The Metaverse In The Age of Quantum Machines

by Ian Sidell, CEO

The Metaverse will be way bigger, far stranger, and more powerful than you imagine. It will take humanity to places it has never been before.

And it won’t look anything like what the media or “Big Tech” describes.

Why?

Because we’re at the cusp of a revolution in computing power and interfaces.

Quantum computing and brain-computer interfaces will unleash an exponential-level shift in how we interact with machines. They will provide the ability to ‘jack-in’ to a hyper-realistic Metaverse.

Scary? Sure. Both concepts can seem terrifying at first. And “jacking in” to anything sounds like dystopian science fiction!

Those of us involved in this final frontier in computing must continue with an ironclad commitment to people (and humanity) above all else.

What Happens When You Can Simulate Reality?

NVIDIA recently announced that it would create a planetary-scale mirror world to help understand the climate. A bare decade ago, this would have seemed unthinkably ambitious.

Now imagine taking that ambition further: what if we could simulate not just the climate but everything from food supplies to population movements, weather patterns and how bees help with pollination?

What if we could create a simulated reality that worked down to a detailed system level, supported by quantum computers that far exceed the few hundred QBits that we’re seeing today?

Now what happens if you can ‘turn the dials’ on those simulated realities?

What if we could create the solar punk city of the future, and use it as a testbed for exploring new ways of organizing our urban infrastructure?

What if we could adjust economic inputs and outputs inside such a system, and test their impact on the people who “live” in that virtual city via avatars?

Suddenly, we would have a test bed for exploring new forms of governance, policy, culture, and economic activity.

We could see whether people enjoy their new lifestyle or whether they rebel against it, we could explore the impact of these systems on the natural world and we might even invent new forms of industry or prototype new machines (all in a safe place).

Sure — today’s machines are increasingly powerful. But with the arrival of the quantum computing era, we’re going to be able to run planetary-scale simulations that will only be constrained by our imagination.

Personalized Avatars and BCI

Let’s face it: brain/computer interfaces have a bad reputation. And yet enter a hospital and listen to the sound of machines — machines that interface with your heart or scan your body.

This is a vast simplification, but if we can protect users in the same way that Apple protects you by keeping identifiers “on-device” (instead of in the cloud) we can start to tap into the real potential of BCI.

By locking your personal brain wave signatures to the device level, it decouples your interactions from the ‘server’ and could lead to a new degree of avatar personalization.

This would allow you to have richer/more real Metaverse experiences.

It might even conquer the ‘emotional latency’ issue that Philip Rosedale has spoken about for decades: that brief delay in transmitting your emotional intent in a virtual space.

Through machine learning, we could encode your avatar so that it is more closely aligned to your neurological patterns.

But you could still be whoever you want! Play the bad guy in a game or join the rebel force conquering the universe.

Your avatar could still have its own superpowers, but you would reduce the latency between thought and avatar intent.

It’s a Strange New World

When I was a kid I used to love Legos. Meccano. Even the chemistry set my parents gave me.

I could create small alternative realities and let my imagination do the rest.

I used to dream of a city-sized Lego build or a world where the robot I built had its own story to tell.

Today, we’re on the verge of building those realities.

I hope you’ll join us in pushing forward to these new frontiers.