Heuristically Defining the Metaverse

Metaverse Roadmap Event

The other night I cruised to EyeBeam for a Metaverse Roadmap meeting. Jerry Paffendorf, futurist and eSheeper, hosted the event and just finished blogging his take on it. The idea is to figure out just what the Metaverse will look like in the next ten years or so, and beyond.

I suppose the most difficult thing about this is that no one seems to agree on one definition of "Metaverse". Does this mean a shared virtual space? Avatars? Open standards? Do online video games count as part of the Metaverse? So different speakers talked about different aspects, and Jerry brought a bunch of quality speakers.

Tony Parisi somewhat stole the show. "The Metaverse is here!" Of course, he's partly pitching his products that utilize the x3d standard, but he's also been in the Metaverse business for about a decade or so. He noted that the Metaverse was just like the Internet - multiple silos of content with interactive standards. Really, in essence, we're creating neat tools and examining what works and what doesn't. We're heuristically defining the Metaverse.

My Attempt at a Definition

Jerry ran a definition past me basically saying it's "Internet with dimentionality". I argue that the Internet already has dimentionality - two of them. I have usually explained it as "Basically a 3-D Internet", though it's clear there are plenty of things for which HTML is well suited. So, as best as I can figure, the Metaverse is "a manifestation of the Internet into a shared space not limited by 2-Dimensions".

You try and do better. *grin*

It's a small (virtual) world, after all

What always strikes me as odd and intriguing as I attend these real world events is meeting people whom I've previously only known online. Thursday night proved three such examples, including Tony, Rik, and Frank. Frank's meeting was especially funny because I roped a friend of mine to come, and he has only been in Second Life a few months. Frank turned to him and greeted him first, recognising him from swing dance classes. My friend turns to me, "Ron, this is Frank. Frank, what is it you do again?" Then Frank, "Video and Machinima". Then things clicked.

I had spoken to Frank just the day before. It's freaky how small this world is sometimes, especially in the Metaverse community.

What I'm happy about is that the community is so open and accepting. It's ripe with people eager for more minds to come and aid with the task set before us. The people I meet are eager for people to collaborate with, which I suppose is expected from a medium whose very nature.