The term metaverse has set off a heated discussion on the Internet in 2021, and related applications and technologies are also developing rapidly. Everyone believes that the metaverse will be a major trend in the future. For example, Autodesk, an American design and manufacturing company, and Epic Games, a well-known game maker, have teamed up to create the “Construction Metaverse”, bringing more instant and immersive collaboration to the architecture and engineering industries.
Major Enterprises Actively Create “Construction Metaverse”
Autodesk believes that there will definitely be a so-called “industrial metaverse” or “design metaverse” in the future, where people will collaborate on architectural design and solve architectural problems in a virtual space, and solve construction problems and on-site manufacturing problems in the field. Virtual collaboration or AR technology will become very important.
Revit is an architectural modeling software tool used by architects, engineers, mechanics, designers, and contractors; and Twinmotion is real-time 3D software for industries such as construction, consumer goods, transportation, and fashion. Epic Games’ Twinmotion service is also available to Autodesk’s Revit customers through Autodesk’s partnership with Epic Games. This year Autodesk also acquired Wild, a virtual platform for architecture and engineering, and Autodesk will also add Epic Games’ services to Wild.
There are already many large companies investing in the metaverse technology, and the development of the metaverse seems to be imperative, but Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost believes that the biggest challenge facing the metaverse is the hardware. It may be several generations before current VR and AR headsets are widely used by users.
5 Challenges to Metaverse Development
In order to realize the metaverse, in addition to the limitations of hardware and software, there are many challenges in other aspects.
Metaverse Authentication
The metaverse focuses on the integration of virtual and real, but when the virtual world is combined with the real world, how to prove that it is one’s own identity, not another person, or even a robot is a very important thing. And that’s where authentication is important in the metaverse. The current Metaverse needs to address the possibility of falsifying facial features, footage, and voices.
In addition, due to the current need to enter the metaverse, AR/VR tools that are expensive and not yet very popular will be required, which will also raise the threshold for people to enter the virtual world.
Data and Information Security Issues in the Metaverse
While companies and organizations continue to strengthen their IT security systems, data privacy and security has always been a concern for online users. Entering the metaverse will raise the issue of information security to a new level, which will also require the establishment of new data and privacy protection laws to ensure the security of personal identities and property in the virtual world.
In addition, in the metaverse, the steps and processes of personal verification may also be more than the personal data that needs to be provided today, so that the identity can be more clearly identified, thereby ensuring the security of personal data.
In addition, there is still a lack of unity and liquidity among the major metaverse platforms, and personal identity verification and data are also limited by different platforms. Therefore, it is currently impossible to “come and go” in the metaverse. freely”.
The connection between the metaverse and reality
Achieving complete “integration of virtual and real” is a major challenge. For business, the company must also be profitable in the metaverse for this worldview of virtual reality to truly hold. Therefore, in addition to the need for a large number of enterprises to use this new platform, it must also be combined with other downstream industries in order to allow customers to have a good experience from online to offline.
McDonald’s, for example, has set up a “store” in the metaverse, where customers expect to order real food in the virtual world and have it delivered to their door in the real world. This not only requires integration between enterprises, but also requires enterprises to complete the task of digital transformation.
The Metaverse is still developing, and many people even believe that it is still in its infancy. These technologies are still developing and face many challenges, but only through the experience accumulated through continuous testing and failure, will there be a chance to create greater value in the metaverse in the future.
This article is open to partners for reprinting, reference materials:Autodesk、ZDNET、Lucid Reality Labs、Forbesfirst image source: Unsplash