[Desk Column] The Illusion Called 'Metaverse'

[Asia Economy Reporter Myung Jin-kyu] The origin of the metaverse (expanded virtual world) and virtual reality (VR) is widely accepted to be the "Pygmalion Glasses" featured in 19th-century science fiction novels. These glasses, when worn, detailed a virtual reality experience that included holograms with tactile and olfactory sensations. Tracing even further back, their roots can be found in the history of philosophy. Tibetan dream meditation is a form of exploration into virtual reality. The purpose of dream meditation is to confront another self (persona) within the virtual world of dreams and to seek truth within one's inner self.

The story of the Butterfly Dream (胡蝶之夢) from Zhuangzi's "On the Equality of Things" (齊物論) is in the same vein, posing the question of whether "I dreamed I was a butterfly, or the butterfly is dreaming it is me."

The movie Tron (1982) popularized the term "virtual reality" by depicting scenes of entering a virtual world inside a PC. The term "cyberspace" first appeared in the science fiction novel Neuromancer (1984). Cyberspace is described as a realm where all information from global corporations, entertainment, public sectors, and military fields is exchanged, closely aligning with the future envisioned by today's metaverse services.

Speaking briefly about William Gibson, the author of the novel, he was a computer novice at the time. Neuromancer was written on a typewriter. The operating systems (OS) featured in the novel could only be partially implemented even on supercomputers, and most people had to input memorized commands via keyboard to use them. The first thing William Gibson did after earning money from his novel was to purchase a PC. Because he was unaware of technological limitations, he was able to write novels that were closer to the future.

After Neuromancer, the concept of accessing cyberspace through the nervous system and brain became more advanced. Japanese animation Ghost in the Shell (1989) and the movie The Matrix (1999) provided more detailed settings, and the Japanese light novel Sword Art Online (2009) introduced dystopian imagination where death in the virtual world leads to death in reality. Even now, popular web novels and webtoons depict characters who live difficult lives in reality but become supreme in the gaming world. This also explains why the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) enjoy secondary characters (sub-characters) not only in games but also on social networking services (SNS), and purchase luxury bag items at high prices on metaverse platforms.

The reason for bringing up the not-so-new topic of the metaverse at the start of the new year is because some companies sent press releases stating that their year-end and New Year's ceremonies were held in the metaverse. When asked about plans to utilize metaverse platforms afterward, they said it was merely an event and that there were no plans to use it for work. This makes sense, as even with remote work, what is needed is not the metaverse but cameras and internet messengers for video conferencing.

Virtual stores operating on numerous metaverse platforms are just another channel for events, with clear technological limitations. They are not much different from online shopping that encourages purchases through photos and videos. Ultimately, unless the technology from science fiction novels that allows sensing the smell and touch of products is realized, or unless imagination is applied to utilize current technology, metaverse platforms cannot become "another reality." This is merely a repetition of the time when almost every company rushed to adopt AI after the emergence of AlphaGo several years ago.