Metaverse It's a three-dimensional virtual space created on the Internet, and if you wear VR goggles, you can feel like you exist in the space and interact with others. A coined word that combines the meta meaning "transcendence" in English and the universe meaning "the universe" and "the world". It is said to have originated from the science fiction novel "Snow Crush" released by Neil Stevens in 1992.
Virtual space Expanding "I"
Metaverse, pain is also reproduced.
The huge virtual space "Metaverse" on the Internet as if it were there is rapidly expanding and becoming comparable to the real world. Information such as all human activities and medical care is digitized and accumulated. In the fourth part, we will follow the change of the era when the evolution of digital technology began to have the power to drastically change not only the way society but also human value and dignity.
Science meeting rallies
When I put on VR (virtual reality = virtual reality) goggles, I was suddenly thrown into the conference room. A speaker in the shape of a girl explains the concept of advanced mathematics in front of the panel. Looking at the left and right, the participants are listening eagerly. After the performance, I also heard voices of gathering individually enjoying conversations. The unique reason why the " science meeting" held in mid-November is that the venue is Metaverse.
Participants "enter the venue" with avatars (alter egos) dressed as they want from all over the country. It was organized by Kuroly (25), who works for a policy research institute in Tokyo. "I wanted to do something about the decrease in interaction between researchers due to the Corona disaster," he says. A man who is participating from Dalian, China, says, "I forget the time and talk as if I actually meet you."
Entry one after another
Giant IT companies are also shifting their center of gravity to Metaverse, where the scope of activities expands infinitely. Mark Zuckerberg, former CEO of Facebook, who changed its name to "Meta" in October, said at an online event that he expects the Metaverse population to reach 1 billion people within the next 10 years.
If people gather, economic activities will also become active. Research firm Emergency Research is expected to grow more than 17 times from 2028, with the Metaverse market, including VR equipment and games, about 830 billion dollars (about 94 trillion yen) by 2028. Major companies such as Microsoft and Disney announced their entry into Metaverse one after another.
Interest is also increasing in Japan. In November, a startup cluster (Tokyo), which provides services related to Metaverse, announced that it will establish the "Metaverse Research Institute" in cooperation with the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University. Naoto Kato, president of the company (32), said, "Some people spend a lot of the day in Metaverse. I want to explore the possibilities of Metaverse as a place of life," he says.
Masahiko Inami, a professor at the University of Tokyo (erto-enlargement engineering), who cooperate, expects that "Metaverse can exceed physical constraints and extends the function of the brain and body."
Self-conscious division
In Metaverse, you can wear VR goggles, and you can feel immersed in virtual space by sight and hearing. If you add a sense of touch to this, the sense of immersion will increase even more.
The start-up company "H2L" (Tokyo) has developed a device that actually conveys the stimulation given to the avatar's arm. It is said that you can feel the weight of the virtual object and the pain when you are pecked by a bird with an electrical signal coming out of the device wrapped around your arm. On the contrary, when you move your hand, the avatar's hand moves, and the sense of unity increases.
Kota Minamisawa (Kota Minamisawa) and Professor Keio University (Physical Informatics) are studying "tactile suits" that reproduce the senses when they move their bodies and touch things. The suit is equipped with a number of devices that convey the movement of the body by vibration, and it is also possible for you to feel the tactile feeling that your avatar felt in Metaverse.
However, while Metaverse enjoys diverse lives, it is also pointed out that spending a long time will lead to a division of self-consciousness. Minao Kukita and Associate Professor at Nagoya University (Technical Ethics, Philosophy) say, "There is also a risk of adversely affecting the development of mind and body of children and young people." Humanity is entering an unprecedented unknown territory in the past.
Surviving consciousness connecting with the brain
Humans get a deep sense of immersion in Metaverse because of the illusion of the brain. Then, wouldn't it be better to connect the brain and the computer directly? Technology development like science fiction is actually progressing around the world.
Manipulate with brain waves
Junichi Ushiba and Keio University Associate Professor (Neuroscience) research base in Meguro-ku, Tokyo. The display of Google's three-dimensional map service "Street View" projected on the computer screen is moving forward and facing left and right. Actually, the student sitting in front of it is manipulating it with brain waves.
Ushiba, who works on research on the technology of reading people's intentions with artificial intelligence (AI) that pre-learns the characteristics of brain waves, says, "Even people with disabilities with brain disabilities can walk around the city freely if they use an electric wheelchair powered by brain waves."
Stanford University announced in May this year that it reads neural activity from electrodes embedded in the brains of men with paralyzed limbs and realized 90 alphabet inputs per minute. It is said that he had a man imagine writing letters by hand and analyzed the activity of the brain part related to the movement of the hand at that time with AI.
Ryota Kanai, the CEO of Shintani, a start-up company, is aiming to realize telepathy as a national research project. EEG measured with electrodes embedded in the brain are analyzed with AI and what you think is converted into digital information. The concept is to send this information to the brain of the other person who is far away in the form of an electrical signal. Mr. Kanai says, "If it's realized, everyone's brain and brain can be directly connected and transmitted in an instant."
Electrical stimulation
It is also possible to electrically stimulate the brain and change people's moods as they want. According to a study at the University of California, San Francisco, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense's Higher Research Planning Agency (DARPA), stimulating the brain site of patients with moderate to severe depression with electrodes greatly improved the mood.
Depending on the stimulating part of the brain, it can cause fear and dizziness or make you feel sexually excited. New Lalink, a startup founded by U.S. entrepreneur Elon Musk, aims to connect the brain and AI, and develops devices to embed them in the brain.
Integration, integration
In the first place, the brain is a kind of computer that involves billions of nerve cells intricately intertwined and processes information by exchanging electrical signals. It can be said that the brain and the computer are compatible. The space that we feel as a real world is actually created by the brain, and Yukiyasu Kamitani and Professor of Kyoto University (Brain Informatics) are called "Neuroverse" which is not metaverse. It may also come true to go to other people's neuroverses to play with their avatars.
In addition, Masataka Watanabe and Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo (Neuroscience) predict that "it is also possible to connect the brain and the machine and upload (transplant) human consciousness to the machine within 20 years." Beyond that is the world of immortality. Even if the body is gone, the consciousness of dwelling in the machine remains. If you connect this consciousness to virtual space, you can continue to live in virtual space.
Mr. Watanabe established a venture in 2018 to realize this concept. Immortality is a desire for humans to have equality. I don't want to die either." The era when the brain and machine are integrated is approaching.
Anonymous world, slander damage
In Metaverse, you can gather across space and share the same experience. One of the real pleasures is to change the appearance of the avatar according to the purpose and taste multiple lives. However, the rules of the virtual world centered on avatars have not been established, and it has been pointed out that it may lead to legal and ethical problems.
In Metaverse, there are various kinds of worlds, such as the world where game skills compete, and the world where you present your own paintings and music. If you don't have more options for individuals to play an active role, you can create a new world.
Tomoo Inoue, Professor of the University of Tsukuba (Human Informatics) said, "Even today, many people use various SNS services and use multiple accounts well. Even in Metaverse, you should be able to choose a more comfortable place."
However, Minao Kukita and Associate Professor at Nagoya University (Technical Ethics and Philosophy) predict that "as the specific gravity of virtual space increases, new problems will arise." Avatars are so to speak, "makes" by digital technology on both face and body, and they often work anonymously in Metaverse. It is also common for individuals to operate multiple avatars. Human relationships that are completely different from the real world that identified "one individual" by face and figure appear.
How can we pursue responsibility for harassment and slander received in Metaverse? If virtual space becomes the main stage of economic activity, it is also assumed that it will lead to financial damage. Mr. Kukida said, "You can be allowed to be "anonymous" so that everyone can work freely, but you should ensure a mechanism to link your avatar with an individual in case of trouble. We also have to think about the rules to legally protect the avatar."
On the other hand, there are also concerns about the brain connecting to the machine. Yukihiro Nobuhara, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo (Philosophy of Mind) said, "Humans are autonomous beings who live freely according to their norms." . If someone else's thoughts are incorporated into the brain, it will be a blasphemy against the dignity of a serious individual."
New technology has always changed human life, but it is said that there has been no technology in the past to force human existence itself to change. Mr. Nobuhara emphasized that "not only sociologists and ethics, but also scientists should think about the future."
You look just like your thoughts.
You don't need a body in virtual space. AI with high intelligence will also be able to do human-level work such as exchanging e-mails.
The start-up company "Ortz" (Tokyo) aims to realize a "digital clone" that let AI learns personal thinking patterns and values. Enter daily posts to Twitter, audio, photos and other digital data into AI. It is said that it judges "individuality" compared to the (average image) made from data for about 1000 people.
One time, an employee of the company asked the president's digital clone about the company's new location, and answered Odaiba or San Francisco. It is said that it was the same answer as asking the person himself later. Goshi Yonekura, vice president (46), laughs, "It's probably the result of AI's judgment after reading thoughts."
"If you can make a perfect digital clone, you will be yourself. Even if he dies, the day may come when the digital clone will continue to live."
Reprinted the front page and 7th page of the Yomiuri Shimbun (Morning edition dated December 6, 2021)
Editor-in-Chief Koichi Yasuda, Yuki Inamura, Faculty of Science, Hiroyuki Oyama
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