse as a powerful technology to improve interaction in the virtual and real world and says about Metaverse:

In my opinion, the beauty of the current development process of the Metaverse is the convergence of a wide range of different technologies coming together. Many of them will be further developed (in the process) to help create the next generation of the Internet that is more inclusive, interactive, and intuitive.

Another active person in the field of Metaverse is Wagner James Au, who was engaged in journalism in the early 2000s under the name Hamlet in the virtual world of Second Life. He is a gaming and entertainment author and will release his latest book, Metaverse That Matters, in June.

According to him, Metaverse will be divided into different branches and include other platforms.

Today’s metaverses each have their unique features. While a part of the community considers the entertainment nature of a metaverse, some give more importance to graphics and appearance and choose a metaverse with better pictures.

Users can go from one Metaverse to another anytime and benefit from all their services. In his example, he mentions the Roblox game, a viral game with a logo-like appearance that is more attractive to children.

While this game has been downloaded and experienced by millions of people, the choice of users is not limited to this game, and they can use other options, such as VR Chat and Fortnite, at any time.

According to Wagner James, the Metaverse could be what was described in the novel Snow Crash: a vast virtual world integrated with the real-world economy, offering its users the possibility of earning money, tools, and a variety of customizations.

According to him, Metaverse has the potential and possibility to benefit from various technologies and become something more than a simple 3D experience. However, there are also obstacles to the Metaverse technology at present.

The seven big problems of the Metaverse

Another active person in Metaverse is Bernard Marr, a writer and futurist. He is excited about Metaverse technology, But the possible dangers surrounding the Metaverse have also attracted the snake’s attention.

He has identified seven problems that highlight the negative aspects of the virtual world. Most of them are complex challenges that will not be easy to provide solutions for in a constantly changing and evolving digital world.

These seven problems are:

Privacy

The first challenge is related to privacy, and Marr says:

We still have privacy concerns when browsing the web. The technology currently tracking our behavior online will also exist in the Metaverse, and this tracking will likely become even more intense.

For example, Metaverse’s touch and wearable devices can measure various physical effects such as heart rate and perspiration, and according to Marr, this vast amount of data can be collected and used by companies for marketing or other purposes.

Protecting children

The use of Metaverse by children is also one of the things that the snake pays attention to and says in this regard:

As parents of children, it cannot be easy to track what our kids are doing online, and this challenge will continue with the Metaverse. We can’t see the world they’re watching in our VR headset, and there’s no process to monitor their screen using a tablet or mobile; Therefore, it will be more challenging to understand what our children are doing in the Metaverse.

Physical and mental health

One of the widespread concerns surrounding the increase in popularity and expansion of the use of Metaverse is its effects on health, especially weight. Spending a long time in the virtual world of Metaverse reduces your physical activities and can eventually lead to weight gain and laziness.

The phenomenon that some call “virtual reality hangover” is one of the other concerns surrounding Metaverse. The sadness of leaving a highly engaging and fun digital experience can make it difficult to return to reality and have the same effects as drug or alcohol withdrawal.

Gaming or Internet addiction has already affected many’s physical and mental health, which could also worsen in the Metaverse.

Unfair access

The equipment required for Metaverse is one of the other challenges mentioned by Bernard Marr:

To use augmented reality, we need the latest innovative technologies, and the virtual reality experience requires advanced and expensive headsets and a high-speed and robust Internet connection.

With this in mind, how can we ensure that everyone worldwide has access to the Metaverse and that this technology is not only available to developed and advanced nations? This is an issue that Dr. Zhang is also concerned about.

Right now, one-third of the world’s population still does not have access to high-speed and unlimited Internet, A problem that Zhang believes Starlink Internet can solve and cover even the most remote areas of the world.

Even if they don’t have virtual reality headsets, with the help of Starlink Internet, people can use their smartphones or computers to access virtual worlds and experience them.

Terms and Conditions

Usually, the countries’ legislative bodies cannot quickly keep up with new changes. They cannot provide appropriate legal answers to the unique challenges created, A problem that most of the world’s latest technologies have experienced today.

Considering the conditions we see in digital currencies and blockchain technologies, it is predicted that we will witness some chaos and legal problems in the field of Metaverse globally.

Impact on the psyche and increase in violence

In the virtual world of Metaverse, using advanced equipment such as virtual reality headsets, the experience of many activities becomes more real. This issue, along with the advancement of technology and the improvement of the graphic level of virtual worlds over the past years, has caused the snake to worry; Because, in his opinion, the Metaverse can make it easier to carry out some violent activities in the real world.

However, it is also theorized that various activities in the metaverse world, such as killing zombies and eliminating enemies, have an essential effect on reducing stress and anger in the real world and can act as a way to control anger.

It should be noted that these concerns are not limited to the Metaverse and have been discussed many times in the past regarding video games and movie content.

Hacking and security issues

Like other digital technologies, hacking and penetration in the Metaverse is possible. If your avatar is hacked, the hacker can access your assets and the activities you perform.

According to Marr, authentication with the help of blockchain technology and technology Non-homogeneous tokens can solve this problem.

Interoperability in Metaverse

Wagner James believes that, just like the Internet space, we will see different platforms in the Metaverse field, each of which will work separately to meet the needs of a part of society.

Wang opposes this idea and believes collaboration solutions can enable global users to be active in the Metaverse and different platforms and use their avatars for other things.

The agreement of global organizations and protocols on these solutions can lead to interoperability and standardization of the Metaverse and, as in the vision of the Snow Crash novel, enable the creation of a unified metaverse.

In the meantime, there are differences of opinion regarding the equipment and technology required to obtain a believable and comprehensive experience in the digital space of Metaverse.

Wagner believes that most people can experience Metaverse with their smartphones, and there is no need to have a VR headset.

On the other hand, Zhang believes that a unified metaverse requires a lot of computing power to support the activities of millions of users. Currently, it is not possible to access such processing power in smartphones.

Where does the path of the metaverse end?

While going through a brutal winter in the cryptocurrency market, many investors seek promising projects with long-term growth potential. For this reason, metaverse projects are also trying to introduce themselves as infrastructure and platform for the future of the Internet by changing their goals and plans.

Today’s popular Metaverse projects are just the beginning, and Zhang thinks mainstream technology adoption may take ten years. He sees the approval by the European Parliament’s Economic Committee of the Comprehensive Regulation of Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), which aims to protect investors and encourage innovation, as an essential step forward for legislation in this sector that will help the growth of the Metaverse.

Wagner also considers the drivers of the growth and expansion of the use of Metaverse to be the beginning and the end of the age spectrum. Children welcome Metaverse due to its social nature and the possibility to experience games and entertainment, and on the other hand, older people who have a disability or social isolation can also be users of Metaverse; Because Metaverse allows them to do many activities through their avatars that are no longer possible for them.

For example, Wagner mentions an 86-year-old guitarist he saw performing on the streets of the virtual world of Second Life.

Stephenson’s Metaverse; Is Snow Crash Real?

It is interesting to know that Stephenson, the creator of the Snow Crash novel, has recently launched a metaverse startup called Lamina1 in collaboration with one of the well-known and reliable Bitcoin activists, Peter Vessenes.

Vesens, one of the old and well-known developersBitcoinis, aims to provide an infrastructure to build something similar to Neal Stephenson’s imagination in the novel Falling Snow.

Lamina One is supposed to serve producers and activists in various fields, benefit from advanced technology, and provide a community to support those building the Metaverse.

Lamina One was developed with the vision of providing metaverse interoperability, and its development team believes that a platform like the Internet should be created where metaverses and small and large projects can collaborate and flourish.

FinaInternetsaw that large global companies managed to take control of many activities in the digital space. This theme has allowed them to eliminate companies and minor projects quickly. The Internet of the last generation, Web 1 and Web 2, could not achieve such a goal. But this process may be in Web 3, And the next generation’s Internet will change.

Metaverse is one of the new technologies with significant potential Internet and progress in financial and social fields.

However, as mentioned in this article, Metaverse has significant negative points that can inhibit its growth.

However, Zhang prefers to look at the glass half full and sees the Metaverse as a technology that will make a more diverse, just, and sustainable world available to more people, not just a few people or powerful and wealthy organizations. Be the final decision maker of many changes and activities.

Therefore, Zhang believes there should be a global collaboration by governments, investors, private organizations, and other similar organizations to ensure that people in underdeveloped countries can access more opportunities and that this technological growth and development leave no one behind.

According to Zhang, the issue should be considered internationally to witness a vast and integrated digital world like the Snow Crash metaverse.