The metaverse is quite possibly the future of the internet. To help our readers learn more about it, we've started this metaverse interview series.
These are the questions we've compiled to ask experts in blockchain, DAOs, NFTs, and game development, within the HackerNoon community. The series is intended for tech professionals to contribute their insights about the current state and the future of the metaverse.
If you too would like to start contributing to Hacker Noon, you can do so here.
If you too want to publish your thoughts about the metaverse, answer the template here.
HackerNoon Interviewer: So let’s start! First, tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests.
Software researcher, blockcahin engineer, cryptographer, co-founder of MixBytes company
Please sum up what the metaverse is in 1 to two paragraphs.
Metaverse is a set of digital objects and avatars, presented in code of virtual space as objects and actors, having their own digital identity and code, allowing them to interact. These objects can have representation in the real world, be owned and interacted with by people.
Are you currently, directly or indirectly, working on building a metaverse?
I worked on a project, that tries to build a metaverse-related project. Our team responsibility was the blockchain part: users, roles, in-project currencies, ownership of digital objects(NFTs), and operations with them.
In your opinion, is the metaverse inevitable, or is it just another passing trending tech topic that'll lose hype?
I think metaverse is already here when we connect real objects (taxi, delivering goods) with applications. I think, that “metaverse” is another level of interaction with digital objects, with more human senses involved, with more responsibility of objects in real Universe, more imagination in objects representations and interactions. The power of “connection” between real and digital spaces will be more strong, I’m absolutely sure about that.
Why is the metaverse such a revolutionary concept?
I don’t think it’s revolutionary now, these ideas came a lot of time ago - when the first computer simulations came out. It was the exciting ideas already that time.
What can people build in the metaverse that we can't build on the Internet, or in virtual reality today? What limitations of our current technology does the metaverse free us from?
We can build new forms of ownership, like lending, borrowing, destroy and morphing of digital objects. We can invent new forms of interaction with virtual goods, and transfer these interactions in real-life IoT devices, with feedback back to the metaverse. And many, many other things.
How are the metaverse and blockchain related? Can we build a metaverse without blockchain technology?
Yes, we can, but the blockchain is the simplest way to build trustless digital ownership. Of course, giants like Facebook can build everything on centralized infrastructure, but the rest of the world will have an easier way to achieve the same goals without trust to a single party. In the metaverse, the ability to move ownership between many separated parts is extremely important, while blockchain and smart contracts solve this problem “by design”.
How quickly do you think the metaverse will be developed? How much can we expect metaverse tech to grow in the next 5 to 10 years?
I think it’s 10 years because the critical infrastructure for metaverse is networks, their availability, latency, throughput, all related infrastructure. Also, the metaverse requires a huge computational power from humanity, we need to accumulate it to fully use the power of metaverse.
What is your hope for the metaverse? Do you have any worries or does the concept pose any threats?
I have no hope, it’s simply coming, we cannot do anything about it. I don’t worry too much, in the 21st-century people will work with information very intensively, and metaverse is another useful tool for our minds.
Thanks for your time! Any final words?
Don’t get lost in the metaverse; follow the white rabbit…
This article is part of The Gaming Metaverse Writing Contest hosted by HackerNoon in partnership with The Sandbox.
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