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Metaverse
OpinionComment
Wang Xiaogang
Wang Xiaogang

The View | How AI can help deliver on metaverse’s promise of a better future

  • The metaverse’s many possibilities will require new ways for users to explore its capabilities, and AI is the key to unlocking them
  • Technology leaders have the responsibility to ensure the metaverse is built in a moral, fair and sustainable way

Reading Time:3 minutes
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Shiftall CEO Takuma Iwasa demonstrates Haritora X, a full-body tracking system for VR, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 5. A jacket equipped with sensors that let wearers feel hugs or even punches encountered in virtual reality was among the innovations giving the metaverse a more realistic edge at the Consumer Electronics Show. Photo: AFP
Wang Xiaogang
The metaverse refers to the convergence of physical, augmented and virtual reality in a shared online space. The result will be a merging of real and virtual worlds to create unique, never-before-seen environments.

Freed from the confines of the physical world, a person can exist as multiple avatars in multiple virtual locations at the same time. This creates limitless possibilities for the way we work and play and, ultimately, how we live.

Today, we have glimpses of what the metaverse could be like with VR-infused experiences such as rapper Travis Scott’s recent performance on the massive multiplayer online gaming platform Fortnite. An audience of 12.3 million people watched the live show in real time, but they existed in multiple worlds as the performance was split into 250,000 virtual copies of the same performance, each one broadcast to groups of 50 viewers.

The metaverse bandwagon is moving at full speed as tech companies pivot to this vision. The hype is so great that investors are sending out warnings to be wary of the expected gold rush to metaverse businesses.

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Baidu unveils China's first metaverse platform ‘Xi Rang’

Baidu unveils China's first metaverse platform ‘Xi Rang’

At SenseTime, the metaverse is the realisation of a vision to advance the interconnection of the physical and digital worlds with AI, driving sustainable productivity growth and seamless interactive experiences.

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