Understanding the Metaverse E-Book

Nick Rosa

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 279

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

An expansive discussion of the mechanics, framework, and implications of the metaverse In Understanding the Metaverse: A Business and Ethical Guide, expert product and customer experience strategist Nick Rosa delivers a timely exploration of what is bound to be one of the most important technologies of our time. The author explains the technology that underpins the metaverse as it exists today and that will form the basis for its rapid evolution in the future. He also describes the commercial, ethical, and sociological implications of this technology, showing you the threats and opportunities that individuals and businesses are likely to encounter as they approach the metaverse for the first time. In the book, you'll discover: * How the technology is shaping the human evolution and society * How game mechanics and experience design are key to unlock the full potential of the Metaverse unlocking a new frontier for social interaction * How Blockchain, digital currencies, and tokenomics are opening a new financial landscape for brands, creators and communities * How Artificial intelligence and deep learning will shape the way businesses will conduct commerce in the Metaverse * The ethical implications of designing highly emotionally impactful immersive experiences * The potential dangers derived by the misuse of biometric and personal data to exploit consumer behaviour and for mass manipulation A thoroughly insightful discussion of a fascinating intersection of technology and humanity, Understanding the Metaverse belongs on the bookshelves of business leaders, technology enthusiasts, marketers, entrepreneurs, and anyone else with an interest in the next frontier of human achievement.

Leseprobe

Praise for Understanding the Metaverse

“The Metaverse is one of those generational transformative technologies that will disrupt all aspects of our lives. Nick’s book is a thorough guide that makes it understandable, and more importantly, actionable for a general business audience.”

—Alvin Wang Graylin, China President, HTC

“The metaverse is the future of fun, work, learning, and more and Nick Rosa’s book is an excellent guide leading you to that future.”

—Paul J. Zak, author of Immersion: The Science of the Extraordinary and the Source of Happiness

UNDERSTANDING THE METAVERSE

A BUSINESS AND ETHICAL GUIDE

NICK ROSA

This edition first published 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Nicola Rosa. All rights reserved.

This work was produced in collaboration with Write Business Results Limited. For more information on Write Business Results’ business book, blog, and podcast services, please visit their website: www.writebusinessresults.com, email us on [email protected] or call us on 020 3752 7057.

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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data

Names: Rosa, N. (Nicola) author.

Title: Understanding the metaverse : a business and ethical guide / Nicola Rosa.

Description: First Edition. | Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2023. | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022032492 (print) | LCCN 2022032493 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119911807 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119913641 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119913634 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Shared virtual environments—Social aspects. | Virtual reality. | Business—Computer programs. | Business ethics.

Classification: LCC HM742 .R667 2023 (print) | LCC HM742 (ebook) | DDC 302.30285—dc23/eng/20220804

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022032492

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022032493

Cover Design: Wiley

Cover Image: © solarseven/Getty Images

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND DEDICATION

I want to dedicate this book first and foremost to my parents Lina and Tommaso, who always enabled and encouraged me to pursue my passions and interests in full; and to my dear brother Francesco, whose determination, resilience and moral compass are a constant source of inspiration to me.

To Professor Tom Furness, for bestowing on me the great honour of writing the foreword of my book, and whose greatness, kindness and incredible career keep being a constant source of inspiration for thousands of leaders in the Metaverse business – many of whom have been his students at the University of Washington.

To the incredible pool of industry experts who contributed to some of the chapters of this book – Dr. Fadi Chehimi, Maria Mazzone, Jamie Solomon and my fellow geek Bob Gerard. You all fill my life with knowledge, inspiration and fun, and I feel blessed in having the privilege of calling you friends. I'll always be grateful for your help on this book.

To all the people who, during my career, gave me a platform to grow professionally and organically without forcing my path in any way, and taught me how to find my own steps. To the mentors and managers who became dear friends and an integral part of my life, Rocco ‘Ringo’ Anaclerio, Alex Catlin, Ian Hunt, Cian O'Hare, Marc Carrel‐Billiard and Dan Guenther.

To my closest, dearest friends Giuseppe, Cristina, Ben, Verena, Giada, Gianluca, Georgia, Max, Erik, Pasco, Fabio, Antonella, Daniel, Sam, Maria and Nikos, who are my extended family, whom I love deeply and I could never live without.

To my editor at Wiley, Annie Knight, who gave me the opportunity to write this book; and to Georgia Kirke at Write Business Results and her teammates Ivan Meakins and Katherine Lewis, who helped with the process.

And, last but not least, I want to thank you for picking up my book. I hope you'll find it interesting, informative, and, why not, fun! As in every Metaverse adventure, in the end, the thing that will mostly remain in your memory about this book will be the experience of reading it, and I hope you'll have a good one.

FOREWORD

“Tom Furness is an amalgam of Professor, Inventor, Virtual Reality Pioneer and Entrepreneur in a professional career that spans 56 years. He is currently a professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle, Washington, USA. Dr. Furness has published over 400 papers and conference proceedings and started 27 companies, two of which are traded on NASDAQ at a market capitalization of > $ 12 B (USD). He is a Fellow in the IEEE and a member of the Computer Society and Photonics Society of the IEEE. He is the founder and chairman of the Virtual World Society, a non‐profit for extending virtual reality as a learning system for families and other humanitarian applications. He has received four lifetime achievement awards for his work in photonics, electro‐optics, human interface technology, and education and is considered the ‘grandfather’ of virtual reality and augmented reality.”

Oh no … not another book about the Metaverse! That was my first reaction when Nick Rosa approached me to contribute a foreword to his book. Of course, I was honoured that he would ask me, but REALLY. I envisioned another tome saying, ‘Golly, gee, wow, now look at what we can achieve by melding the Internet with virtual reality, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, non‐fungible tokens, etc. – just think of the applications!’

However, the more I thought about this and actually read a draft of Nick's book, the more I realised that it IS a big deal! As we look back at the evolution of media, each advance from the printing press to telegraph, radio, film, television and the Internet was transformational. They didn't make the old way of doing things obsolete (we still read books, listen to the radio, watch TV and movies) as much as they added to our intellectual circumference by unfolding new dimensions that expand our experiences and connectivity. As radio was able to transport our ears to another place, television our eyes and the Internet our brains (or lack of brains), the Metaverse has become the ultimate transportation systems for our minds. As such, and with its global reach, it is key to uniting us to solve the problems that our civilisation faces and save the earth upon which we live.

From his experience as a thought leader in digital transformation at multiple global consulting services, Nick is uniquely positioned to see the potential impact of this emergence, especially in business, enterprise, education and government. In this book, Nick's intent was not to produce a technical how‐to‐do book as much as to provide a primer for business and government leaders to get a taste of what is coming and to prepare for the new emergence.

I keep thinking about the recent deployment of the Webb Space Telescope. The purpose of this new telescope is to gather and focus light … a special kind of light that we don't see with our eyes. Furthermore, it is important where the telescope is aimed with its many mirrors, so that its vision is not impaired or contaminated by the background, but instead is able to look outward and see afresh. To extend this as a metaphor, Nick's book is like the Webb Telescope. He has written it to focus our minds to help us see beyond the convention of the Internet and other historical media. In this way, its purpose is to enlighten us, so that we can grow a new comprehension of what lies ahead and plan for it.

These days, it is easy to become intoxicated (or should I say seduced?) by technology. We believe it can do anything, but believing this is so doesn't necessarily make us happy. When we contemplate the true power of the Metaverse to move minds, we have to give pause and realise that we are playing with fire, as the impact on the brain is unprecedented. It's true that such a fire can illuminate, keep us warm and generate steam to lift humanity, but, if not used carefully, it can also destroy us, this time from the inside out. For these reasons, Nick is quick to add caution to our intoxication because, like fire that can harm or heal, the impact of the Metaverse, good or bad, all depends on the responsible use of this technology.

Although it has been under development for many years, the key enabling technology for the Metaverse is virtual reality (VR). Yet, we still don't know the longitudinal impact of using virtual interfaces over long periods of time. Nor do we understand the power that misinformation conveyed through such an immersive medium can have on discourse, as it is difficult to unlearn what has been experienced in VR. So, this begs the question about the ethics of policing and/or censoring the open exchange of information in the Metaverse. One could envision an artificial intelligence police force that watches every comment, exchange and image shared in that future Metaverse. Do we really want that? These and other ethical questions need to be brought to the forefront as we develop and embrace this new reality. Nevertheless, haven't we experienced this type of conundrum before, like when we split the atom (or fused two atoms into one)? We understood with this advance that we were releasing enormous energy that could fuel our civilisation – or destroy it.

Read this book with these considerations in mind. Thank you, Nick, for this introduction to the new and burgeoning world of the Metaverse.

Tom FurnessSeattleJune 2022

INTRODUCTION

Are you ready to enter the Metaverse? The fact that you're reading this book tells me that you are, at the very least, curious about all it has to offer. Maybe you've simply heard the term thrown around and want to learn what it really is (you're not alone!) and how it could be of use to you and your business. You may be feeling overwhelmed by all the information that's out there and want to cut through the noise, to break this vast concept down into manageable chunks of information that you can digest.

I can tell you that there are a multitude of exciting use cases within the Metaverse already, and that many more will emerge in the coming months and years as we learn how to harness this new technology to enhance our lives and build businesses.

Through this book, you and I are about to embark on a journey of discovery through emerging technology. We are not seeking to reach a specific destination and move quickly from A to B; ours is a journey of exploration, one where there are exciting new things to uncover, as well as threats to tackle, in every corner of our virtual map.

What guides us on this journey is not where we are going – because, truthfully, none of us know where that will be – but your business goals and the values you want to convey to your customers as we take our first baby steps into this new, exciting world.

The Metaverse is like a greyed‐out map in an open‐world game, such as when you start playing the Nintendo videogame The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – the map is formed, but you don't know what you're going to discover as you start exploring. We are taking our first steps into the Metaverse, and we are not yet sure what characters, obstacles, challenges and opportunities we will find there. We might strike gold or uncover hidden treasures. We also might run into monsters and threats that need to be faced and tackled before we can continue our journey. We could face unexpected obstacles, like mountains that have to be scaled to allow us to see new horizons before us. We may find new communities who welcome and support us, and we will likely encounter trolls that need to be slain.

In the not‐too‐distant future, businesses across all industries will need to enter the Metaverse, whether they want to or not, much like businesses nowadays need a website and online presence to thrive. What I want to do through this book is to equip you with the tools, knowledge and awareness that you and your business will need as you make your first forays into this brave new digital world.

See this book as a box of loot that you pick up on your digital adventures. Inside, you will find tools, tips and useful strategies to better your understanding of the Metaverse and begin exploring the map.

Together, we will explore what the Metaverse is, how it works, its many use cases that we are already aware of, as well as look at why there are so many more we cannot yet see. I will also introduce you to some of the main threats and challenges that businesses and individuals face as the Metaverse evolves and grows, sharing potential solutions to make this an inclusive virtual world that all of us can enjoy and use to its full potential.

I will also explain some of the key elements of technology that underpin the Metaverse in its current form and which will provide the necessary foundations for its growth and evolution in the future – such as blockchain, cryptocurrency, AI and deep learning. I will build out the picture with you, helping you to turn some of the greyed‐out map into a world filled with technicolour and exciting opportunities. By the end of this book, I hope you will feel confident to set out and explore more of this uncharted territory on your own.

Before we land in the Metaverse, however, we're going to look at the role that technology has played in human evolution over the centuries. This is fundamental to understanding why the Metaverse is far from a fad and is, in fact, set to be truly transformational for human society.

CHAPTER 1TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN EVOLUTION

Imagine how incredible it must have been the first time people created fire. The awe at its properties; the pain of discovering it burns; the fear of the destruction it can wreak; the excitement over how it can be used to cook, heat and illuminate. Fire, like the invention of the wheel, is just one example of how technology and new discoveries have shaped our society. Throughout the course of human history, technology has played a major role in our evolution as a species.

However, since the first Industrial Revolution, there have been a series of ‘technology waves’ that have had a significant impact on the evolution of human society. Rather than incremental gains, these have appeared like tsunamis, flooding the world and changing it suddenly and irrevocably.

If we take the invention of the railway, which occurred during the second wave, we can see how this invention rippled out through society. Not only did it affect commerce, industry and tourism, but it also impacted, for instance, the urbanisation of rural areas in the United States. Rail transport made it easier for people to travel into cities and therefore changed the opportunities available to those living in more remote communities.

In more modern times, we have seen a similar shift in our behaviour as a society with the widespread adoption of mobile devices. We use them day in, day out; they have deeply impacted the way we communicate with one another, the way we work and the way we build relationships. How many of you would feel lost and naked without your smartphone in your pocket (I know I do!)?

These waves of technological innovation are not only about the discovery of a new technology. For true transformation to happen, technology, user experience and business models must all converge to create new, truly transformative products and services. This is a natural phenomenon that occurs with any new technology after a given amount of time; it is called ‘emergence’.

This is when we see disruptive technology changing society and our way of life. It's not enough to simply innovate with new technology; without the other two components, a well‐chiselled user experience and a scalable business model, it won't be adopted at scale and therefore won't have a society‐wide impact.

Emergence is what happens when one or multiple use cases using an innovative technology become highly successful and trump all the others that exist at the time.

Disruptive products and services, therefore, have a much broader impact than the technology that enables them. They reverberate around the world on a macro level. Look at the adoption of mobile phones as an example. It started slowly at the beginning of the 1980s, but it's only with the advent of smartphones that we have seen explosive adoption of the technology – thanks to the deep integration of smartphones with ecosystems of services and business models that work (app stores); a great and simple user experience (touchscreens); and the arrival of fast mobile data network technologies (EDGE and 3G) that supported rich media experiences. There are now twice as many smartphones in existence in the world as there are people on the planet1. When technology is distributed at this scale, it leads to macroscopic changes in the way society, the economy, welfare, politics and much more works. The next tech revolution we're entering, with the Metaverse and immersive technology, will have a profound impact on the way we work and the way we interact with other people. There will undoubtedly be currently unforeseeable changes to the way we live once this technology is integrated into our lives.

What is the Metaverse?

The easiest way to think about the Metaverse is as the next evolution of the Internet. There will be platforms within the Metaverse that offer content, experiences and the chance to live in different, virtual worlds. These platforms will, eventually, become interconnected. The vision is for us, as users, to be able to move seamlessly from one platform to the next.

The Metaverse will also incorporate augmented reality (AR) content that will be overlaid onto the physical world. The rise of wearable tech devices (which I'll discuss later) will mean that this becomes as natural to us as using Google Maps to navigate our way around a new city. In Chapter 3, we'll explore what the Metaverse will look like, where the concept has evolved from and the different ways its evolution could go.

In order for all of this to be possible, certain technological advances will be required. Many of these are already on their way, but most are being created at the time this book is being written, as you'll learn in this chapter and throughout the rest of this book. Let's start by looking at how technology has already changed our reality, and how it has the power to do so again.

Reality is constantly evolving

The reality we're living in right now is very different to the reality we were living in 15 years ago. In the 2020s, our reality has been shaped by the advent of new technologies, which makes it more complex than our reality from 15 or 20 years ago. In turn, the reality that we're moving towards will be different and more complex than the one we're currently living in.

Right now, if you leave your house without your mobile phone, I expect that you will return home to get it, because your world (your reality) is less meaningful and less experiential without it. In the future, our reality will be enhanced by a layer of digital content and information that is superimposed over our vision.

In our future world, we will be able to customise our reality to whatever we want it to be. If we wake up in the morning and the sky is grey, we will have the ability to transform the sky to blue. We are about to enter a world where we literally become omnipotent in terms of how we're seeing what is around us, which is something we've never had before.

Of course, we've created worlds in videogames, and we've already created fictional realities in movies and in the theatre. Since the dawn of the human race, people have created fictional worlds to tell stories and, soon, for the first time in human history, we will be able to shape reality as we want to see it. This is something that will become more and more prominent in the future. At the time of writing, we can only achieve this through glasses and headphones to allow us to see and hear this alternative reality. But, in the future, maybe we will also be able to use haptics (transmitting and understanding information via touch) or even brain implants to broadcast the information directly in our neural system.

Of all the senses, however, it is sight that is likely to be the most important, certainly initially, because the optic nerve has the largest bandwidth directly to the brain, and therefore visual information is incredibly important to us in terms of decoding the world to our reality.

So much of the content being created for the Metaverse is visual in nature. We're literally designing new 3D worlds, and how they look is just as important as how they function. As the Metaverse is going to be such a visual medium, we have to consider the ways in which it can shape how we perceive the world. A focus on visual content will improve the sense of immersion of the user, blurring the lines and blending the reality of the Metaverse with our physical reality. The more technology evolves to bring our other senses with us into the Metaverse, the more immersive the experiences will become and the more challenging it will become to separate physical from digital reality.

Navigating the ethical maze

The Metaverse has the potential to be truly amazing. We could help kids from anywhere in the world get university education, for instance. We will be able to interact with our loved ones around the world in much more meaningful ways than just using a video call. At the same time, however, the technology could be used for nefarious purposes, such as mass manipulation, or to enable someone to simulate child pornography. On the one hand, you could argue that's better, because no real children will be involved, but on the other it's still fundamentally wrong. Or those who take drugs to escape their current reality could turn to the Metaverse instead, which could become like a drug itself. There are a great number of philosophical and ethical conversations we need to have within society when we are building new realities. We will need to navigate our way through these ethical mazes.

We also have to ask whether these realities are going to have the same value as the real world or not. How are we going to treat them? What's the level of reach of our current legislation in terms of human norms in those realities?

The reason I'm raising these questions and challenges now is that, when we're exploring the business ethics of operating in the Metaverse, we need to be aware not only of the incredible possibilities it presents, but also the potential dangers, so that we can navigate towards this new technology and new era of human reality and evolution with a conscious mind.

Balancing the positive with the negative

There is always a backlash to the arrival of new technology, and there are also challenges that come with the introduction and adoption of technology on a societal level. Take the Internet and social media, for example, where there have been various concerns and issues surrounding security, privacy and data, such as the multiple hackings and cyber warfare attacks that happened in the last decade or the Cambridge Analytica scandal that enabled mass manipulation and attempts to influence sovereign state elections from an enemy state. On the other hand, the Internet has enabled us to work remotely, access information from wherever we are in the world and given more people access to education.