Musk is the king of the metaverse

Source | Lujiazui magazine

Author | Bai Liang, Chen Lishan

Although the concept of the fire meta-universe and even the "definition" of the meta-universe is Roblox, which was shocked by the stock price at the time of listing, Zuckerberg has become a meta-universe with more than 3 billion users of social platforms such as Facebook and a series of hardware manufacturers such as VR and smart glasses, a series of technology-based startups such as vision, audio, artificial intelligence and other technology-based startups acquired in recent years, as well as the digital currency platform Dim (formerly known as Libra, which has not yet been officially issued) that has attracted the attention of the global central bank." Lead Big Brother".

Mark Zuckerberg announced on October 28, 2021 that Facebook changed its name to "Meta," which is part of the term "Metaverse." Zuckerberg has long claimed that Meta will become a metaversary company.

Controversy naturally followed. Among the many controversies, there is such an argument: the world is moving towards a fork in the road, one road is Zuckerberg-led "inward virtualization", and then some people call it the end of the inner volume, and even the end of mankind; the other way is Musk's "outward exploration of space", the sea of stars, is the way out for mankind.

Musk says the metaverse now looks more like a popular marketing term than a reality, and isn't seeing some convincing metaverse construction right now. But he also said it's conceivable what the future will look like in 10, 20 or 30 years. "The future of 2051 looks crazy."

The development of the world cannot be two very different directions, but multiple paths intertwined, forming a common direction, and the path to this direction is colorful, and all roads lead to Rome.

The world is made up of the real universe and the metacosm. The exploration of the metaverse and the real universe is intertwined and will be interactive, complementary and even integrated.

Even the highly developed metaverseal societies that people imagine to have the ability to evolve themselves still have to be based on the real universe. Like what:

First, human-machine connection. At present, people enter the metaverse relying on hardware devices such as VR helmets and induction gloves, mainly to solve the connection and interaction between humans and metaversms.

Second, energy. The metacosm cannot have a blackout. In the science fiction movie Blade Runner 2049, the "Great Blackout" is an important historical phase. The metaverse looks "light," but the energy used to build and maintain virtual worlds is not expected to be lower than, if not far, far more than most of our production lives in the real universe. From the perspective of the Internet, in order to maintain the permanent sustainability of energy, in addition to the technology of obtaining energy, there is another important factor: distributed energy supply and management.

Third, the Internet. The Internet that never stops, the Internet that gets faster and faster, the Internet that has no dead end coverage.

Fourth, data storage. Never-stop storage, storage that grows thousands of miles a day.

Without these conditions, the metaverse is just a partial, temporary application. If we look forward to (conjecture) the possibility of future technology and human exploration from a 30-year perspective, the current Musk has a unique advantage:

First, human-machine connection. At present, the main way to enter the metaverse is VR helmets, but from the VR boom in 2015 to the present, VR helmets have not made substantial progress in terms of volume, weight, standby time, and vertigo problems. Although Facebook owns Oculus, the global leader of VR, the number of users so far is not enough to cause "qualitative change".

This is also the direct reason why Musk is not optimistic about the current metaverse, "who will tie a 'damn' screen to their face all day long".

A more direct way to connect people and machines is the brain-computer interface. In The Matrix, the brain-computer interface is at the back of the head, and a finger-sized tube can be inserted to enter the virtual world. Musk's brain-computer interfaces are different, but they are progressing quickly.

Musk's company, Neuralink, develops implantable brain-computer interface technology. In August 2020, Neuralink tested it on three pigs and successfully read the pig's brain activity. The first high-bandwidth neural implant is currently being designed, and micron-scale lines will be inserted into brain regions that control movement to establish neural connections between the brain and the computer. Musk says he's delving into "the realm of science fiction" and claims that Neuralink allows humans to use telepathy to send concepts to each other and exist in a "preserved state" after they die, before putting them into a robot or another person.

Facebook also acquired BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACE startup CTRLLabs in 2019. Like most brain-computer interface innovators, CTRL-Labs uses wearables. At present, the most "radical" is Neuralink's implantable route.

Whether in the field of medical care, education or meta-universe, whether it is wearable devices or brain implants, in the short term, safe, convenient usability and practicality will become the core elements of occupying the market. But in the long run, the extent to which the human brain can participate in the evolution of information and intelligence, and interact directly with the physical world, will be the direction of technological development.

Second, the Internet. The Internet signal reaches the terminal, relying on the optical cable and the base station, how far the line is deployed, how dense the base station is, determines the reach of the network and the strength of the signal, so once you reach a remote area, you have to "find the signal" everywhere. Musk takes a different route, covering the globe with a network of satellites, namely Starlink.

In January 2015, Musk announced that SpaceX plans to launch about 12,000 communications satellites into orbit to provide Internet services, of which 1,584 will be deployed in low-Earth orbit 550 kilometers above Earth, a project named Starlink. At present, the Starlink program has launched more than 1,000 satellites and begun to provide Internet services. According to media reports, relevant documents show that SpaceX is also preparing to add another 30,000 satellites, bringing the total number of satellites to about 42,000.

In December 2021, speed measurement platform Speedtest conducted the third quarter of 2021 satellite network speed test in 12 countries and regions, including the United States, Canada, and France. StarLink was the fastest, at 87.25Mbps, a slight drop in speed compared to the second quarter (which may be related to a surge in user volume) but also well ahead of second-place HughesNet (19.3Mbps).

Third, star distribution and connection. The birth of the Internet is the need for distribution and connectivity. In the 1960s, during the Cold War, the U.S. Department of Defense invented the original Internet (The Arpa Network) to defend against a nuclear strike from the former Soviet Union to achieve the purpose of "distributed" security: after some command points were destroyed, other command points could work and connect with each other.

People talk about the metaverse, like to talk about civilization, if from the perspective of the universe and civilization, human beings need to establish interstellar distribution, in order to truly ensure the continuation of human civilization. From a cosmic point of view, the Earth is actually very fragile. Therefore, interstellar energy bases, interstellar hardware manufacturing bases, and interstellar networks are indispensable.

At present, in the business world, Musk's business group is closest to this goal: with a clear interstellar colonization plan and continuous advancement, the introduction of global energy technology for the manufacture of electric vehicles and space engines, intelligent manufacturing technology, the most likely to develop into a star chain of the interstellar Internet, the most direct exploration of human-machine connections, etc.

Therefore, the development of the metaverse is inseparable from Musk (the direction of exploration represented). Musk's exploration is also inseparable from the metacosm. For example, in interstellar exploration, the planets that humans can currently reach and colonize are very different from the way of life, lifestyle and culture of the earth, and the metacosm will become an important way of social and cultural life of human alien colonies, and will also be an important way for human interstellar communication and the construction of interstellar society.

Since the metacosm is a concept proposed by science fiction, and Musk's generation of technology entrepreneurs is also inspired and guided by science fiction (interested readers can search for reference to the discussion of "Muskism"), the future we look forward to today does not seem to be out of reach.

In the process of exploring the outer universe, human beings will inevitably develop a more powerful and abundant metacosm. Among the entrepreneurs in the current spotlight, Musk has the most advantages and possibilities of the king of the meta-universe.

There are talented people in the Jiangshan generation. In addition to lighting, the times are still nurturing what kind of new generation of creators, which is more worth looking forward to. Named 2021 Person of the Year by Time Magazine, Musk said in an interview, "I admire anyone who has made a positive contribution to humanity. ”

End.