Matrix, metaverse, oasis, simulacra, simulated reality, simulation, virtual environments, hyperreality, many words are in use to describe the same phenomenon of a collectively shared digital reality woven into the fabric of our every day lives so indistinguishable from reality itself that we simply take it for granted. Mark Weiser who coined the term ubiquitous computing more than twenty years ago, wrote that the most profound technologies are the ones that disappear into the background. Nobody ever consciously thinks about the invention of the wheel or writing, yet these technologies are everywhere where we look and we cannot imagine how life was without these technologies. Similarly our descendants in the late 21st and 22nd centry may not think about a fully immersive simulated reality they use everyday.

First station: The Metaverse

Matthew Ball defines metaverse as follows “The Metaverse is a massively scaled and interoperable network of real-time rendered 3D virtual worlds and environments which can be experienced synchronously and persistently by an effectively unlimited number of users with an individual sense of presence, and with continuity of data, such as identity, history, entitlements, objects, communications, and payments.” [The Metaverse: What It Is, Where to Find it, and Who Will Build It — MatthewBall.vc]

Metaverse is seen by many as a vision on the future of the Internet, social media, mobile and online gaming in which we are constantly ‘within’ an embodied virtual or ‘3D’ internet instead of having access to it. Billions of devices, sensors and actuators digitize the events that happen in the real world to create a mirrorworld Welcome to the Mirrorworld & why it matters | by Jacob Mullins | Medium that represents the real world in its digital form. This mirror reality of the Internet of Things and the hyperreality we see in all sorts of virtual worlds, games and social media can be combined and be accessed through mobile and augmented reality devices that map the metaverse experience onto what we see or create a virtual reality experience that completely hides reality.

As advanced as the metaverse may seem right now, we consider it short-term as we can expect the metaverse to become a reality in a few years from now with large companies like Facebook, Epic Games and many smaller and bigger start-ups and scale-ups leading the way. In October 2021, Facebook changed its name to Meta to reflect its ambition and focus on the metaverse. While it may take longer than Meta and its shareholders would want it to be, the metaverse will not go away.

Next station: True simulated reality.

True simulated reality is different than the metaverse because we are not just talking about real-time rendered 3D virtual worlds but full sensorial immersion – sight, audio, touch, smell and taste. In a simulated reality experience you not only see and hear the virtual restaurant but also feel the texture of the food on your plate, smell and even taste it. Thanks to natural interaction we do not need to learn how we should use a controller or keyboard to control our character to pick up the food, we can just use our arms, fingers and voice to do or say our intentions and actions. The people in the virtual restaurant can be other avatars like you but they could also be artificial intelligent non-player characters which (almost) pass the Turing test. The metaverse will be seen by future generation in the same way today’s generation who plays Roblox on their tablet and smartphone will look at the first generation mobile phones.

Last station: Singularity

The last station is what Ray Kurzweil coined as the technological singularity or simply singularity. The singularity is “a hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization” [The Coming Technological Singularity (sdsu.edu)] Nobody can really predict what will happen if we reach singularity. The advent of superintelligent artificial intelligence could open up the possibility for us as a species to land on the immortality side of the balance beam between extinction and immortality: It is likely that the advent of superintelligence AI will have such an unimaginably dramatic impact that the human race is pushed of the balance beam with only two options – extinction or immortality [The Artificial Intelligence Revolution: Part 2 – Wait But Why].

So if we assume we are not exterminated by autonomous superintelligent robots like in the movie the Terminator or enslaved by some superintelligent AI as in the Matrix or in some other way reach extinction we completely did not think off, then the singularity will lead to our immortality . Highly advanced longevity technologies will enable us to cure aging so we can live indefinitely. Already today scientist have begun to see aging as a disease that can be cured and people can choose to freeze their body or brain when they are clinically dead in the hope to be revived later [Immortality, Inc.: Renegade Science, Silicon Valley Billions, and the Quest to Live Forever: Walter, Chip: 9781426219801: Amazon.com: Books]. We could augment our longevity and physical capabilities with digital abilities through neural interfaces with the simulated reality. Brain computer interfaces and implants will first be used to help people with a brain disease to communicate with the outside world and in the military to respond quickly in combat situations but eventually also find their way into consumer electronics and wearables that are convenient and useful to have [Neuroreality: The New Reality is Coming. And It’s a Brain Computer Interface. (futurism.com)] We may one day be able to upload our consciousness into the cloud and escape our physical form to live as digital human intelligence alongside digital artificial intelligence and download our consciousness back into a physical form [What happens if your mind lives for ever on the internet? | Computing | The Guardian]. And who knows one day we may merge our digital consciousness with other human and non-human intelligence into a collective shared conscious, a hive mind The Singularity of the Human Hive Mind | Issue 139 | Philosophy Now to solve the complexest problems or toughest challenges and travel through the observable universe.

Why the next station is so interesting

In this blog the focus is on the medium-term future because it is not so far in the future that we cannot imagine it because we lack both the concepts and experience. It is also not to close to the now that we have no time to improve or change course: Much of the technologies of the 2030 metaverse exist today in universities, R&D laboratoria and start-ups around the world. Similarly, governments make today policies for the next few years and large corporations plan their investments. Simulated reality is the middle ground and future of the metaverse which is our main interest.

True simulated reality definition

We define true simulated reality as a massively scaled, persistent virtual multiverse in which millions of people voluntarily exist simulatenously for prolonged periods of time through the full immersion of all their senses inside this virtual multiverse and collaborate real-time in a meaningful way with other human and artificial intelligence inside to create a shared constructed experience that is indistuishable from reality itself.

Let’s read the last sentence again and take out the bold stated words and go over them in more detail:

• massively scaled, persistent – the virtual multiverse infrastructure consists of billions of networked computing devices, information is globally distributed and the infrastructure is never paused, stopped or reset – the simulated reality keeps running indefinitely like the World Wide Web has been operating non-stop since its birth in 1989.
• virtual multiverse – a multiverse is a set of universes, each universe with its own virtual worlds, own rules and human and AI players. The simulated reality is a multiverse because the laws of physics laws may differ from universe to universe.
• millions of people voluntarily exist simulatenously for prolonged periods of time – there is no cap on the number of concurrent users, at peak times millions or even billions of people may access and use the simulated reality at the same time. The average time and money people spend in the simulated reality is not an hour or two but a significant part of our everyday – every single day. People to choose to be in this simulation out of free will.
• full immmersion of all their senses – the simulated reality is a 360 complete immersive experience triggering all the five senses; sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.
• collaborate in real-time in a meaningful way – people interact with the virtual environment in a natural way using their body, legs, arms, fingers, speech and perhaps even thoughts to influence the virtual environment – this interaction is synchronous and real-time so we immediately experience the impact of our combined interaction. Meaningful way implies that we do not feel restricted in any way by how simulated reality has been programmed – the boundary between creators and players has disappeared.
• human and artificial intelligence – both human and artificially intelligent actors operate and shape the actions and outcomes in the virtual multiverse
• shared constructed experience indistinguishable from reality – the result of all these countless events, interactions within the simulated reality is a constructed experience that is adapted to each observer’s point of view but which is internally coherent and consistent for every actor in the simulated reality. The constructed experience approximates reality to such an extent that people are willing to accept the simulated reality is reality.

The definition obviously shares many characteristics with its predecessor the metaverse The Metaverse: What It Is, Where to Find it, Who Will Build It, and Fortnite — MatthewBall.vc but differs in the following areas:

• Full sensory immersion – the metaverse is limited to sight and hearing whereas real experiences trigger all our senses. To be considered a simulated reality all senses must be orchestrated.
• Natural and meaningful interaction – the metaverse uses input devices such as wearables, controllers that approximate the way we interact with the real world, these input devices let our avatar walk, swim, pick-up items but this type of interaction destroys the illusion of reality. At the same time the interaction is very much restricted: In the metaverse you will not be able to do the tiny, little stupid things you do in your own life when you are bored – but it is these small things that make our interaction with our world meaningful.
• Human and artificial intelligence augment each other. – the metaverse focuses on human actors and organizations that produce and consume content. To achieve a truly simulated reality there are not enough people to produce all this content, so artificial intelligence will augment human creators to generate virtual universes, planets, terrain, objects and intelligent actors with lifelike behavior.
• Indistinguishable from reality – the metaverse will be without any doubt much more realistic than current generation video games or social media experiences we know, but once we start to compare the metaverse experience with a picknick in the forest surrounded by flowers in full blossom and full of life on a sunny spring day we start to appreciate how amazingly intricate and beautiful everyday reality is. The metaverse will not pass the Reality Test.
• Gives you energy like reality – everybody who has experienced virtual reality with goggles will know that it is not good for your health to stay hours on end. Walking around can be dangerous too. The metaverse costs you energy, health. A true simulated reality will make you healthier, gives you more energy, it recharges your batteries.

Now we agree on what a simulated reality is, it helps to specify what simulated reality is not.

True simulated reality is not

• A medium like print, radio, video, radio, social media. You could read a virtual printed newspaper, listen to a virtual radio or watch virtual movies all in the simulated reality.
• A computer game. A computer game is just one of many forms a simulated reality would appear to us. The simulated reality is a place where we live most of our lives. It is the main place where we do our work, spend time to hang out with our friends, visit and meet family, buy products, play sport, exercise, make music, or simply enjoy the view and take time to relax.
• An application like Instagram, Facebook, Google, Netflix or Whatsapp. The simulated reality provides an environment where applications and tools exist and can be used when needed. A virtual car, plane or spaceship to transport you from one place to another, a space to store your digital art collection and memories, the virtual pets you take care for, your own personal assistant or health coach, the tools you need to build your virtual home or create a new planet just for you – it is all there.
• A technology like blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) protocols, P2P networking, hypertext or a technique such as machine learning or cloud computing. Constructing and maintaining a simulated reality would be one of humanity’s largest engineering achievements because it will require many different technologies and techniques and the integration into a working simulated reality system (and supporting system).
• A modality like virtual reality. 3D virtual reality immerses only your eyes where as a true simulated reality immerses all your senses. Sight, audio, touch, olfactory and taste are all necessary.
• A new app or UGC (user generated content) platform. It is far too narrow to see simulated reality as an online platform where users create content because the simulated reality is much more than a market exchange or bulletin board.