A Framework for the Metaverse
I&#x27;d welcome anyone trying to explain this idea to me along a number of axises, because I really do not get it.<p>1. What does 3D space add? If I want to shop for some item it&#x27;s more convenient for me to look at a list with pictures and text than to wander through a 3D store. It&#x27;s also more efficient for the vendor to provide the list than pay people to model the interior of their 3D store, scan all their products in, etc. The Internet won through being more convenient, I don&#x27;t see how this isn&#x27;t a step backwards.<p>2. What are we going to do about UGC kitsch? Second Life and more recently VRChat and NeosVR have provided demonstrations of what a metaverse combining content from thousands of creators of mixed skill levels is like. While I can appreciate it on some level, the fact is it&#x27;s hideous. Are the operators of metaverse-Amazon really going to let their in-store aesthetics be ruined by a low-poly neon-purple wolf wandering through it while I&#x27;m trying to browse? If they are, why? If they aren&#x27;t, how is this an interconnected metaverse?<p>3. Why is anyone going to respect the interconnectedness of the metaverse? Websites successfully resisted the Semantic Web. Businesses don&#x27;t want to point the way to their competitors. Games want to constrain what the player character can be to fit a specific power level, tone or art style. Fortnite, for all of its metaverse cred, does not allow players to upload their own avatars and has never (to my knowledge) added a portal which when entered closes Fortnite and opens another game.