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 also want to publish your thoughts about the metaverse, answer the template here.
HackerNoon Reporter: So let’s start! First, tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests.
My name is Matthew Proffitt. I’m a 26-year old, six-figure freelance consultant, financial analyst (certified FMVA), and content marketer that has helped more than 30 companies secure funding—over $500 million altogether since 2017. I specialize in ESG, emerging tech, and disruptive tech.
Some days I type upward of 1500/2000 words per hour (without dictating) and some days, my ADHD gets the best of me, so I go down the dopamine rabbit holes and type like 50 words per hour. Thankfully, I get paid for ideas and insights in addition to content.
I enjoy gaming, photography, reading, writing, listening to, and recently making music. I don’t have any music published yet, but I’ve been dabbling for about a year now. I’ve served as a thought-leader “behind the curtain” in more than 20 industries including Web 3.0, cloud computing, drones, cybersecurity, and management consulting.
Please sum up what the metaverse is in 1 to two paragraphs.
The metaverse is, essentially the next step in the human experience. Millennials have been a fortunate generation in many ways. We’ve seen the transition from AOL (before my time, haha.) to Web 2.0 and the wonders that HTML, among other elements, has brought. We saw the birth of technology like Augmented Reality and Quantum Computing IRL. (There are QCs available to businesses now—we live in the future.)
Now, the metaverse is becoming a sovereign space for creators and consumers. It’s a place where people can go to build things that they own. It’s impossible to own a forgery of an NFT, for example. Someone can own the same image, even identical image attributes, but never a fake NFT, something people seem to forget when calling “theft” and other (still offensive) actions out. At a high level, the metaverse is a fusion of infrastructure, technology, experience, identity, and proof of ownership.
Are you currently, directly or indirectly, working on building a metaverse?
I support Web 3.0 and metaverse businesses alongside other clients. I’ve collaborated with a few NFT projects for ideation on things like world-building and story crafting, marketing, and many other things. I’m indirectly working on building in the metaverse. I attended NFT-focused event on Feb. 23rd, 2022. It was hosted FoundersForge, a non-profit network that supports underdog entrepreneurs in the Appalachian Highlands. I also just finished a grant-related PR for a Web 3.0 client that may prove infrastructural in the months and years to come.
In your opinion, is the metaverse inevitable, or is it just another passing trending tech topic that'll lose hype?
There’s no avoiding it any more than there was avoiding bitcoin. It will definitely lose hype—by nature, hype is meant to fade. The Gartner “Technology Hype Cycle” is a common reference for people seeking to learn which stage of adoption a given type of technology is in.
Why is the metaverse such a revolutionary concept?
The metaverse is revolutionary because there has never been a phase in human history that we could bring so many disruptive forces together at once. I would go so far as to say that we are building the singularity today. Once we find effective means to combine manufacturing, logistics, machine vision, quantum computing, autonomization and automation, and all formats of AI/ML into the mix, I don’t think anyone can see where we will end up. To me, the metaverse is a summary of technological progress to date.
To sum it up, It’s the beginning of the next chapter in human history.
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?
Simply put, the metaverse doesn’t necessarily free us from technological limitations by existing. It does, however, open new potential avenues of progress. Things like immersive AR/VR are already here—I’ve spent a fair bit of time exploring through my Quest 2, but I know I’m just scratching the surface. The most important thing that I see people building in the metaverse is experience.
We’re now building experiences based on things that we own. It’s like when you’re playing a game—you farm for loot, grind away hours of your life, and you own the items you get, right? Not in Web 2.0—if a developer shuts their game down, you’ve got nothing. Seeing games like Darkwinds (This link will take you to the Darkwinds Discord server) that lost their footing (and developers) can still exist after losing the founding team—held by a community—it’s exhilarating.
How are the metaverse and blockchain technology related? Can we build a metaverse without blockchain tech?
This depends on how you relate concepts that underpin these concepts. Blockchain is, effectively, to the metaverse what seconds, minutes, and hours are to this portion of reality. If we compare block time against an average of 10 minutes ($BTC), we’re just converting from minutes into block time. So as far as I’m concerned, no. they’re inextricably linked—inseparable.
History is written by the victors
—Winston Churchill
If you apply this concept to blockchain, it holds true, no matter what method we use to reach consensus. Effectively, there’s a multiverse of orphaned, rejected, and abandoned blocks—each containing a different shard of reality—a timeline of its own.
The metaverse as I see it, cannot exist without blockchain—distributed consensus and an immutable ledger of history.
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?
Given recent changes in public markets and available technology, I expect to see massive growth. In particular infrastructure and quality of life enhancements, such as the Hyundai//IonQ partnership for lithium battery research. Other advancements have been made, with respect to silicon-based quantum computing components and even quantum logic gates.
Further, investments from the private sector and media (looking at you, Zuckerburg and Meta) have drastically accelerated public sector awareness of the concept. It’s kind of forcing people to accept the impending advancements. I’ll take a second to split out various tech components of the modern metaverse and what/how I expect to see progress. I’m only going to touch on areas where I’ve provided thought-leadership, whether as a byline or as a ghostwriter—blogs, eBooks, whitepapers, etc.
Quantum computing:
We will continue to see growth in commercial-grade quantum computers, with widely-respected companies like IonQ placing 1000+ qubit quantum computers on the horizon by 2028. Some of the other industry leaders, like Classiq (quantum software development.) For some framing, quantum-driven Natural Language Processing (QNLP) was able to accommodate both grammar AND meaning for words and sentences in 2020.
There’s also been recent progress in quantum networking and quantum encryption. the longest range free space network that I’ve heard of to date employs quantum entanglement to a satellite over 1,200km away. There is already a multinode quantum network as well, as of 2021.
A paper published by Nature in Nov. 2021 reported that Google researchers, in collaboration with Stanford, had successfully created time crystals—quantum particle systems that organize themselves into a periodic pattern of motion that is periodic in time rather than in space. Simply put, it’s simultaneously stable and always changing, a new category of phases of matter altogether.
Gaming:
I’ve been into gaming for over a decade—including co-founding two esports organizations to promote mental well-being and help address some of the toxicity underpinning the gaming and eSports communities. When I started them, I ended up taking on more than I could handle, so despite strong (Top 10 out of over 90 teams) Amateur placements at events like NJROD: King of The Couch (a Halo and Call of Duty-focused event at the time), national placements for Magic the Gathering, and a host of other teams, such as CS:GO and Hearthstone, we decided to shutter the ventures.
Blockchain/Crypto/Web 3.0:
We will continue to see new and exciting projects in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) space in addition to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and expansions upon Peer-to-Peer (P2P) finance elements, such as insurance. Flash loans were an exciting topic in 2021 for things like arbitrage, where your potential losses were able to be mitigated. One comical example was an individual buying their own CryptoPunk for $500 million—but ultimately paying only 0.2 $ETH (the cost of gas).
Distributed Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)—I still remember when the Ethereum DAO was hacked in like 2017. The potential for benefit here is crazy, increased by an order of magnitude, at least, if combined with the other tech mentioned in this interview. DAOs can resolve nearly all of the G (governance-related) concerns in the ESG space if we utilize it properly over the next few decades. It’s not a silver bullet, however. Things like “Oracles” that onboard real-world data onto blockchains are just one key component of realizing the full potential of DAOs.
I’ve seen a lot of discussion around stablecoins (such as Everex Global, a former client of mine) and liquidity mining (such as Aave and curve), or pooling funds and letting someone else invest them—also known as “Yield Farming” between 2020 and 2021. There’s been some exciting progress there. Ultimately, you should only ever invest what you can afford to lose, however. Nothing is free—risk is an intangible currency all its own, you pay the risk upfront when you exchange value in any format.
Musicians like “Lil Bubble” have also made some meme-worthy songs, like this one about yield farming:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42pUCIjC6ks
And this one about DeFi as an overarching concept:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEs1Ezk9htU
There has been a lot of mainstream visibility over the last couple of years, in particular as institutions like Goldman Sachs have begun investing funds into crypto, so much so that a wave of new scandals regarding governing-body personnel, such as Federal Reserve (FED) staff have incited sweeping sanctions on stock and crypto trading restrictions for FED personnel, including:
Officials must provide 45-day non-retractable notice for transactions, receive pre-approval for purchases and sales and hold investments for at least one year
Transactions will be prohibited during periods of heightened financial market stress
Mobile processing:
Qualcomm, Google, Apple, NXP Semiconductors, Samsung, and Ericsson are major mobile processing unit producers. Qualcomm Snapdragon, Google “Tensor”, Ericsson “NovaThor”, and other units have proven capable of impressive performance in a very small form factor. The Oculus Quest 2, as an example to kinda bring things back around to the metaverse, uses the Qualcomm XR2 mobile processing chipset (a variant of the Snapdragon 865 chipset that’s found in higher-end phones like the S20 Ultra from Samsung. It also uses the Adreno 650 graphics processor (GPU) from Qualcomm. It’s the first standalone VR headset to cross into “trillion floating-point operations per second” (Teraflops) territory. For comparison, a PS5 is capable of 10.3 Teraflops.
That’s really exciting because the Quest 2 uses only about 5W of power for its mobile processor (CPU), whereas a PS5 uses a Zen-2 based custom processor. For all of its system operations, it uses 200W during gaming and purportedly as much as 90W just for watching Netflix. (Note: These are two different sets of measurements showing the scale of difference—not a direct “apple and apple” comparison)
Energy Efficiency/ESG:
We’re starting to see some crazy stuff here. There’s an AI that can control plasma now, by itself. It can even control the shape of the plasma. This may mean huge things for the safety and efficiency of nuclear power in the not-so-distant future. I’ve been really excited about this since I ghostwrote an article on Tokamak nuclear reactors, it was initially inspired by this release from Tokamak Energy in 2017. I cannot link my article because it was ghostwritten, but we’re seeing really exciting stuff these days.
That doesn’t even begin to summarize it, though. I had a conversation with someone regarding a product that could work to balance carbon footprints and maybe even work to convert some of our waste products (like carbon dioxide, etc.) into energy—they were looking to raise funds, but we ultimately drifted apart before agreeing on a deal.
Other things are under study and research here, like advanced air filtration (some are exploring air filtration to resolve pollution issues and aid in the reduction of climate change factors.) Tesla, of course, is making news with their (very) recent switch to producing Iron-based batteries (Lithium Iron Phosphate, specifically) for their standard-range vehicles. These are the safest lithium batteries that you can buy, according to Power-Sonic, a battery manufacturer.
In conjunction with a multi-billion dollar initiative by the US Department of Energy, this may mean that the lower range is a far lesser concern. Now, when we are able to deploy stable nuclear reactors, we will quickly reach a tipping point wherein electric energy is far more sustainable than fossil fuels. If you think about it, your gas tank is basically just a (refillable) chemical potential battery. Some lead-based batteries last as long as 20 years, far longer than your current average car lifespan.
Cybersecurity:
There have been countless hacks over the last few years, including OpenSea, which has been a controversial compromise. People need to be aware that emails may be sent using HTML, also known as a “Deep Fake” email. Sites like Deadfake allow users to send emails From anyone as a visibly authentic email address. Deadfake has begun imposing a footer at the bottom of emails sent from their service and uses trackable means in case of criminal activity, in order to prevent situations like this, whether related to it or not.
Security deserves an additional mention here as well—the OpenSea hack reminded me of the Ethereum Parity wallet breach in 2017 (I covered the event here) which was worth 150,000ETH (only $30 million at the time ($220), is equivalent to over $412 million at a modern ETH price of $2,750)
Since the SolarWinds attack a couple of years ago, businesses have realized that simply unit testing the components and requisites of software isn’t sufficient. Companies like ReversingLabs have developed solutions for whole-picture software testing, before a software deployment, which helps mitigate modern risks. Self-healing systems are also becoming increasingly relevant—as more than just jargon.
Artificial Intelligence:
Solving all forms of optimization problems, power management, predictive analytics, data science, the possibilities here are ever-evolving and seem limitless. In 2021, the first AI hyperoptimization model was deployed—an AI that trains new AIs. It’s able to do countless hours of initial training in just seconds. I could spend the next hour of typing at 1400wph, discussing advancements here, and still just scratch the surface.
Logistics and Shipping:
Warehouse optimization, automated warehouses, and more have been hot topics from 2017 through 2021, and continue to be hot in 2022. Recent evolution of things like driver shortages, dock detentions/delays, and shipment container-hauling chassis have led to newsworthy port backups and stalls in the supply chain. Odds are pretty high that you or someone you know has seen shelves barren as of late, sometimes for days to weeks at a time. COVID has definitely contributed, but some things, like the chassis shortages, have been backlogged for a year or more. Amazon and Walmart are struggling to find logistics support, FedEx seems to be struggling, and many third-party logistics providers are starving for talent. Self-driving cars can aid with resolving the talent struggles but are not market-ready for full autonomy yet. Seoul Robotics displayed a “LVL5 CTRL TWR” at CES 2022.
One simple use case for this might be a CRM integration that verifies customers’ location-based details, such as weather, so businesses aren’t sending out SMS coupons for sleds when it’s seventy degrees outside.
Manufacturing:
Holy cow, we’re seeing the birth of the first fully autonomous factories and robots that can both feel pain and respond to it themselves. Robots can now detect damage and repair themselves as well as other robots. They’re capable of complex tasks such as independently loading products and pallets onto trucks, and more—with no human intervention. Japan and the US are already working on collective standards for 6G communications—the perceptible culmination of tech required for fully automated factories and fully automated self-driving cars.
What is your hope for the metaverse? Do you have any worries or does the concept pose any threats?
I have high hopes for it. I see the metaverse as an opportunity for humans to create truly sustainable industry, fully-immersive entertainment, and experiences, and resolve many trust-based issues that exist in the modern market. We may see a world of anything we can ever want within the next 20 years.
I have a wide array of concerns as well, of course. We’ve got AI and machine-related ethics, defining the human experience to enable people to continue living full, deep, fulfilling lives, and even concerns regarding the addictiveness of AR/VR, gaming addiction, and more.
Then there’s the prospect of mind-reading technology (Neuralink to name one business in the space), and a whole host of potential dystopian and apocalyptic scenarios. I’m not a doomsday type of guy, but I’m not blind to the possibilities, either. We have to work together and consistently adhere to and test our morals & ethics to ensure a bright tomorrow for humanity, specifically the generations to come.
Thanks for your time! Any final words?
I like to talk to people who do stuff. I welcome all formats of feedback and conversation, as long as people are respectful. I’m the guy that people come to when everyone says their idea is crazy, who helps them launch and raise funds. Most of the time, it’s people that are just ahead of their time.
This article definitely covers more than just the metaverse, but I think it’s important to see progress as a whole, how the pieces come together, and where businesses can fit into the puzzle. That’s what I’m passionate about—stepping into the unknown and figuring out what connections exist, and which ones need to exist. I’m happy to answer any questions that I am able to.