22歲的我成長于數字時代,因此我總是以為自己對最新技術創新一清二楚。但在最初接到深入研究元宇宙的任務時,我不得不承認我依舊不清楚什么是元宇宙以及該從何處入手。
元宇宙幾乎融合了虛擬現實、增強現實和物理現實,并且模糊了在線互動和現實生活之間的界限。但簡單來說,元宇宙就是一系列人們可以用不同方式互動的虛擬平臺,例如Sandbox、Mirandus和Decentraland等。自從馬克·扎克伯格宣布Facebook將更名為Meta并投資至少100億美元開發元宇宙之后,元宇宙開始引起廣泛關注。隨著越來越多人押注嵌入元宇宙的未來,企業也已經開始在這個數字空間開拓新業務。
我登陸了深受全球用戶歡迎的元宇宙平臺之一Decentraland。要參與大部分此類平臺,如Sandbox等,首先你需要有自己的加密貨幣錢包和一臺Windows個人電腦。這兩個條件我都不滿足,不過我并不打算進行任何買賣,因此我可以在MacBook電腦上以游客的身份慢慢探索虛擬世界。
如果你想要完整的元宇宙體驗,一臺筆記本電腦可能遠遠不夠。雖然智能手機和電腦都能處理《堡壘之夜》(Fortnite)和《動物森友會》(Animal Crossing)等多人游戲,但它們的處理能力不足以應對有數以百萬計用戶的整個元宇宙。因此,Facebook的元宇宙愿景包括Oculus虛擬現實頭盔或增強現實眼鏡。
創建虛擬形象
進入元宇宙之前需要做的第一件事是創建虛擬形象。通過面板中的各種選項可以定制發型和眼睛的顏色、服飾甚至配飾。我的虛擬形象著裝非常糟糕,所以我當然要給它換一身衣服。
開始探索
在花幾個小時選定完美的服裝(一件淺粉色搭配工裝褲,來逃離紐約的寒冬)之后,我終于來到了創世紀廣場,這里是Decentraland世界的起點。這是我所見過的這個平臺上最擁擠的區域,隨著周圍的環境逐漸顯示出來,我身邊開始出現其他人的虛擬形象。當一個人靠近我的時候,我能模模糊糊聽到有人在說話。
我用十分鐘時間掌握了如何讓我的虛擬形象行走,然后我決定通過地圖傳送到下一個地點。畢竟,這是元宇宙,誰還需要步行呢?鏡頭拉遠,屏幕變成了一個網格,我可以在其中查看和參觀其他用戶創建的空間。
有個空間起了一個很好玩的名字“我們是Polkadot!”,這引起了我的興趣。但在進入這個空間之后,我發現只有我自己站在一個幾乎空蕩蕩的房間里。房間角落有一臺自動售貨機(或者是自動電唱機?),于是我很快退出了這個空間。
我再次打開地圖。這一次我來到了一個名叫“加密貨幣山谷”的空間,這也是一個空蕩蕩的白色房間,里面只有一些六邊形的區塊鏈設計。我想,如果元宇宙已經變得非常龐大,那么其他用戶都在哪里?
玩游戲
后來我發現,許多人都在玩游戲,具體地說是一款名叫《Wonder Mine Crafting Game》的游戲。這個游戲的背景是隕石撞擊地球,而用戶可以從隕石坑中挖掘礦物和金錢。我挖到了一些銅,并且賺到了3枚Wondercoin,這是Decentraland中的貨幣。(注:這次我沒有花費任何現實世界里的金錢。每一個虛擬形象誕生時都有100枚Wondercoin。)
交友
在玩游戲時,我抓住機會與其他人聊天。雖然在元宇宙中你可以化身成任何人,但我還是注意到,我所見過的所有虛擬形象都是男性。
我在聊天室中問:“你們最喜歡元宇宙的什么方面?”
有個人非常熱心地回答道:“元宇宙給我們帶來了自由。它可能成為我們連接真實世界和加密貨幣世界的橋梁。我對它的出現非常激動。我們生活在一個偉大的時代?!?/p>
爵士俱樂部
我覺得似乎已經在元宇宙中交到了新朋友,于是我決定最后到處參觀一次。在Decentraland地圖上,有一些地方引起了我的興趣,比如Lobsteropolis、Club Nyan Cat和Dragon City等。但在一輪閑逛之后,像其他許多年輕專業人士一樣,我也想放松一下,我決定最后前往爵士俱樂部。
當時是星期一下午3:00,因此我應該想到爵士俱樂部不會像往常一樣熱鬧。(當天晚上晚些時候,我再次進入俱樂部時同樣人煙稀少。)里面甚至沒有播放音樂。我一路走到一個看起來很舒適的沙發,覺得可以就此結束當天對元宇宙的探索。
當然,我只能站在沙發旁邊,因為我不知道如何才能讓我的虛擬形象坐下。(財富中文網)
譯者:Biz
22歲的我成長于數字時代,因此我總是以為自己對最新技術創新一清二楚。但在最初接到深入研究元宇宙的任務時,我不得不承認我依舊不清楚什么是元宇宙以及該從何處入手。
元宇宙幾乎融合了虛擬現實、增強現實和物理現實,并且模糊了在線互動和現實生活之間的界限。但簡單來說,元宇宙就是一系列人們可以用不同方式互動的虛擬平臺,例如Sandbox、Mirandus和Decentraland等。自從馬克·扎克伯格宣布Facebook將更名為Meta并投資至少100億美元開發元宇宙之后,元宇宙開始引起廣泛關注。隨著越來越多人押注嵌入元宇宙的未來,企業也已經開始在這個數字空間開拓新業務。
我登陸了深受全球用戶歡迎的元宇宙平臺之一Decentraland。要參與大部分此類平臺,如Sandbox等,首先你需要有自己的加密貨幣錢包和一臺Windows個人電腦。這兩個條件我都不滿足,不過我并不打算進行任何買賣,因此我可以在MacBook電腦上以游客的身份慢慢探索虛擬世界。
如果你想要完整的元宇宙體驗,一臺筆記本電腦可能遠遠不夠。雖然智能手機和電腦都能處理《堡壘之夜》(Fortnite)和《動物森友會》(Animal Crossing)等多人游戲,但它們的處理能力不足以應對有數以百萬計用戶的整個元宇宙。因此,Facebook的元宇宙愿景包括Oculus虛擬現實頭盔或增強現實眼鏡。
創建虛擬形象
進入元宇宙之前需要做的第一件事是創建虛擬形象。通過面板中的各種選項可以定制發型和眼睛的顏色、服飾甚至配飾。我的虛擬形象著裝非常糟糕,所以我當然要給它換一身衣服。
開始探索
在花幾個小時選定完美的服裝(一件淺粉色搭配工裝褲,來逃離紐約的寒冬)之后,我終于來到了創世紀廣場,這里是Decentraland世界的起點。這是我所見過的這個平臺上最擁擠的區域,隨著周圍的環境逐漸顯示出來,我身邊開始出現其他人的虛擬形象。當一個人靠近我的時候,我能模模糊糊聽到有人在說話。
我用十分鐘時間掌握了如何讓我的虛擬形象行走,然后我決定通過地圖傳送到下一個地點。畢竟,這是元宇宙,誰還需要步行呢?鏡頭拉遠,屏幕變成了一個網格,我可以在其中查看和參觀其他用戶創建的空間。
有個空間起了一個很好玩的名字“我們是Polkadot!”,這引起了我的興趣。但在進入這個空間之后,我發現只有我自己站在一個幾乎空蕩蕩的房間里。房間角落有一臺自動售貨機(或者是自動電唱機?),于是我很快退出了這個空間。
我再次打開地圖。這一次我來到了一個名叫“加密貨幣山谷”的空間,這也是一個空蕩蕩的白色房間,里面只有一些六邊形的區塊鏈設計。我想,如果元宇宙已經變得非常龐大,那么其他用戶都在哪里?
玩游戲
后來我發現,許多人都在玩游戲,具體地說是一款名叫《Wonder Mine Crafting Game》的游戲。這個游戲的背景是隕石撞擊地球,而用戶可以從隕石坑中挖掘礦物和金錢。我挖到了一些銅,并且賺到了3枚Wondercoin,這是Decentraland中的貨幣。(注:這次我沒有花費任何現實世界里的金錢。每一個虛擬形象誕生時都有100枚Wondercoin。)
交友
在玩游戲時,我抓住機會與其他人聊天。雖然在元宇宙中你可以化身成任何人,但我還是注意到,我所見過的所有虛擬形象都是男性。
我在聊天室中問:“你們最喜歡元宇宙的什么方面?”
有個人非常熱心地回答道:“元宇宙給我們帶來了自由。它可能成為我們連接真實世界和加密貨幣世界的橋梁。我對它的出現非常激動。我們生活在一個偉大的時代?!?/p>
爵士俱樂部
我覺得似乎已經在元宇宙中交到了新朋友,于是我決定最后到處參觀一次。在Decentraland地圖上,有一些地方引起了我的興趣,比如Lobsteropolis、Club Nyan Cat和Dragon City等。但在一輪閑逛之后,像其他許多年輕專業人士一樣,我也想放松一下,我決定最后前往爵士俱樂部。
當時是星期一下午3:00,因此我應該想到爵士俱樂部不會像往常一樣熱鬧。(當天晚上晚些時候,我再次進入俱樂部時同樣人煙稀少。)里面甚至沒有播放音樂。我一路走到一個看起來很舒適的沙發,覺得可以就此結束當天對元宇宙的探索。
當然,我只能站在沙發旁邊,因為我不知道如何才能讓我的虛擬形象坐下。(財富中文網)
譯者:Biz
As a 22-year-old who grew up in the digital age, I like to think that I have a pretty good grasp on the latest innovations in technology. But when I was first approached about taking a dive into the metaverse, I have to admit that I was still confused about what it was, and how to even get started.
The metaverse is essentially a merging of virtual, augmented, and physical reality, and blurs the line between your interactions online and in real life. But broken down more simply, it’s a handful of platforms like the Sandbox, Mirandus, and Decentraland on which people can interact in different ways. Interest in it has taken off ever since Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would be changing its name to Meta, and spending at least $10 billion on the metaverse. And as more people begin to place their bets on a future embedded in the metaverse, businesses have already begun to start new ventures in this digital space.
I was able to get on Decentraland, one of the more popular metaverse platforms for users across the globe. To participate on most of these types of platforms, like the Sandbox, you’ll need your own crypto wallet and a Windows PC. I had neither, but since I wasn’t looking to buy or sell anything, I was still able to slowly explore the virtual world as a guest on my MacBook.
But if you’re looking for the full metaverse experience, a laptop might not be enough. While smartphones and computers are capable of handling multiplayer games like Fortnite and Animal Crossing, their processing power may be too limited to handle entire universes with millions of users. That’s why Facebook’s metaverse vision includes users with Oculus VR headsets, or augmented reality glasses.
Create an avatar
The first thing I had to do before stepping into the metaverse was create my avatar. The panel was loaded with options to customize my hair and eye color, clothing, and even accessories. My avatar came wearing a pretty atrocious outfit, so of course, I had to change it up.
Start exploring
After spending too much time deciding on the perfect outfit (a light pink shirt with some overalls to escape the New York winter weather), I was finally dropped into Genesis Plaza, a starting point within Decentraland. This was definitely the most crowded area of the platform that I saw, and other avatars popped up to my left and right as I took in my surroundings. When an avatar got close to mine, I could hear a human voice saying something unintelligible.
After spending 10 minutes trying to figure out how to make my avatar walk, I decided to let the map teleport me to my next location. After all, this is the metaverse, who needs legs? The screen panned out to a grid where I was able to see and visit spaces that had been created by other users.
I was intrigued by a space cheerily titled “We are Polkadot!” Upon jumping in, though, I found myself standing alone in an almost empty room. There was a vending machine (or was it a jukebox?) that sat in the corner, so I just walked through the space.
I gave the map another try. This time I took a trip to “The Crypto Valley,” where I was again greeted by a desolate white room decorated with hexagonal blockchain designs. If the metaverse is becoming so big, I thought, where were all the other people using it?
Playing games
It turns out that a lot of them were off playing games—Wonder Mine Crafting Game, to be more specific. The premise of the game is that meteors strike the ground, and you can mine them for minerals and money. I mined up some copper and made 3 Wondercoins, which is Decentraland’s currency. (Note: I didn’t spend any real money playing this time. Every avatar starts off with 100 Wondercoins.)
Making friends
While playing Wonder Mine Crafting Game, I took the opportunity to chat with some of my fellow avatars. Although in the metaverse you can be anybody you want to be, I couldn’t help but notice that all of the avatars I had seen were presenting as male.
“What do you guys like best about the metaverse?” I asked in the chat box.
“Metaverse offers freedom. It will likely be our bridge to marry the real worl [sic] to the crypto world. And I am very excited about it all. We live in great times,” someone enthusiastically responded.
A jazz club
Feeling as if I had made a new friend in the metaverse, I decided to have one last look around. Some other locations that caught my eye on the Decentraland map included Lobsteropolis, Club Nyan Cat, and Dragon City. But after my time in the metaverse, like many other young professionals looking to wind down, I decided to pay a final visit to the Jazz Club.
It was 3:00 p.m. on a Monday afternoon, so I should’ve guessed that the jazz club wouldn’t be as happening as it usually might be. (It was also empty when I returned to check out the scene later that night.) There wasn’t even any music playing. But I made my way over to a comfy-looking couch, and decided that I had explored enough of the metaverse for one day.
Of course, I just had to stand around the couch. I couldn’t figure out exactly how to sit down.