The metaverse refers to a virtual space that enables people to work and interact with each other through cutting-edge technologies covering VR, AR, blockchain, digital twin and more. 

The word “Metaverse” was first put forward in a fiction, Snow Crash, which described a huge virtual world that people can control their avatars and compete with each other, while for now, the scenes described are still unreachable. Snow Crash firstly put forward the concepts of “metaverse” and “avatar”, people can have their virtual “avatars” in the “metaverse”.  

About the metaverse, the reliable source is from Doctor Vernor Vinci, an American professor in mathematics and computer, in his book Real Name, he creatively constructed an immersive virtual world achieved through brain-computer interface technology. The metaverse itself is not a technology, but a concept instead, which needs to be integrated with new technologies such as 5 G, 6 G, AI, big data and more.

The Core Technologies Applied in the Metaverse Include:

1, Extended Reality, including VR and AR. Extended reality technology can enable an immersive experience and tackle the problems that mobiles can’t tackle.

2, Digital Twin, by this technology, we can mirror the real world into the virtual world, which mean that in the metaverse, we can see our own virtual avatars.

3, Building economic system through Blockchain technology. With the further development of the metaverse, we can have a more immersive experience than ever before. In the metaverse, we can not only consume and spend money, but also make a profit. There is a complete set of economic system in the virtual world.

As a synthetic application that integrates multiple digital technologies, to achieve the success of the metaverse, two technical breakthroughs are needed: 

The first is single breakthroughs in XR, digital twin, blockchain, artificial intelligence and more, to achieve fundamental features in immersiveness and avatars.

The second is breakthroughs driven by the integration and combination of multiple technologies.

The Social Factors and Scientific Technologies that Promote the “Metaverse”

On the one hand, after many years of development, the underlying technologies such as VR, AI, blockchain, 5G, wearable sets are maturing; On the other hand, online office and online courses are becoming popular owing to the pandemic. People are spending more time in the virtual space, and online living is playing an important role now.

In addition, the boundary between online living and offline living is fading nowadays. People can participate in an online conference by their avatars, and interact with each other through voices and postures. These use cases have demonstrated that we can visualize the metaverse by generating vivid videos by VR, AR, virtual people and computer technology.

These innovations will make people more confident on technological development and more hopeful to the future!