JAKARTA - Facebook's new name has been announced. Mark Zuckerberg's company changed its name to Meta. The name Meta describes the company's ambition to rule the world of the metaverse, a realm that will obscure real and virtual dimensions. What will it be like? There are several pop culture products that might give us an idea.
This name change means that Facebook is no longer the name of the company as a whole - which also oversees Instagram and WhatsApp - but only a subsidiary brand that operates the social media service of the same name.
This announcement was made by Zuck in the midst of the Facebook Connect virtual reality and augmented reality conference. In addition to announcing the change of company name, Zuck, on that occasion also emphasized the company's vision of developing a metaverse ecosystem with a series of demos.
In the demonstration, it appears that the technology in the metaverse will later provide an immersive experience for users. In this virtual space, users can attend a concert, meet colleagues, play games, shop for various types of goods and enjoy digital services.
The metaverse is the next evolution of social connection. It's a collective project that will be created by people all over the world, and open to everyone. You'll be able to socialize, learn, collaborate and play in ways that go beyond what's possible today. pic.twitter.com/655yFRm8yZ
— Facebook (@Facebook) October 28, 2021
In a more general sense the metaverse is a virtual realm designed to resemble the real world. Metaverse has land, buildings, and avatars that can be bought and sold. So far the metaverse is also active in the economy in the context of using cryptocurrencies. Humans in the real world, in the metaverse are represented by avatars.
Zuck said that although Facebook is an iconic social media brand, Facebook's brand image so far has never really described what he and the rest of the team do, where something much bigger is being prepared.
"I've been thinking a lot about our identity as we begin the next chapter. Facebook is one of the most widely used products in the history of the world," Zuckerberg said, quoted by CNN, Thursday, October 28 local time.
"Today we are seen as a social media company ... but in our DNA we are a company that builds technology to connect people. And the metaverse is the next frontier, just like social networks were when we started," he added.
Metaverse in pop culture visionHiro is a hacker who also works as a pizza delivery driver for the mafia. At one time he met Yours Truly, who in the novel is often called YT. YT is a young skateboarder who is also a courier. In his work, YT often completes failed deliveries on time. That's why he calls himself the 'Third Person'.
That's where Hiro and YT's partnership began. The two then began collecting intel and selling it to the CIC, a nonprofit organization formed from the merger between the CIA and the Library of Congress. Hiro's adventures in the metaverse began when he was offered a file labeled 'Snow Crash' by a man named Raven, a character he met in the metaverse.
Hiro's friend, fellow hacker, Da5id sees a bitmap image in the file. The file caused his computer to crash and Da5id suffered brain damage in the real world. In his courier job, YT is then recruited as a freelancer by a mob boss, Uncle Enzo, who is impressed by YT's attitude and initiative.
From there the investigation was carried out by YT and Hiro. A number of findings related to the spread of neuro-linguistic viruses that allow brain functions to be programmed using audio stimuli were found. Long story short, Hiro, who in real life works as a pizza delivery man, becomes a fighter in the metaverse, the protagonist in the story who tries to dismantle the whole conspiracy.
“Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so weird, so outrageous… you'll recognize it right away,” Goodreads wrote in the review.
The concept of metaverse is first introduced in this novel. Author Neal Stephenson describes the metaverse as the successor to the internet. This is Stephenson's vision of how a virtual reality-based internet or visual reality can develop in the near future. He envisions this as being like a massively multiplayer online game (MMO).
The metaverse contains user-controlled avatars and system daemons. The novel was released in 1992, with Stephenson opening the story in a depiction of 21st century Los Angeles. At that time the world was just going through a worldwide economic collapse.
At that time Los Angeles was no longer part of the United States because the federal government ceded most of its power and territory to private organizations and entrepreneurs. The system is described as resembling anarcho-capitalism, a theme Stephenson raised in The Diamond Age, the novel after Snow Crash.
Like Stephenson's other novels, Snow Crash covers a wide range of subjects, including history, religion, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, politics. philosophy, mathematics, and computer science. In an essay entitled In the Begining... Was the Command Line written by Stephenson in 1999, he explained that 'snow crash' was a term for a software failure mode in the early days of the Macintosh.
Stephenson originally planned to work with artist Tony Sheeder to make Snow Crash a computer-generated graphic novel. Following its release Snow Crash was nominated for the 1993 British Science Fiction Award recipient and the 1994 Arthur C. Clarke Award.
A more contemporary pop culture context is depicted in Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One film. The film depicts the metaverse in a more recent context.
Ready Player One depicts the life of the virtual world in 2045, which is more exciting than the real world. Ready Player One, since its 2018 release, has immediately exploded discussions about the new future of mankind, of course in a more dramatic context.
But from a theoretical point of view, futurists define a number of main characteristics of the metaverse. In addition to Ready Player One, several film titles also use the metaverse as the main background or theme. The Matrix trilogy is perhaps the most legendary.
In addition, the digital love story between Theodore and Samantha in Her is also impossible to miss. Other lists include Minority Report, Avatar, Wreck it Ralph, V/H/S: Viral, Tron, to Lucy. Which one left the most impression on you?
The image of the metaverse in their eyes
Shortly after Zuckerberg announced the renaming of Facebook to Meta, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey made a sarcasm. Quoted from The Guardian, Dorsey responded to a tweet from the @udiverse21 account which discussed metaverse terminology in Neal Stephenson's version of Snow Crash.
"Metaverse depicts a virtual world owned by a company, where users are treated badly as citizens by a corporate dictatorship (dystopian corporate dictatorship). What if Neal is right," wrote @udiverse21.
Dorsey wrote, "NARRATOR: He Was," which means Dorsey agrees Stephenson's description is correct.
Indeed, Snow Crash was so influential. Microsoft founder Bill Gates even called Stephenson's work rekindled his love of sci-fi, a genre he says can help people think big ideas.
Besides Snow Crash, another Stephenson novel title that is also on Bill Gates's reading list is Seveneves, which was published 2015. “The way this book encourages you to think big and long term. If everyone knew that the world would end two days from now, there would be global panic, plus a massive dose of hedonism."
"But what if it ends two years from now? Will people continue to work? Will the children go to school? If they did, what would you teach them?" said Bill Gates, reported by FS.
Returning to the context of the metaverse, futurists describe some of the main characteristics of the metaverse:
1. Persistent
This means that the metaverse runs without pause, reset, and end
2. Realtime
Metaverse can experience realtime even though the events in the metaverse space are pre-designed
3. Economy
Metaverse also works economically. A number of buying and selling activities, services, and product transactions can be carried out with blockchain-based currencies.
4. Open to users
The metaverse space will open to the user. Users will play a full role as the largest content contributor. This is what distinguishes the metaverse from the digital universe, where content is created jointly by companies and users.
5. Bridging the virtual and real worlds
We will be more connected to the digital realm in the concept of a full experience. Yes, this technology will connect the virtual world with the real world through digitizing the actual graphic coordinate link. It's sort of like Pokemon Go on a much crazier level.
*Read other information about TECHNOLOGY or read other interesting writings from Yudhistira Mahabharata.
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