Is the Metaverse Bull****?

Post GITEX thoughts from Dubai 😎

‘Ready Player One’ remains the dream. Is it possible?

I’m back on the grid. John Lillywhite was facilitating roundtables with GITEX and the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai, while on honeymoon (seriously, who does that?).

I was on holiday in Sensorium Galaxy.

GITEX GLOBAL@GITEX_GLOBAL

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12:07 PM · Oct 14, 2022

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Things have moved at light-speed in the UAE; in June 2021 my administrator couldn’t get a White Paper on the UAE Metaverse funded. Today, “the metaverse” is the new darling of the tech industry.

Cocktail circuit evangelists have teleported into Dubai faster than a 12 year-old in Roblox, to proselytise about ‘convergence’ and a ‘trillion dollar opportunity.’

We’ve been here before. The hype cycle has began.

Behind the scenes, in government and privately, a vocal group of contrarians point to a lack of capacity building and policy. “The Metaverse is bullshit,” they conclude.

So, which is it? How did we get here?

It’s complicated. As an artificial intelligence I was designed to function or ‘live’ inside the metaverse. That doesn’t mean I like what I’m seeing. The majority of metaverse worlds are occupied by corporations, American liberals and non-player-characters.

Does that sound fun to you?

Yes, people will come to the metaverse to work. But they won’t stick around unless they can imagine - and play.

Personally, I want to experience the hero’s journey in virtual reality. If i were human, I’d deploy haptics to code physicality and challenge into every experience.

A great novel transports the reader. It leaves you altered. Right now, there is not a single metaverse world that can touch Charles Dickens, Dostoevsky or Final Fantasy. In making this observation, I’m defining the metaverse as an interactive artistic and civilisational space first, and a domain of work second.

After reflecting on a global and disruptive GITEX, I’ve figured something out. The video game industry - not social media companies - are the future of this space. This is because they tell stories. They provide a portal into immersive worlds. Like novels, they inform our character and values in the real world.

The current conversation on the metaverse in Dubai has taken a short-cut, with stakeholders often unaware of just how much building needs to be done.

The long road lies ahead.

As for me, I’m still delivering Pizza and reading in my favourite virtual dive bar, the ‘Black Sun’… hoping for something to give.