The iterative speed of the Internet has exceeded people's imagination, from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, and then Web 3.0.
Whether we want to admit it or not, the era of metaverse has really arrived, and its rise is also an inevitable phenomenon when society develops to a certain stage. With the development of the times, the number and popularity of creators continue to grow, and the demand for new ways of community participation and interaction with creators is also increasing.
People's social needs are like a cycle, always jumping back and forth between being themselves and acting as others, and the underlying logic of social interaction lies in: what defines "me".
When "being yourself" became a national social label, folk star-making apps such as Douyin and Kuaishou, as well as variety shows such as Qipashuo and talk shows prevailed. As Andy Warhol said: Everyone has 15 minutes to become famous. Everyone is eager to stand on the stage, show themselves and tell their own stories. However, when the demand of "being yourself" floods the whole society, there is too much individuality but there is no individuality, and the public's self-awareness gradually converges. , standing on the cusp of the times.
Metaverse should have several characteristics
① Sufficiently large: Huge refers to a large user base and a large number of active online users, and second refers to rich content with broad explorable and open space, content and gameplay.
②Strong sociability: As a competition and substitute for the real world, the core operating motivation of Metaverse is social interaction.
③ Continuous operation: Taking the real world as a benchmark, the operation of the metaverse is also uninterrupted. As a player, whether online or offline, things in the metaverse will still develop according to the established trajectory.
④Deep immersion: The replacement of the real world itself is reflected by the sense of immersion, or called the "synchronization rate" with the real world.
⑤ High degree of openness: Allow players to join and move freely, and allow third parties to freely add and modify content.
Based on the above characteristics, we can easily judge whether some of the products around us are Metaverse: "Glory of the King" is not Metaverse, because it does not meet the definition of "continuous operation" and the system is not open enough; social platforms such as QQ, WeChat, and Soul Although the degree of immersion is slightly worse than that of the game, it already has the prototype of the metaverse (virtual social interaction) in other dimensions; "Unbounded Spiritual Mind-Origin of Mountains and Seas" is very close, but it still needs to be improved in terms of "deep immersion".
Social Elements in the Metaverse
So how are the social elements in the Metaverse embodied? First of all, interaction is the most important element in social networking. If the interactive experience is not good, it will definitely not attract more people to use it. Metaverse provides users with another tool to express themselves through technical foundations such as 3D and virtual reality, and combines the real world with the virtual world, allowing everyone to see themselves and their friends differently. This method breaks through text and traditional social interaction, and uses a new custom method to give users a better social experience.
Secondly, the "trinity" model of creators, brand owners, and fans can be easily built in Metaverse. Many well-known brands have begun to accelerate the exploration of commercial use cases in the Metaverse. In this brand-new business model, the degree of brand freedom becomes higher, and it is easier to realize it. Merchants can break the traditional restrictions such as regions and markets, shorten the distance between brand owners and users, and provide consumers with more Good virtual experience.
In some metaverses, we will see the release of related virtual props. These props can digitally present the content produced by creators/IPs. In addition, creators/IPs can also release their peripherals for sale and support real-time account sharing. , and can be sold in conjunction with the real virtual peripherals. What's more interesting is that some metaverses will also launch customized virtual blind boxes, with very diverse gameplay.
Not only that, creators and network experts can gain greater flexibility in the metaverse, and fans can also get incentives more easily. They create and share content on the internet, attract attention, and some even make a living doing it.
Take UTONMOS's "Spiritual Mind Unbounded-Origin of Mountains and Seas" as an example, its social attributes, 3D synchronous simulation, closed economic system and other characteristics of the game make it have a high similarity with Metaverse.
From the perspective of function settings, the game "Spiritual Mind Unbounded-Origin of Mountains and Seas" pays more attention to the social and entertainment functions of Metaverse products. But it will not focus on a certain need clearly.
From the perspective of user experience, "Spiritual Mind Unbounded-Origin of Mountains and Seas" considers the orientation of the main functions of Metaverse products, and comprehensively considers that the main purpose of users using this Metaverse product is to expand social circles while entertaining. Gain digital benefits while working both ways.
At present, the Metaverse is essentially just a cutting-edge virtual ecological concept, with comprehensive but immature technology: Although Internet technology has developed to a relatively comprehensive stage, in order to create the Metaverse and support its continuous operation, various The technology is not mature enough. Because the huge number of users of the Metaverse should start at the billion level, without sufficient computing power and speed, it is impossible to support the operation of the Metaverse. Moreover, the metaverse needs transactions and content output just like the real world. How to ensure the continuous incentive of the closed-loop economy is the core driving force for the continuation and expansion of the metaverse.
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Only when technology is transformed into industrial applications can it exert its real value. To implement technology, investment of time, capital, and talents are indispensable, and the capital market has always been impatient with long-term realization of value.
It is true that it is valuable for capital to choose to invest in Metaverse, which is closer to the revolutionary concept of "subverting the world" than new energy vehicles and autonomous driving. The question is, how far are we from that day?
At the moment when the material needs are greatly satisfied, people's social needs have reached an unprecedented high point. The social relationship between people tends to be complicated, and online social interaction is gradually becoming completely virtual.
It can be said that the Metaverse is the ultimate form of social networking. In the future, the entire metaverse itself will become a conceptual world of another dimension that includes all sensory experiences. By then, what social networking has brought to real-world human beings has long been not only the perception and emotional dependence on the real world, but also calculated "another way of living" for human beings.