I doubt that the physical manifestation of the metaverse (you "plug in" and navigate in a virtual 3D-world, especially one that requires you to transport yourself around) will happen, it's simply not very compelling. What we do have, which is very similar to the substance, if not the aesthetic manifestation, of the metaverse, are online communities. Everybody and their mothers on Facebook, specialized trade communities like HN, "dark web" for drugs, weapons, hitmen and 0-day exploits (this, especially, sounds like that metaverse-bar in Snowcrash) and encrypted chat apps for insurgents/terrorists.

But you don't need to put on VR helmet and you don't need a fibre and you don't need to ride a VR motorcycle to get to HN, but on the other hand, you can hang out in multiple bars simultaneously from a tiny, wireless multiverse terminal that you carry in your pocket everywhere. In many ways, we're far beyond the metaverse imagined in Snowcrash.

But ... I want a VR motorcycle! :P

You can get them in Second Life. I have one

Remember to slow down when crossing sim boundaries. There's a big bump as the avatar is handed off from one simulator to another. Physics engine handoff is a tough problem.

I agree with that. I think it just suffers from stigma, like online dating a few years ago. It's very easy to make fun of Second Life. For example, there's a scene in The Office where Dwight has an account, and Jim signs up in order to prank him, but then he ends up taking it too seriously and gets made fun of. All the articles I've read about Second Life paint a sad picture of lonely people in their basement or bedroom.

I would like to try a virtual world with facial feature tracking, like the new Animojis on iPhone X. It would be interesting to play a multiplayer game where you communicate with voice, body language, and facial expressions.

A VR headset obscures the eyes, so you couldn't use a 3D camera. Maybe a combination of 3D tracking and sensors inside the headset.

> It would be interesting to play a multiplayer game where you communicate with voice, body language, and facial expressions.

Simple applications already exist; look at Rec Room for example. That's got voice, limited body language (mostly hands) and I think even simple facial expressions that it infers from... idk, something. Voice chat too.

I saw something like this in Star Citizen: https://youtu.be/ZsXnFzYu10k?t=21m2s

I think maybe the virtual world metaphor has been taken too literally. The real point of "jacking in", to me, would be a vastly superior interface compared to the screen-and-keyboard systems we have now. Ideally, it'd be more like a subsystem for your brain, an extension of the way we think, but in fiction it's easier to depict that as a virtual space.

Letting people use their devices without looking at or touching them would be a huge improvement over what we have now. Input especially is terrible, I'm typing this on a phone and a part of me hates every second of it. Someone, anyone, fix this crap!

> in fiction it's easier to depict that as a virtual space

Not really! Watts does something a lot closer to what you describe with "ConSensus" in Blindsight, and handles it deftly enough. I think it's more just that the idea of VR as virtual space was the dominant metaphor of its time, and contemporary fiction reflects that time every bit as much as Watts's ConSensus - thought-controlled wireless information access, rendering to the optic nerves - reflects its own.

I think the persistence of the older style has to do partly with the fact that we can't yet implement the newer one no matter how much more useful it would actually be, and partly with the fact that VR metaverses look really cool in demos.

> Second Life comes close.

I never got the value proposition of Second Life. It wasn't game-y enough to be a game and, for me at least, it didn't really add much over more "traditional" collaboration/communication/socialising methods like text and video chat, social networks, twitter etc.

It's a lot closer to facebook than a game. It's basically a building game.

It’s basically 80% doll’s house, 20% brothel, where everyone pays rent.

The idea isn’t terrible, but the implementation had some horrific flaws, and Linden Labs became notorious for infuriating users.

SL might have taken off if both servers and clients were fully open-sourced, and LL had concentrated on building a global system for connecting open servers together.

I strongly suspect someone will rediscover the idea 5-10 years from now, do it properly, and replace today’s web.

There is an open source version of the server called opensimulator , and compatible viewers. There are tons of worlds outside SL : http://opensimworld.com/

> I strongly suspect someone will rediscover the idea 5-10 years from now, do it properly

Very likely, also happening in VR.

> and replace today’s web.

Not likely. It's just not going to happen. Pretty sure there have been multiple attempts at a 3d internet, but, nope.

In already annoyed by the shift of data from text to video. It's so much harder to absorb and skim quickly. 3d internet is harder for content creators, and harder for users to access what they need.

I wholeheartedly ageee with this. I really dislike videos for content that used to be shared in articles. I can’t always play sound, it’s hard to skim, impossible to search and more difficult to jump to specific content. I really hope that this kind of content never shifts to 3D.

> also happening in VR.

They tried, but so far it has failed to catch on and i predict more of these projects will go abandoned , including second life's own experiment, Sansar. IF anything the side-detour in VR has stalled the progress in virtual worlds for a few years.

I think SL is sabotaging the popularity of metaverse with its pricing. They place the bulk of the cost on virtual land, which is super expensive, while their market is not very profitable and few ppl can make actual money.

Another problem is underpowered laptops with intel HD graphics and tablets.

I don't think the idea of metaverse is going away per se, it's a freeing and creative experience . I do think the focus on VR has held it back for 2 years now.

The land thing in SL is interesting. Eight people now own 40% of the land. Just like the real world, there are real estate magnates.

i think it will come. ironically its a hardware problem rather than a software problem

The interface isn’t there. That’s the issue.

Notice how all the sf implementations have a lightweight & fully immersive interface? You need tgat tech - and at a cheap commodity price - before you’ll see virtual worlds be a thing.

Until then you just have MMPOGs with some more creative options.

Yes, fully immersive VR. As in SF, using one sort of "trode net" or another. It predates cyberpunk. I vaguely remember a story from the 60s.

Yeah, SL is probably closest but they can't seem to get their users interested in headsets. Kinda ironic in a way.

Who wants to wear a VR headset for hours on end?

Yeah, I think it makes a very poignant statement about the potential of VR headsets when VR enthusiasts don't want to use them. SLers are the real deal, people like zuck just don't get it. Too many people have dismissed SL foolishly. Glad it survived and proved them mostly wrong.

>Too many people have dismissed SL foolishly. Glad it survived and proved them mostly wrong.

I dunno, ten years ago a lot of people were predicting that Second Life would be the Next Big Thing, and assuring me that I should really be buying up Second Life real estate with my hard-earned real-world money because soon it'd be worth a lot more.

Second Life has survived, but it certainly hasn't gone mainstream. It's just another weird corner of the internet with its own community, and good luck to 'em.

Nearly every PSVR owner I've met.

I hope one day I can do a good metaverse.