The Metaverse Ahead

Filed under: Digital Information — mike @ 10:36 am

3PointD, one of my favorite blogs about the Metaverse and 3D Web, had its first birthday yesterday. To celebrate, Mark Wallace made a few predictions on “the Metaverse ahead.” Mark’s discussion on mashups and convergence got me thinking about how this relates to my work on SPUD.

I find the Metaverse’s 3D spaces and avatars to be compelling, but what interests me most about the future of the Internet is the development of our digital identities, and the ability to use technology to creatively express and share the essence of who we are. 3D environments provide more options and a deeper sense of presence, but they are just extensions of an evolving medium that was established with the 2D web.

I believe that by expressing and sharing information about ourselves, people can learn to become more understanding and tolerant. Art, in all its physical forms, has proven to help bring peoples together. To me, the Internet’s greatest accomplishment is to lower the cost of entry and greatly expand the distribution of creative expression.

Many of us are already developing strong digital identities. In fact, many people’s digital identities may be more true to themselves than their real-life ones. Are you the person who pushes papers from 9 to 5, or the one who escapes nightly to write blog posts, post videos on YouTube, or slay monsters with your friends in Azeroth? Economics and other factors too often define or limit our real-life identities, forcing us to wear masks that match a particular persona. Our digital lives provide an escape from these roles, and a much-needed opportunity to express what lies beneath the masks.

Our digital identities are defined largely by the information we create. Unfortunately, much of this information may be locked into proprietary formats or difficult to share. We risk losing parts of ourselves when technology becomes obsolete or companies go out of business. Our information also is often spread out on unrelated islands, rather than being centralized or somehow linked together. These are some of the core problems I hope to address with SPUD.