I have been hearing a spike in the use of the term "Metaverse" in popular media. This article is the first I've read that seemed to have a broad grasp of the phenomena and it's implications. Many here are "veterans" of some facet of this experience, so I am curious what your experiences/thoughts/opinions might be:
https://venturebeat.com/2021/08/15/the-metaverse-will-not-look-the-way-facebook-imagines-it/ This concluding aspiration in the article was refreshing albeit likely to be lost in the 'noise' of egos struggling for money, attention, control, power: /We want technology in service of humanity. Privacy as a virtue. Amplification not emulation. Presence not escapism. And authenticity over influence./ I was "there" when "cyberspace" (1982) and "metaverse" were coined (in the sense that I was reading the fiction they came from (Gibson, Stephenson, et al) and followed the ensuing discussions in many venues (including the closest things to an extant cyberspace/metaverse at the time, being UUNET and various BBSs). These concepts inspired (but not necessarily constrained) my own engagement in online/virtual presence/experiences up to and including my participation with this mail list. I could list of dozens of "phases" in the development/emergence of this technology-mediated-shared-metaphorical-reality as well as many more 'islands' of same (e.g. the WELL, USENET, AOL, YAHOO, MySpace, FaceBook, etc.) that were really archipelagos which have merged somewhat seamlessly into proto-continents, though the GoogleVerse and the AppleVerse and the FaceBookVerse have had some tectonic-like collisions along the way. I prefer to ground MY apprehension of all this in the older, less technological precursors as referenced in the work of folks like Joseph Campbell ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Myth <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Myth> ) and Teilhard de Chardin ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noosphere <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noosphere> ). As a fan/practitioner in VR/AR, I am jazzed (and alarmed) by the rate of development (and adoption) of full-sensorium virtual/augmented/mixed reality technology. I use a $300 Oculus2 headset these days which exceeds the $25K FakeSpace Wide5 of 25 years ago in virtually all respects. SGs work with Ambient/Surface computing as exemplified in his SimTable product is a very early example of what will surely emerge in the next few years (months?) with all the hype-energy behind it. The widespread use of video chat meetings (e.g. Skype/Zoom/etc) expanded by the shut-in of COVID has really familiarized many with the higher-bandwidth/fidelity/sensorial possibilities of virtual collaboration. I don't indulge often or much in vFriAM but it seems to have worked well for the hardcore attendees for well over a year now. I don't expect to see many/any of you/us appear in spatial.io or vrchat rooms anytime soon, but one never knows... - Steve
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