詹姆斯·瓊斯 劉安琪

There are quite a few ways hypothe-sized as to how the metaverse is likely to change the world in the very near future. Some of these forecasts seem like science fiction now， but so did almost every modern invention at one point.

1. The rise of digital “real estate”

Since 1985， companies and individuals have been purchasing web domains. People then build their 2D websites at the domains that they purchased. So how will the metaverse change this concept？

In the near future， companies will be （and are already） purchasing real estate in the metaverse; some real estate in the metaverse is actually being sold for millions of dollars right now. Many people buy “real estate” in the metaverse as an investment to sit on1.

Buyers are basically investing in the future of that particular metaverse， like investing in a particular cryptocurrency2. This can be compared to in the real world， when people buy real estate in areas and cities that they believe are going to prosper.

Just like in real life， some “l(fā)andowners” will construct things on their “l(fā)and”， some will rent out their land/buildings to tenants or advertisers. Many of these plots of land will sell products; some will actually have “physical” stores that people can “teleport” to and shop.

2. E-commerce will merge with brick-and-mortar3

In the last few decades， e-commerce has risen at high velocity. Notably， in the last few years， e-commerce has absolutely exploded in popularity. During COVID-19 lockdowns especially， its hard to imagine not being able to purchase things online. In June 2020， online E-commerce websites worldwide experienced 22 billion visits within 30 days.

As a cross between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar shopping， companies will construct their “physical” stores in the metaverse. Alternatively， they may pay developers （kind of like “construction workers”） to create their stores for them. “Real estate” in popular areas of the metaverse that get a lot of traffic （inside “marketplaces”， “malls” or “city centers”） will obviously be more expensive.

In the near future， from the comfort of your home， you will be able to enter into one of the tens of millions of different “physical” stores in the metaverse. Youll be greeted by either a 3D AI or an actual human employee represented by their unique avatar （who will probably be adorning clothes and accessories that they themself have purchased）.

From there， youll be able to “walk” around the store and look at displays and mannequins4 showing off different products. Youll be able to demo5 and purchase products of all types that will be shipped to you in the real world. Alternatively， many of the products that these stores sell （clothes for your avatar， art， land， vehicles， buildings etc） will exist only as possessions in the metaverse; these could be NFTs6.89D40A26-8A7C-46A3-97DB-8B5B526BF797

3. Cryptocurrency will rule the metaverse

The easiest， most convenient and cheapest way to go on an international metaverse shopping spree will be to use cryptocurrency. You can spend your crypto at whichever store you go to， regardless of which country that company is based in. With cryptocurrency， you wont lose anything to international conversation fees or transaction fees， and most stores in the metaverse will accept all major cryptocurrencies.

Each major metaverse now has its own native cryptocurrency thats used to purchase any and everything within that specific metaverse. As another investment opportunity， the value of each metaverses cryptocurrency fluctuates accordingly in relation to the popularity of that specific metaverse. The more that that metaverse grows， the more your crypto within that metaverse will be worth.

4. Advertising will move aggressively into the metaverse

In the metaverse， advertisements will be seen on buildings， streets and billboards， as well as at popular events such as premieres or concerts.

Advertisements could be for products that only exist in the real world， or for products that only exist in the metaverse.

As well， corporations will insert “physical” buildings into the metaverse that resemble their real-life buildings. The function of these will be to not only get people thinking about their products but to also have people be able to purchase products from their metaverse locations （like buying from their websites）.

5. Concerts & events with unlimited capacity and unreal special effects

Travis Scott7， Ariana Grande8， Justin Bieber9 and Marshmello10 are among artists who have already performed concerts with record-breaking “attendances” in the metaverse.

In the metaverse， a performers avatar can be made to look larger than life. As well， during a metaverse concert， crazy stuff can happen such as being whisked up to fly through space with the performer， or having the world explode and disintegrate around you.

In the near future， advanced graphics technology and perfected virtual reality headsets complete with 9.2 surround sound （or better） will have people feeling like they are truly at a real-life concert. Not only will you be able to hear the live music crystal clear， but youll also be able to chat with， dance with， and sing with your friends and strangers “next to” you.

6. On-the-job training inside the metaverse89D40A26-8A7C-46A3-97DB-8B5B526BF797

For decades， pilots and astronauts have been training using virtual simulators， as simulators are obviously much cheaper and safer than training through real situations.

With the development of various true-to-life simulations in the metaverse， employees of most hands-on11 industries （especially industries involving heavy machinery and many different complex pieces of equipment） will be able to benefit immensely from training in the metaverse.

If realistic enough simulations are developed， then the metaverse has the potential to safely， cheaply and easily provide people with firsthand “on-the-job” training， including situations involving emergencies.

Almost all types of jobs could benefit from training in the metaverse. However， this type of experiential training could especially be beneficial for industrial workers， construction workers， medical workers， police， firefighters， pilots， or any other profession that is liable to be exposed to dangerous situations.

關(guān)于元宇宙在不久的將來可能如何改變世界，人們做了相當(dāng)多的假設(shè)。其中一些預(yù)測現(xiàn)在看起來像科幻小說，但幾乎所有的現(xiàn)代發(fā)明都曾如此。

1. 數(shù)字“房地產(chǎn)”興起

1985年以來一直有公司和個人購買網(wǎng)域，然后在所購買的網(wǎng)域創(chuàng)建自己的2D網(wǎng)站。那么，元宇宙將如何改變這一觀念呢？

在不久的將來，各個公司將會（有的已經(jīng)）在元宇宙購買房地產(chǎn)。實際上，元宇宙中的一些房地產(chǎn)如今正以數(shù)百萬美元的價格出售。許多人在元宇宙購買“房地產(chǎn)”作為投資手段。

從根本上說，買家是在投資某個元宇宙的未來，就像投資某種加密貨幣。好比現(xiàn)實世界中，人們會在他們認(rèn)為未來將繁榮發(fā)展的地區(qū)和城市購買房地產(chǎn)。

跟現(xiàn)實生活中一樣，有些“土地所有者”會在他們的“土地”上建造各類建筑物，有些則會把他們的土地/建筑物出租給租戶或廣告商。其中許多地塊將用于商品銷售，有些實際上還建有“實體”商店，人們可以“瞬移”到那里購物。

2. 電子商務(wù)將與實體商業(yè)融合

過去幾十年，電子商務(wù)發(fā)展迅猛。值得注意的是，過去這幾年，電子商務(wù)絕對人氣爆棚。尤其在新冠疫情封控期間，很難想象不能網(wǎng)購會是什么樣。2020年6月，全球電子商務(wù)網(wǎng)站30天內(nèi)的訪問量達(dá)到了220億次。

作為電子商務(wù)和實體購物的結(jié)合，各個公司將在元宇宙中打造他們的“實體”商店。公司也可以花錢請開發(fā)者（類似“建筑工人”）幫他們搭建商店。元宇宙熱門地區(qū)（“市集”“商場”或“市中心”）的客流量大，位于這些地區(qū)的“房地產(chǎn)”顯然會更加昂貴。

不久的將來，你可以舒舒服服地待在家中，走進(jìn)元宇宙上千萬家“實體”店中的一家。接待你的要么是3D人工智能店員，要么是以各自獨特的虛擬形象（可能穿戴著他們自己購買的衣服和配飾）出現(xiàn)的真實人類店員。

接下來，你就可以在店里四處“逛逛”，看看展示不同產(chǎn)品的陳列展臺和時裝模特。你可以試用并購買各類產(chǎn)品，這些產(chǎn)品將在現(xiàn)實世界中配送給你。這些商店銷售的許多產(chǎn)品（你的虛擬形象穿的衣服、藝術(shù)品、土地、車輛、房屋等）也可能僅僅作為元宇宙中的資產(chǎn)存在，它們可充當(dāng)非同質(zhì)化代幣。

3. 加密貨幣在元宇宙中將占據(jù)主流

想來一場國際元宇宙購物狂歡，最簡單、最方便、最便宜的方式就是使用加密貨幣。你去的任何一家商店都可以使用加密貨幣，無論該公司總部位于哪個國家。有了加密貨幣，你不用支付任何國際通話費用或交易費用，而且元宇宙的大多數(shù)商店都將接受所有主流加密貨幣。

現(xiàn)在每個主流的元宇宙都有自己的本地加密貨幣，用于購買該元宇宙內(nèi)的任何東西。每個元宇宙的加密貨幣的價值會隨著該地的受歡迎程度而相應(yīng)波動，這也是一種投資機(jī)會。元宇宙發(fā)展得越好，該地的加密貨幣就越值錢。

4. 廣告將大舉進(jìn)入元宇宙

在元宇宙中，廣告既會出現(xiàn)在建筑物、街道和廣告牌上，也會出現(xiàn)在首映式或音樂會等大眾活動中。

廣告主體既可以是只存在于現(xiàn)實世界的產(chǎn)品，也可以是只存在于元宇宙的產(chǎn)品。

此外，企業(yè)將在元宇宙中嵌入與現(xiàn)實生活中的建筑相似的“實體”建筑。這些建筑所起到的作用不僅是讓人們想到他們的產(chǎn)品，還讓人們能夠從他們的元宇宙商店購買產(chǎn)品（就像從他們的網(wǎng)站購物）。

5. 具有無限容量和奇幻特效的音樂會等活動

特拉維斯·斯科特、愛莉安娜·格蘭德、賈斯汀·比伯和DJ棉花糖等藝人都已在元宇宙舉辦過了演唱會，“出席人數(shù)”打破了紀(jì)錄。

在元宇宙中，表演者的虛擬形象可以制作得比真人還要大。此外，在元宇宙演唱會中，還可能發(fā)生一些很不可思議的事情，比如嗖一下彈到空中與表演者一起飛來飛去，或者讓你周圍的世界爆炸并解體。

不久的將來，先進(jìn)的圖像技術(shù)，加上完美的配有9.2聲道環(huán)繞（或更好）的虛擬現(xiàn)實頭顯，會讓人感到仿佛真的置身現(xiàn)實的演唱會。你不僅可以十分清晰地聽到現(xiàn)場直播的音樂，還可以和“身邊”的朋友及陌生人一起聊天、跳舞、唱歌。

6. 在元宇宙中開展在職培訓(xùn)

幾十年來，飛行員和宇航員一直使用虛擬模擬器進(jìn)行訓(xùn)練，因為使用模擬器訓(xùn)練顯然比用真家伙訓(xùn)練便宜得多也安全得多。

隨著元宇宙中各種仿真模擬的發(fā)展，大多數(shù)需要實操的行業(yè)（特別是涉及重型機(jī)械和多種復(fù)雜設(shè)備的行業(yè)）的員工將能大大受益于在元宇宙中進(jìn)行的培訓(xùn)。

如果能夠開發(fā)出足夠逼真的模擬，那么元宇宙就有可能安全、廉價和便捷地為人們提供直接的“在職”培訓(xùn)，包括涉及緊急情況的培訓(xùn)。

幾乎所有種類的工作都可以受益于在元宇宙中開展的培訓(xùn)。不過，對于產(chǎn)業(yè)工人、建筑工人、醫(yī)務(wù)工作者、警察、消防隊員、飛行員或其他任何容易處于危險情況中的職業(yè)來說，這種類型的體驗式培訓(xùn)尤有裨益。

（譯者單位：96717部隊）

1 sit on成為團(tuán)體的一員。

2 cryptocurrency加密貨幣。? 3 brick-and-mortar磚塊與灰漿，指實體經(jīng)濟(jì)。

4 mannequin （商店中用于陳列服裝的）人體模型。? 5 demo試用（尤指軟件）。? 6 NFT = Non-Fungible Token 非同質(zhì)化代幣，是一種基于區(qū)塊鏈技術(shù)的數(shù)字化憑證，用于表示數(shù)字資產(chǎn)的唯一加密貨幣令牌，可以買賣。

7美國說唱歌手。? 8美國流行女歌手。? 9加拿大歌手。? 10美國DJ、電子音樂制作人。

11 hands-on實際操作的。89D40A26-8A7C-46A3-97DB-8B5B526BF797