Hey Tiger! Sometimes you gotta be up to be down. Sometimes you gotta flip the narrative. Do more by doing less. Less scrolling negative social feeds, more nourishing the mind. Less procrastination, more creative inspiration. Take a quick prowl through our curated jungle of positive news bites to be ahead of the working week before it pounces.
News on the metaverse is ping ponging between positive creator economy discourse and a Zuckerbergian meta-monopoly. It’s a meta-verse versus a met-averse, and it’s not a virtual reality, it’s here. Let’s play!
metaverse
noun
a hypothesized iteration of the internet, supporting persistent online 3-D virtual environments through conventional personal computing, as well as virtual and augmented reality headsets.
1) Listen: The metaverse needs to shake off its algorithmic overlords. Godfather of virtual reality, Jaron Lanier, says the metaverse must take on a new economic model called data dignity. Data creates the raw materials for the virtual world, people create data, therefore people should be paid. Intelligent metaphors abound in this NYT poddy!
2) Watch: Meta-humans. The creator economy has democratised access to meta-human creation. Too much to get your head around? As far as creativity goes, the technology advancements are profound. How non-meta humans use these tools could enhance empathy, advance communication, and bond diverse players over common causes. What will we learn from our meta-selves? More importantly, what will we teach them?
3) Slide: Understanding the real players in the metaverse. Blogger Jon Radoff says investments and decisions made now will determine whether an egalitarian future is metaversally possible: one that offers the greatest variety of experience, powered by creators who earn a living at it — or one defined by the next wave of gatekeepers and rent-takers.
4) Quick pick: A meta-city with Seoul? The South Korean capital aims to establish itself as a “future emotional city.” Soon, Seoul’s citizens will be able to put on their VR headsets to meet with avatar officials for consultations, visit vividly reproduced landmarks, and attend mass-gathering events. My question… with travel and tourism accounting for 68 billion USD for South Korea’s GDP… and the meta-spend costing 3.3 million USD, what will meta-social currency be worth to the economy?
5) Watch: Zuckerberg spruiking the metaverse. While it kind of kills me to share this promo vid from Meta, it’s dangerous enough to be an armchair critic in the real world let alone a hypothesised reality. The advancements FB is working on bring up a number of interesting questions. Will we work in the metaverse? Will we connect our current social handles to our meta-avatar experiences? Or will we take on a new identity? For Zuck, the real metagame is getting young people to strap on Oculus headsets instead of watching TikTok videos.
6) Read: The metaverse is oldskool. A snappy, whip-smart history of the metaverse from an early creator and the accidental inventor of pop-up ads (you can berate directly into the comments but the author is so good natured you’ll probably forgive him first). According to Ethan Zuckerman, the metaverse will be as boring in the future as it has been in the past. #IRL winning!
7) Explore: Virtual worlds are the natural heart of digital art if you’re into NFTs. Sotheby’s opened its first-ever virtual gallery. Located in Decentraland, a decentralised virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain, the auction house has created a digital replica of its London headquarters on New Bond Street. The virtual gallery will have five ground floor spaces to show digital art, as well as a digital avatar of its London commissioner Hans Lomulder to greet visitors at the door. BYO sandals.
Take it Easy Tiger, there is likely not one metaverse but many. As in the physical realm, we choose the reality we want to create around us. Thank you to everyone who’s joined our now 15,000+ strong community of Easy Tiger and Love Mondays readers. We appreciate your readership. If you’d like to help us spread the word, we would love you to share Easy Tiger with a friend.