Dale Fletter Blog Site

Sorry for the long time since my last post; my health gets in the way.

The title here is an echo of this Bill Gates essay, https://medium.com/@HeathEvans/content-is-king-essay-by-bill-gates-1996-df74552f80d9

The basic thought is that despite all the technology, it is the content the technology delivers that drives behavior more than just the naked technology. So while it can facilitate or stifle, technology is and will always be secondary to the content delivered to the person.

What does this say about the future of any metaverse? The dominant content in the metaverse is not text or graphics but visual objects. Graphic design has primarily been a two-dimensional project. But the metaverse demands good quality architecture to structure the world. For it is architects that have learned how to structure space to achieve human ends. The idea of avatars scrambling about a barren wasteland miles from others or buried in an undiferentiated scrum is not conducive to satisfying most human needs. It will take talented architects to design and supervise the construction of a cyber realm filled with inhabitable objects, both for individual and social needs.

The metaverse has been most successful so far in the gaming space. That area has been a laboratory for designers to experiment with alternative approaches. I am impressed with how Roblox is developing and there seems to be progress toward more playable spaces. Many other game developmentn companies have been making progress. But these efforts always seem like disjoint walled gardens with no ability to inhabit a 3d space while navigating between the various gardens. This drive to create a metaverse to contain all the VR spaces drives (drove) the big players to envision that they would create a singular experience that would be the container for all the other spaces. Such top-down thinking is only superficially appealing.

I don’t know of anyone who thinks they understand how we can create a realm that would support millions of content creators who build out their content in an ubiquitous space. The barriers are far less technological than economic and social. Many architects have devoted their careers to urban design and those skills will transfer to the cyber realm, allbeit with obvious adaptations such as the universal physics and navigation systems within the space.

The gaming world has demonstrated that given a chance individuals will create content and often without regard to recompense. To motivate larger projects, some ability to gain income from their effort must be created. So far gaming companies have done a poor job and many have suggested their are exploitive of their customers. A world that is dependent upon some master to create every object that can be used and extract a financial cost for using it is not likely to create the foundation for a metaverse that can scale. What we need is a metaverse that allows for the construction of “buildings” that communicate with the liminal space in a seamless fashion.

To go from any liminal space into a specific space for program use can involve some form of transition. When going into an ice skating rink, once must change shoes. Going into a gym requires changing clothese. This will often involve some form of authenticationg, checking in at the desk, for example. Since these are points of friction, they must be minimized to the extent possible. But I doubt they can be eliminated.

Our physical universe is dominated by economics. This will be true of any large-scale metaverse too. Let me spend a few minutes musing about how this structures the space.

To have any internet access at all, in 2024 it requires access to the internet. That is controled through securing rights to an ISP, either directly by subscription, or via an insititution that provides it as a service. One hopes that in time the metaverse at its most primative level becomes immediately available for “browsing” without further barrier. Where we have web pages now, there can be either those same pages or 3D objects depending upon the browser being used.

A browser is an affordance in the space. Just as someone with a car or wheelchair will experience navigation in the space differently, the experience on the internet might be very different. And in fact there is no reason every object in that liminal metaverse cannot offer some access regardless of limitations. So an audio verion or version that overcomes limitations in vision can be offered in parallel. This cannot be enforced over the private spaces but since the internet is supposed to be a public accommodation I feel this is what is needed.

The ability to browse the metaverse public space should not require payments. But since commerce is a major component and driver of any online space, it will be required for entry into many private spaces. What will the payment system of the metaverse be? How can people all over the globe overcome the national aspect of the banking systems? Clearly a cybercurrency is most likely to dominate as it is not tied to any particular vendor or nation.

I’ll stop here as I want to do some research on the interchange mechanisms of cyber to fiat currencies.