The Future Science and Art Forum "Cross-border" explores the "metacosmity": how will technology and human beings coexist?

The Future Science and Art Forum, jointly organized by the Future Forum, The Tin Chun Foundation and Titanium Media/Chainde, was held in Beijing on January 7

Beijing, January 9 (China News Network) (Zhang Weishuai) Under the "meta-universe", how will technology and human beings coexist? Around this topic, at the Future Science and Art Forum held in Beijing recently, a number of scientists and artists launched a "cross-border dialogue".

Gu Zhenqing, a contemporary art critic and independent curator, said that he hopes to stimulate the collision of scientific and artistic thinking and give some inspiration to the development direction of social ecology and economic ecology in the digital age.

How do science and art "connect"?

Some commentators have said that science and art are two ways for human beings to creatively grasp the world, and scientific discoveries, methods and knowledge often have an impact on art, and artistic means and methods will also have an impact on science through their application in science. So, is the power of scientific invention connected with the underlying logic of artistic creativity?

"Today's cultural information competition is to some extent very similar to the selection and competition of biological DNA sequences, but it occurs in the conscious cultural community of human beings." Wang Haoyi, a young director of the Future Forum and a researcher at the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that with the development of the digital information age, it is natural for the social form to develop in the direction of "digital + virtual reality".

Zhang Fan, a young scientist at the Future Forum and an associate professor of the Department of Astronomy at Beijing Normal University, said that whether it is the creation of science or the creation of art, it can stimulate each other from the inspiration of thinking.

Contemporary artist Sun Yuan reminded that whether it is science or art, creativity is not a single, but a comprehensive ability, and only by continuously having this comprehensive ability can it be called creative.

"Creativity in science and art is actually a different kind of thing, and we don't need to look at it separately." Miao Xiaochun, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, said that digital technology has opened up a new world for artistic creation. For example, he said that in recent years, he has been experimenting with the use of 3D printing technology to make sculptures.

How far is the "metacosm" developing?

"From the perspective of scientific and technological development, the concept of 'meta-universe' has opened up a vast ocean of digital technology, and there is still a lot of room for development in the future." Zhang Fan said.

In Wang Haoyi's view, there are still many deficiencies in science and technology from the realization of the idealized "meta-universe", and it may take more than 10 years of exploration and development.

Li Feifan, partner of Titanium Media Group and president of ChainDeChainDD, said that the "meta-universe" is the initial stage of the virtual world platform, and trends and concepts are still being discussed in the market. "What form people take to create higher-latitude social ways and generate more valuable ways of interacting is the core question we have to judge so far." He said.

Fei Jun, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, believes that the real "metacosm" is the universe itself, and "the 'metacosm' we are discussing today may only be an intermediary that connects human beings and cosmic energies to each other." He further pointed out that at present, people pay more attention to the superficial meaning of the "metaverse", such as life, socialization, office, consumption, etc., but they can continue to dig deeper into the philosophical meaning of the "metacosm".

"If the correlation between life forms is constructed in terms of a 'metacosm,' then it can help us open up a more complete view of the universe, which is a very imaginative concept." Fei Jun said.

What's next for developing the Metacosm?

Li Feifan proposed that the "metacosm" must build a stable value base based on the real world, and without distributed tokens, the blockchain ecosystem will be difficult to have a way out.

He said: "Although the big factories are currently creating a 'meta-universe', due to the decentralized nature of the 'meta-universe', it really plays a key role, contributing code and contributing art creation, is an Internet technician, believing that the 'meta-universe' era is also the dividend period of the younger generation." ”

In the view of contemporary artist Xue Lei, the establishment of the "meta-universe" needs to be completed by multiple dimensions of various community circles. At the same time, in the process of building a "metaverse", it is necessary to integrate regional regulations and cultures.

Chen Shuyu, special research assistant at the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced that there are two forms of digital content creation in the "metacosm", one is the traditional form, and the other is the creation of virtual digital content. "The traditional form of digital reconstruction is more expensive, and we are currently exploring low-cost creation and reconstruction technologies, such as reconstructing digital virtual objects through video shooting, and building a bridge between reality and virtual world." She said.

Gao Feng, an assistant professor and researcher at peking university's school of art, revealed that the team is currently developing a "meta-universe" platform, although there are many challenges, but the future application experience is worth looking forward to. "For example, we want to paint with Qi Baishi and talk about wine with Li Bai, which is impossible to achieve in reality." Through the 'metaverse', you may be able to experience the feeling of 'crossing'. (End)