The metaverse is bullshit

That would be twitter

suprised that no one is talking about neosvr[1], even though I don't use it I definitely can see the appeal.

They have metaverse in their name. Their avatar system is beyond phenomenal and they keep adding new things [2].

[1] https://neos.com/

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXdgnQ0cEKU

You join those dots like the arrival of "Avatarism" is something obvious and inevitable, but reading that blog post doesn't give me that idea at all. Instead, it makes me think the author is way, way too deep into a too-long list of very niche technical and sociological obsessions.

A quote:

  What is Avatarism?

  Avatarism is a movement to recognize and protect the fundamental human right of freedom of form

Yeah, except that right doesn't exist, and no-one thinks it exists. At all.

The idea that an entire civilisation is going to agree to all use VR goggles full time to preserve some non-existent "right" for a very small number of weirdoes to only ever be seen as their cartoon fantasy version is, frankly, laughable.

As the article says, it doesn't make sense to have a virtual world that replicates the real world where there is only one "spacetime" entity, so to speak. The author is right, the metaverse is already here and it's called the internet.

I disagree with the author that I can see a lot of value in improved social interactions and virtual workspaces in VR once the technology gets there. You can already see glimpses of it with today's hardware and software. And, it makes sense the VR/AR will be the medium to contain all other mediums. But, that doesn't mean that we need to live in "metaverse" as defined by Neal Stephenson or how Zuck imagines it.

Yes, you'll be able to create your Facebook (or Meta) avatar, and use it to log into work meetings and social events - but that's not much different than using Facebook Login today. There are already a bunch of siloed social experiences in VR, like Facebook Horizon, VRChat, Altspace and Rec Room.

I don't see FB or any other of these apps moving to open protocols that would allow decentralization and federation, just as todays "2D" social media companies, including all the ones owned by FB, aren't doing it.

If Zuckerberg is serious about a federated metaverse and open protocols, he should start by opening up Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.

In the end, the metaverse will be the internet, but mostly experienced through the medium of VR/AR.

Edit: Typos

You didn’t read my article, or you did, and you aren’t understanding anything I wrote.

You do have freedom of form, you are just limited in the forms you can change to. You exercise it every time you get a haircut.

The question is about what changes if there are a variety of contexts where it is fair to assume most or all participants have photonic override. You are missing the point: this isn’t about goggles. Take a longer view, once the goggles become invisible.

The title image refers to an allegory I wrote, which I’m sure you didn’t read, that might help you understand what is probably going to happen as a consequence of technological curves.