Global interest in the metaverse received a significant boost through the "Ready Player One" novel and movie. It creates a virtual world where real life and virtual life merge seamlessly. Achieving such a utopia may seem impossible in our real world, although that isn't necessarily correct.
"Ready Player One" Is A Huge Hit
The human mind will always wander and wonder. For relaxation, humans can point their minds to a fantasy or virtual world where they can forget and ignore current earthly tasks and responsibilities. Achieving that "dream state" is possible through various forms of entertainment. Popular options include movies and tv shows, video games, books, VR/AR/XR technology, etc.
The book and movie "Ready Player One" have brought even more focus on such a narrative. While some openly wonder if human life is a simulation, others are willing to embrace the virtual world fully. In the book/movie, the virtual world is a simulation known as OASIS. It has significant consequences for any who enters, as perishing in the virtual world means their "character" is gone forever. It is akin to hardcore gameplay in RPGs, but one that would erase one's entire online persona.
One thing that stands out is the immersive nature of OASIS. It is not the same as donning a VR headset and still being able to see or hear one's surroundings. Instead, it is a full mind and body immersion, something we cannot achieve with current technology yet. Similar scenarios have popped up in the popular anime "Sword Art Online," although that goes several steps further.
These stories have one common denominator: immersion beyond "normal" levels. The big question is whether our society can achieve such levels of sophistication.
Building an Immersive Metaverse
Achieving the state of SAO or OASIS requires powerful technology to render worlds that look and feel real. It is a lot harder than most people may think. Nevertheless, current technologies allow for the creation of such worlds, although there will always be compromises. Moreover, others claim it will take years, if not decades, to see such technology emerge, let alone projects built on top of it.
Technological advances have come at an accelerating pace over the past few decades. That paves the way for bigger and bolder dreams. For example, the new Unreal Engine makes video game graphics look more realistic than ever before.
It is a crucial building block toward achieving a "Ready Player One" metaverse. However, it will not be sufficient to focus on technology alone. Like the real world, a metaverse requires social activity and hustle and bustle.
One crucial piece of the metaverse puzzle is unique, transferable, compatible, and verifiable assets. It is unlike anything users have experienced today. In the current Web2 world, asset ownership is primarily tied to an account for a specific ecosystem. These assets have no value outside their little world. Users wouldn't be able to transfer them if they tried, as there is no infrastructure to do so.
Technology can come to the rescue to resolve this problem. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, introduce true digital ownership and cross-ecosystem utility for assets. That means users can take their digital assets from one world to the next, enabling a metaverse-oriented future. Interconnecting these worlds will be a tough challenge, but with the correct underpinning infrastructure, that is a matter of time.
"Ready Player One" x Creator Economy
Even today, there is a clear overlap between the creator economy and the world represented in "Ready Player One". Although building a world like OASIS will take a while, its infrastructure exists today. Klaytn, a Layer-1 public blockchain, is built specifically for the metaverse GameFi, and the creator economy. It offers low latency, high throughput, and one-second finality.
Building on the Klaytn stack is straightforward, thanks to numerous SDKs for developers. Moreover, Klaytn is the largest blockchain ecosystem in Asia and recently partnered with OpenSea to boost further NFT adoption across the continent. In addition, the project has the backing of South Korean giant Kakao.
The potential of Klaytn has not gone unnoticed. Dozens of NFT and gaming projects are building on this technology stack to provide metaverse experiences. Notable titles include Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds, Tank Royale, Brave Nine, MetaGacha, etc. At this growth rate, Klaytn will soon rival metaverse entrants like The Sandbox, Decentraland, and Otherdeed for Otherside.
Unlocking the "Ready Player One" metaverse experience is much closer than some may realize.
