Metaverse

The metaverse, an immersive space where people can interact with each other in real-time and engage with virtual objects and environments, has seen rapid growth in the past year. This growth has been fuelled by technological advancements, the increasing accessibility of high-speed internet, and the rise of mobile devices. The metaverse has the potential to have a significant impact on the global economy and society.

It is a global phenomenon. As more people from different parts of the world join metaverse platforms, they bring their unique perspectives, cultures, and experiences with them. This will lead to a diverse and multicultural metaverse community that continues to grow and evolve.

The geographical growth expectations of the metaverse are not limited to any specific region or country. As more countries improve their internet infrastructure and invest in virtual reality technology, more people are expected to join metaverse platforms.

The global metaverse market is highly competitive with more than 500 companies, made up of global and regional companies as well as a large number of country-niche players and who are the primary metaverse developers.

Global companies control roughly 10% of the market, while regional players hold the second-largest share. Some of the major players in the market include Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tencent Holdings Ltd., Roblox Corporation, Nextech AR Solutions Inc., Unity Software Inc., Bytedance, Epic GamesInc.,Decentraland, Antier Solutions, and Alibaba Group Holding Limited.

The World Metaverse Council (WMC), a global organization that aims to promote the development and standardization of the metaverse, endeavors to establish best practices, ethical standards, and governance models for the metaverse.

The World Metaverse Council is a think tank that seeks to predict the future of the metaverse. They analyze trends, identify opportunities, and propose solutions for problems that are emerging in the metaverse.

By examining current trends, it is expected that these regions will lead the board of metaverse activity:

North America: North America is expected to dominate the metaverse market due to the presence of major players such as Facebook, Google, and Microsoft. The region is also home to a large number of startups and venture capitalists investing in the metaverse. The United States is expected to be the largest market in the region, followed by Canada and Mexico.

Asia Pacific: The Asia Pacific region is expected to witness significant growth in the metaverse market due to the increasing adoption of virtual and augmented reality technologies and the growing gaming industry in the region. The region is home to several leading players in the metaverse market, such as Tencent, NetEase, and Nexon. China, Japan, South Korea, and India are expected to be the major markets in the region.

Europe: Europe is also expected to witness significant growth in the metaverse market due to the presence of major players such as Unity Technologies, Ubisoft, and Crytek. The region is also home to several startups and venture capitalists investing in the metaverse. The United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy are expected to be the major markets in the region.

Rest of the World: The metaverse market is also expected to witness significant growth in the rest of the world, particularly in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. The increasing adoption of virtual and augmented reality technologies, the growing gaming industry, and the rising popularity of social media platforms are driving the growth of the metaverse market in these regions.

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Overall, the metaverse market is expected to be globally dispersed, with major growth expected in North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe.

The geographical dispersion of the metaverse has been an exciting development that has brought people from all over the world together in an immersive space.

As we continue to navigate this ever-expanding digital world, it is essential to consider the impact that the metaverse may have on our lives and society. How will the metaverse change the way we interact with each other and how businesses engage with their audiences? What are the potential risks and benefits of this new technology? And how can we ensure that it is used responsibly and ethically?

The answers to these questions are yet to be fully realized, but one thing is certain: the metaverse is a fascinating development that is set to change the way we think about virtual reality and our place in the world.

Metaverse

The metaverse is a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal, and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets.

Augmented reality is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including the senses of sight, touch, hearing, taste, and smell. AR can be defined as a system that incorporates three basic features: a combination of real and virtual worlds, real-time interaction, and accurate 3D registration of virtual and real objects.

Virtual reality is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world.

At the current stage of proto-metaverse, the virtual world can also be facilitated by flat-screen personal computers and mobile devices that do not provide the same level of immersion but are instrumental for reach, tests, and adoption.

Web3

Web3 is a new iteration of the World Wide Web which incorporates concepts such as decentralisation, distributed ledger technologies, and token-based economics.

Web1 refers to the first stage of the World Wide Web’s evolution when content creators were few with the vast majority of users simply acting as consumers of content.

Web2 refers to websites that emphasise user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture, and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, and devices) for end users.

Web 1 (1990-2003) Web 2 (2003-now) Web 2 (2003-now)
Premise Read-only content Read and write content Read, write, and own experiences/value
Construct Centralised by company Centralised by platforms Decentralised by networks
Interaction Static one-sided consumption Participatory two-sided Participatory two-sided consumption
Trust model Content providers Platform providers Underlying technology and smart contract code
Monetisation model Advertising-based Advertising and centralised commerce-based Advertising and decentralised commerce-based

Source: EY

The terms decentralised organisation and distributed organisation are often used interchangeably, despite describing two distinct phenomena. JP Vergne proposes distinguishing decentralisation, as the dispersion of organisational communications, from distribution, as the dispersion of organisational decision-making.

A distributed ledger is the consensus of replicated, shared, and synchronised digital data that is geographically spread (distributed) across many sites, countries, or institutions.

Tokenomics determine two things about a token-based economy: the incentives that set out how the token will be distributed and the utility of the tokens that influence its demand. Supply and demand have a huge impact on price, and projects that get the incentives right can surge in value.

Disambiguation

The Metaverse can be built in Web2, it does not presuppose Web3. Web3 can be deployed without the Metaverse, it does not require the Metaverse.

The Metaverse can be decentralised, use distributed ledger technologies, and support token-based economics. Just like the World Wide Web is a web of decentralised sites that can be interlinked or function independently, the Metaverse will be a network of decentralised immersive virtual spaces that can be interconnected or function independently.

Most cryptocurrencies are by-products of blockchains. Blockchains have many other applications than cryptocurrencies. Blockchains are types of distributed ledger technologies. There are many other types of distributed ledger technologies.

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Whereas with the advent of new, borderless, virtual worlds, we the community want to see the creation of worlds where human beings and their avatars shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want.

Whereas it is essential that In the Metaverse as in the real world, human rights should be protected by the rule of law.

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between Metaverses.

Whereas the peoples of the Foundational World Metaverse Council reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom in all Metaverses.

Now, therefore,

The Foundation Members of the First World Metaverse Council proclaim this Universal Metaverse Council Declaration to form a common standard for Metaverses everywhere:

  • Strive for an open, transparent, interoperable, decentralized Metaverse accessible to all.
  • Build global collaboration, sharing technical advancements to improve the functionality of Metaverses everywhere
  • Develop and share standards for global Metaverse adoption
  • Promote teaching and education to encourage respect for Metaverse rights and freedoms and transparency to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance in all Metaverses
  • Connect and merge resources, to accelerate the adoption of open, free Metaverses, promoting an open metaverse built on shared open source protocols, open infrastructure, and an open financial system
  •  Develop protocols to ensure that creators, innovators building them, developers building on them and players playing in them are fully rewarded for their contribution.
  • Develop guidelines so that people both in the real world and in virtual worlds have rights to freedom and wellbeing and that insofar as avatars can be viewed as virtual representations or modes of presentations of real people and must be perceived as virtual purposive agents, and have moral rights and obligations similar to those of their real counterparts.
  •  Develop guidelines on data security, privacy, and rights and consumer protection in the Metaverse.
  •  Develop guidelines to mitigate physical and mental health impacts of the Metaverse.
  •  Develop guidelines on informed consent be possible in the Metaverse.
  •  Develop guidelines to protect children in the Metaverse.
  •  Collaborate to create an equitable, inclusive and truly decentralized Metaverse and maximize the incredible economic and social possibilities and minimize harms.
  •  Invite Metaverse creators, artists, innovators, thinkers, governments and to support the mission of the World Metaverse Council.

Signed on the First day of October 2022, at Lake Bled, Slovenia

World Metaverse Council launches at World Future Verse Conference, Lake Bled Slovenia, 1 October 2022

Tadej Slapnik, Chairman of the Organizing Committee for World Future Verse Conference launched the Bled Declaration establishing the World Metaverse Council. The three day conference, the biggest Metaverse conference in Eastern Europe showcased start ups, policy makers, live entertainment companies and game developers and successful early use cases for the potential of the metaverse. With the development of 5G communication technology and XR technology, Metaverse has no space-time constraints and offers endless possibilities.

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There is, as yet no world body bringing metaverse developers and creators together globally. In his announcement, he explained “ with the advent of new, borderless, virtual worlds, we want to see the creation of worlds where human beings and their avatars shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want. In founding the World Metaverse Council, we seek to promote the development of friendly relations between Metaverses and to form a common standard for Metaverses everywhere.”

Diego Diego Gutiérrez Zaldívar, CEO & Co-founder @ IOVLabs, Argentina, told the conference, “we are at the early stage of the development of this transformational technology and it is important to strive for an open, transparent, interoperable, decentralized Metaverse accessible to all and to develop guidelines on data security, privacy, and rights and consumer protection, especially of children) in the Metaverse”.

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The World Metaverse Council will be open and decentralized and will promote collaboration to create an equitable, inclusive and truly decentralized Metaverse and maximize the incredible economic and social possibilities and minimize harms. A key initiative will be to promote teaching and education on Metaverse accessible globally. I will connect and merge resources, to accelerate the adoption of open, free Metaverses, promoting an open metaverse built on shared open source protocols, open infrastructure, and an open financial system.

Nena Dokuzov, Head of Project Group for New Economy and Blockchain Technologies at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Slovenia concluded, “We invite Metaverse creators, artists, innovators, thinkers, governments and to support the mission of the World Metaverse Council”.

Dr Jane Thomason, Co-founder of the British Blockchain and Frontier Technology Association was at the launch and said “The Metaverse has significant ethical challenges. It has amazing potential, but significant risks,” she says. “ We need an open and inclusive Metaverse with proper safeguards. We are building the future, and should ensure that life in the Metaverse is better and more equitable and inclusive than the world we have now. The World Metaverse Council can provide a platform for leading the dialogue”.

World Metaverse Council invite you to join us at MetaCop27 event on 17Th of November 2022 11-12 h (CET), where will be presented World Metaverse Council.

World Metaverse Council will be presented by its founders Dr jane Thomason, Loretta Joseph, Tadej Slapnik, Pilippe Rixhon and Nena Dokuzov.

To join us, please go to https://distriverse.io/ then choose MetaCop27. Fill in your data, choose you avatar and step in Metaverse.