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| yna@yna.co.kr 2025-02-21 14:06:37
*Editor’s note: K-VIBE invites experts from various K-culture sectors to share their extraordinary discovery about the Korean culture.
Chronicles of Metaverse: The Metaverse Life of Modern Humans (Part 2)
By Noh Seok-joon (Master K-architect engineer)
In the previous column, I emphasized the unpredictability of the metaverse (The metaverse brings together people from around the world, each with unique personalities and preferences, to engage in various activities and communicate in real time. Therefore, it is difficult to predict whom you will meet, what activities you will do, what conversations you will have, or even what spontaneous words or actions will emerge without directly experiencing the situation).
In the future, the unpredictability of the metaverse will be further enhanced. With the addition of new technologies that stimulate the five senses, the metaverse will allow people to experience a vivid, real-world sensation.
In addition to the current use of visual and auditory senses, other sensory organs such as touch, taste, and smell will be actively utilized. This will increase the number of simultaneous stimuli, making the unpredictability even greater.
For those who are not familiar with communication or activities in digital virtual spaces, the unpredictability of the metaverse may be overwhelming or even frightening.
However, many people actually consider this unpredictability to be one of the major attractions of the metaverse. In fact, the younger generation, who are familiar with games, find the unpredictability of the metaverse to be exciting and enjoy it.
This is because it offers a sense of tension and excitement that exceeds that of the real world.
For this reason, metaverse-related companies worldwide are working to develop sensors that stimulate the human senses and connect them to the metaverse. They are striving to create virtual spaces that are so vivid that they are indistinguishable from reality.
This is done to increase tension and immersion, encouraging people to focus on and stay within the metaverse for longer periods.
In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook declared, "We will transform into a metaverse company within five years." Facebook, by changing its company name to "Meta," signaled its full entry into the metaverse. The company also plans to hire an additional 10,000 employees for metaverse-related roles within the next five years.
Meta refers to the new virtual world they are developing as "Facebook Reality" instead of the terms "virtual reality" or "metaverse." They have also introduced a more advanced concept called "Hybrid Reality," which blends augmented reality and Facebook Reality.
By creating their own terminology and concepts, Meta is committed to differentiating their metaverse from those of other companies.
While preparing for the future metaverse, Meta is also putting significant effort into developing metaverse devices.
In 2014, Meta acquired the VR hardware manufacturing company Oculus and developed the Oculus Quest, a VR headset device, which became the global leader in the VR headset field.
The Oculus Quest was able to implement both VR and AR and was released at an affordable price, which gained significant popularity among general consumers. The high prices of previous VR devices had been a barrier preventing many people from entering the metaverse. The device is currently sold under the name Meta Quest.
Instead of seeking immediate profits, Meta's strategy is to offer a more affordable price, envisioning a larger metaverse market and expanding its reach.
Meanwhile, Neuralink, the brain research startup founded by Elon Musk in 2017, is researching technology that implants sensors in the brain to allow humans to control digital devices, like computers, with their thoughts.
For example, simply thinking "search for information related to Neuralink" in your mind would make the computer automatically search for relevant information. This is similar to how various AI-powered digital devices currently recognize the user's voice and language and perform commands.
Neuralink is a technology that performs commands just by thought, without the need for speech. If this technology is completed and applied to the metaverse, it will open up an innovative digital virtual world where users' thoughts, beyond the five senses, are immediately reflected.
Global telecommunications giants and startups worldwide are making various attempts to develop metaverse technologies, particularly those that engage the user's vivid senses.
In 2022, a startup called ShiftAll, a subsidiary of Panasonic in Japan, released a wearable device called "Pebble Feel," which allows users to feel heat or cold within the metaverse. The Pebble Feel, a very lightweight device weighing about 60g, connects via Bluetooth and, when worn with a specially designed shirt or belt, can implement heating and cooling effects ranging from a low of 9°C to a high of 42°C.
A Spanish startup, OWO, introduced a haptic vest that allows users to feel touch sensations. When playing a game in the metaverse while wearing this vest, users can experience vivid sensations as if they were actually stabbed with a knife or shot with a bullet.
The haptic technology, which had previously only been able to simulate vibrations, is now being implemented in more diverse and vivid ways.
The domestic VR company, BeHaptics, recently launched a new product that differentiates itself from existing haptic gloves. Previous haptic gloves were uncomfortable to wear and use because they had numerous sensors connected. Moreover, their high cost made them impractical for widespread use.
BeHaptics' wireless haptic gloves, however, attach 10 haptic motors to the tips of each finger, making them easy to wear and use. Their cost is also lower than previous models, making them more accessible.
Thus, the metaverse is evolving into a technology that allows users to experience a variety of human senses vividly, beyond just graphic technologies.
Moreover, if Elon Musk's research is successful, we will soon be able to enjoy the metaverse world freely with just our thoughts, without the need for uncomfortable headsets, goggles, gloves, or vests.
In the not-too-distant future, technologies beyond imagination will be developed, and a true metaverse will unfold in our daily lives.
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