How to Stop the Metaverse from Becoming the Internet's Bad Sequel | Micaela Mantegna | TED

翻译人员: Yip Yan Yeung 校对人员: Yan Li Xiao

I hope you like memes,

但愿你喜欢表情包，

or the next few minutes will get very awkward.

不然接下来的几分钟会比较尴尬。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Memes are our internet's lingua franca.

表情包是我们的网络通用语。

So as a video game scholar, but also a geek,

我作为一个电子游戏学者， 也是一个极客，

I will borrow them to talk about something you might probably have heard about.

就借表情包来说说 你可能听说过的一个东西。

The metaverse.

元宇宙。

Dam-dam-dam-dam.

锵锵锵。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I'm sorry, I don't have the license for that sound.

不好意思， 我没买这个音效的版权。

I know, I know.

我懂的，我懂的。

Sci-fi fans will be leaving comments on this video:

科幻粉丝会在这个视频底下评论：

“The metaverse is not a new idea.”

“元宇宙有什么新的。”

In fact, as a TED premiere,

我要在 TED 上首次展示

I want to showcase my research on 30 years of the metaverse,

我所做的关于 “元宇宙的 30 年”的研究，

from its inception

从它的起点

to its current trajectory.

到它如今的轨迹。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）

That's right, the metaverse is already on fire,

没错，那时候元宇宙 已经火得不得了了，

and we even have not built it yet.

但是我们甚至都还没创造元宇宙呢。

That's efficiency.

很高效吧。

How can this happen?

怎么回事呢？

Think of the metaverse as a Frankenstein

我们可以把元宇宙想象成 科学怪人弗兰肯斯坦，

made of different parts of current internet

由如今的互联网和

and digital technologies.

各种数字科技拼凑而成。

Now with 3D visuals and touch.

我们现在又有了 3D 视觉和触觉效果。

Between our physical reality and virtual reality,

在我们的物理现实和虚拟现实之间，

there are different layers of mixed and augmented reality,

有很多层混合现实和增强现实，

where physical and digital objects blend.

实体和数字物体在此交汇。

The metaverse will be somewhere across this spectrum

元宇宙覆盖了

that I call "the reality gradient."

我称之为“现实梯度”的整个范围。

But we shouldn't let the 3D smoke and mirrors

但是我们不应该被 这 3D 的镜花水月

distract us from the fact that the metaverse is the internet,

混淆了视听，让我们忽视了 元宇宙是互联网的事实，

and as such,

正因如此，

it will inherit the worst traits of its current business models.

元宇宙会沿袭许多 互联网现有商业模式的缺陷。

With premium access to our bodies,

VR 头显和传感器

VR headsets and sensors can extract

会直接掌握着我们的身体状况，

huge amounts of involuntary data

可以收集到大量 我们无法控制的非自愿数据，

that we can't control, like heartbeats or blinks.

比如心跳和眨眼信息。

This will get even worse with neurotechnology,

搭配上神经技术就更严重了，

allowing to read and modify our brains

可以直接读取、修改我们的大脑，

creating a capitalism of cognitive surveillance.

形成了认知监控的资本主义。

We certainly don’t want the metaverse to become the bad sequel to the internet.

我们当然不希望元宇宙 给互联网狗尾续貂。

So how do we fix it even before we build it?

那在我们建设它之前 该怎么避免这个问题呢？

By avoiding repeating past internet mistakes.

不要重蹈互联网的覆辙。

Understanding why we're building it,

要理解我们为什么要创造它，

who can seize control of it

谁掌控它，

and what makes it different.

以及它有何特别之处。

Huge questions and little time.

问题很多，时间很少。

So let's focus on one key ingredient for metaverse success:

我们来看元宇宙成功的 一个关键因素：

connection.

联结。

As a scholar,

作为一个学者，

connection means that the metaverse needs an architecture

我认为联结指的是元宇宙需要一个

linking all the metaverses together

联结所有元宇宙的架构，

in a way that we can travel across them.

让我们可以在不同的元宇宙间穿梭。

Seems easy because jumping websites is already an internet feature.

看似简单，因为跳转网页 早已是互联网的一个功能。

But that is because we don't carry our digital belongings with us.

但是我们不会带着我们的 数字资产一起跳转。

You can't take your Instagram likes to TikTok

你不能把你 Instagram 上的赞 带去抖音，

or your Roblox avatar to Fortnite.

或者把你罗布乐思（Roblox）上的虚拟形象 带去堡垒之夜（Fortnite）。

To achieve that, we need content portability,

如果要这么做的话， 我们需要内容可迁移性，

which is a very difficult engineering task,

设计研发会比较困难，

one that requires an object to function

需要内容在不同的软件环境下

and look consistently across different software environments.

运作和显示一致。

But guess what?

但是你知道吗？

It's also a lawyering problem

这也是个法律问题，

because you need a complex structure of contracts

因为如果你要合法地复制一个物体，

to legally copy a digital object.

你需要一个复杂的合同结构。

Just between ourselves,

我来悄悄告诉你一个

let me tell you a little intellectual property secret.

知识产权的小秘密， 不要告诉别人。

Our digital goods are treated differently from their tangible counterparts.

我们的数字财产与它们对应的 实体财产处理方式不同。

Instead of ownership, we have a license to use them,

我们没有所有权， 但是有使用权，

craftily limited by terms of service.

由精心设计的使用条款约束着。

In the physical world,

在物理世界中，

something called “copyright exhaustion” allows us to resell our goods.

有一种 “版权穷竭” 制度 让我们可以转售资产。

But courts don't agree if that applies to digital content.

但是法院不允许将其 应用于数字内容。

And without this digital exhaustion rule,

如果没有针对数字内容的 版权穷竭规定的话，

exiting one metaverse will be like going through very strict customs,

退出一个元宇宙就会像是 走过非常严格的海关，

one that will confiscate all your possessions

如果你要通行，

if you want to get through.

就得没收你所有的财产。

So connection in the metaverse means interoperability.

元宇宙中的联结代表着互用性。

A coherent system of legal and technical standards

一个有着一致 法律和技术标准的系统，

for true decentralization.

实现真正的去中心化。

NFTs and blockchain can provide the technical tools,

NFT 和区块链可以 提供技术上的工具，

but they will never work without the legal counterpart.

但是如果没有法律的保驾护航的话， 这是无法正常运作的。

As an activist,

作为一个活动家，

connection means that the metaverse is the people.

我认为联结意味着 元宇宙在于人民。

The communities that will breathe life and populate these worlds.

为这些世界注入生机活力的人群。

Without humanity, the metaverse will be just a 3D ghost town.

没有人类，元宇宙就只是 一个三维鬼城。

But not everyone will be there

然而，不是每个人 都能进入元宇宙，

because we are not born equal into the metaverse.

因为我们不具备 进入元宇宙的平等条件。

We are promised boundless worlds,

虽说我们面前是无限的世界，

but in fact, we will be as free as we can afford to pay.

但是实际上，我们的自由度 是由我们的财富决定的。

We need to find ways to create an inclusive metaverse,

我们需要创造 一个兼容并包的元宇宙，

one that keeps the best things of humanity online:

在线上展现人类美好的一面：

kindness, creativity, cat memes.

善意、创意、猫猫表情包。

This is not wishful thinking.

这并不是痴人说梦。

Kindness is a power house.

善意是能量的来源。

There are initiatives like Leyline

有像 Leyline 这样的项目

creating a blockchain proof of good deeds

将慈善行为记录在区块链上，

or charity marathons like Games Done Quick.

或者像 Games Done Quick 这样的慈善马拉松。

A game about sending anonymous letter to strangers

给陌生人寄匿名信的游戏

might seem like a recipe for disaster,

听起来会是一团乱麻，

but against all odds,

但是历经万难，

over one million letters full of kindness were shared.

超过一百万封充满善意的信件 传递了起来。

People want to do good.

大家都想做好事。

And now we have the technical means to escalate it to unprecedented levels.

我们现在有了把它推向 更大舞台的技术手段。

The metaverse may still be a work in progress,

元宇宙可能还在建设中，

but that means we still have room and a chance to influence

但是这意味着 我们还有改变元宇宙未来的

what it will become... open, accessible and inclusive.

空间和机会，让它变得开放、 触手可及、兼容并包。

It's not every day that humanity has the chance to create a new reality.

人类不常有创造新世界的机会。

So my invitation to you: let's make it a good one.

所以，我要邀请你一起 把它建设得更美好。

Thank you, read you in the comments.

谢谢，评论见。

(Applause)

（掌声）