人人都在談論的元宇宙到底是什麼？
What’s All the Hype About the Metaverse?
人人都在談論的元宇宙到底是什麼？
Brian X。 Chen
布萊恩·X·陳
The term “metaverse” is everywhere。
“元宇宙”這個詞如今無處不在。
On Tuesday， Microsoft cited the so-called metaverse as a reason for acquiring the game developer Activision Blizzard for $68。7 billion， saying the deal would provide “building blocks for the metaverse。” Facebook’s founder， Mark Zuckerberg， has also bet on the metaverse and renamed his social networking company Meta。 Google has worked on metaverse-related technology for years。 And Apple has its own related devices in the works。
週二，微軟以所謂的元宇宙為由，以687億美元收購遊戲開發商動視暴雪，稱該交易將“為元宇宙提供基礎”。Facebook的創始人馬克·扎克伯格也將賭注押在元宇宙上，並將他的社交網路公司改名為Meta（元）。谷歌多年來一直致力於同元宇宙相關的技術。蘋果也在開發自己的相關裝置。
But what does the metaverse really mean， and does it even exist？ Here’s what you need to know。
但元宇宙到底是什麼意思，它真的存在嗎？以下是你需要知道的。
What is this metaverse?
到底什麼是元宇宙？
The metaverse is the convergence of two ideas that have been around for many years： virtual reality and a digital second life。
元宇宙是兩個存在多年概念的融合：虛擬現實和數字第二人生。
For decades， technologists have dreamed of an era when our virtual lives play as important a role as our physical realities。 In theory， we would spend lots of time interacting with our friends and colleagues in virtual space。 As a result， we would spend money there， too， on outfits and objects for our digital avatars。
幾十年來，技術專家們一直夢想著這樣一個時代，屆時虛擬生活將和現實生活發揮同樣重要的作用。理論上，我們會花很多時間在虛擬空間與朋友和同事互動。因此，我們也會在那裡花錢，為我們的數字化身購買服裝和物品。
In what techies like Mr。 Zuckerberg call the metaverse， virtual reality serves as a computing platform for living a second life online。 In virtual reality， you wear a headset that immerses you in a 3-D environment。 You carry motion-sensing controllers to interact with virtual objects and use a microphone to communicate with others。
在扎克伯格等技術人士所說的元宇宙中，虛擬現實是一個讓人們在網上過上第二人生的計算平臺。在虛擬現實中，你戴上頭盔，讓自己沉浸在3D環境中。你可以戴上動作感應控制器與虛擬物件進行互動，並使用麥克風與他人交流。
Matthew Ball， a venture capitalist who has written extensively about the topic， said the metaverse represented the fourth wave to computers， following mainframe computing， personal computing and mobile computing。
風險投資家馬修·鮑爾就這個話題寫過大量文章，他說，元宇宙代表了繼大型機計算、個人計算和移動計算之後的第四次計算機浪潮。
“It’s moving into what people call ambient computing，” he said about the metaverse。 “It’s about being within the computer rather than accessing the computer。 It’s about being always online rather than always having access to an online world。”
“它正在向人們所說的環境計算發展，”他談到元宇宙時說。“這是關於在計算機內部，而不是訪問計算機。這是關於永遠線上，而不是永遠接入網路世界。”
That’s it？ You and your avatar interacting with others in a digital environment？
就這樣嗎？就是你和你的網上化身在數字環境中與他人互動嗎？
To put it simply， yes。
簡單地說，是的。
Does the metaverse already exist in video games?
元宇宙是否已經存在於遊戲中？
To some extent， there is already a metaverse in games。 But – and it’s an important but – it’s rudimentary。
在某種程度上，遊戲中已經存在一個元宇宙。但是——這很重要——它是不成熟的。
Some social elements of the metaverse can already be found in video games。 Consider Fortnite， an online shooter game played on computers， game consoles and mobile devices。 The average Fortnite player spends hundreds of hours in the game with a personal avatar， fighting with and interacting with the avatars of other players。 Players also accrue virtual currency that unlocks outfits and other goodies to customize their avatars。
一些元宇宙的社交元素已經出現在電子遊戲中。以《堡壘之夜》（Fortnite）為例，這是一款可以在電腦、遊戲機和移動裝置上玩的線上射擊遊戲。《堡壘之夜》的一般玩家會使用個人化身，在遊戲中花費數百小時，與其他玩家的化身戰鬥和互動。玩家還可以透過積累虛擬貨幣解鎖裝備和其他道具，來定製自己的化身。
A precursor to the metaverse could also be found in Second Life， an online social platform developed by Linden Lab nearly two decades ago， where people created digital representations of themselves to socialize with others。 In the virtual space， users could shop and build property to enrich their virtual lives。
元宇宙的前身也可以在“第二人生”（Second Life）中找到，這是林登實驗室在近20年前開發的一個線上社交平臺，人們在這裡建立自己的數字代表，與他人社交。在這個虛擬空間中，使用者可以購物、建造財產，豐富自己的虛擬生活。
Virtual reality is also somewhat advanced in video games。 In 2016， Sony released the $400 PlayStation VR， a virtual reality headset that plugged into its PlayStation 4 console to play virtual reality games。 This month， Sony said a second-generation headset was coming for the PlayStation 5， though it did not share a release date。
虛擬現實技術在電子遊戲中也有所發展。2016年，索尼釋出了售價400美元的PlayStation VR，這是一款虛擬現實頭盔，可以接在PlayStation 4遊戲機上玩虛擬現實遊戲。本月，索尼表示將為PlayStation 5推出第二代頭盔，但沒有透露釋出日期。
But those were just steppingstones toward the complete metaverse， which is still taking shape。 Technologists say that thanks to a number of things – fast internet connections， powerful virtual reality headsets and a large audience of gamers – it is now more possible to live in a richly animated， lifelike 3-D simulation。
但這些只是通向完整元宇宙的墊腳石，元宇宙目前仍在形成中。技術專家表示，得益於快速的網際網路連線、功能強大的虛擬現實頭盔和大量的遊戲玩家，人們現在更有可能生活在一個動畫豐富、栩栩如生的3D模擬環境中。
“It’s only in the last few years that a critical mass of working pieces has come together，” Mr。 Ball said。
“直到最近幾年，才出現了一大批關鍵的工作部件，”鮑爾說。
What is Activision Blizzard building for the metaverse?
動視暴雪為元宇宙創造了什麼？
Truth be told， not too much。
說實話，不是太多。
Activision Blizzard is well known for making online games that have a metaverse component， where players spent hundreds of hours forming communities within the games。 In its role-playing game World of Warcraft， released in 2004， gamers worked together online to complete quests in an effort to make their digital avatars stronger by collecting items like weapons and armors。
動視暴雪以製作帶有元宇宙元素的網路遊戲聞名，玩家在遊戲中花費數百小時建立社群。在2004年釋出的角色扮演遊戲《魔獸世界》（World of Warcraft）中，玩家線上合作完成任務，透過收集武器和盔甲等道具，讓他們的數字化身變得更強大。
But the company has not dabbled in virtual reality。 It has primarily made games for personal computers and game consoles but has yet to release a virtual reality game。
但該公司尚未涉足虛擬現實領域。它主要為個人電腦和遊戲機製作遊戲，尚未推出虛擬現實遊戲。
What is Microsoft building for the metaverse?
微軟正為元宇宙構建什麼？
So far， Microsoft’s work on the metaverse has been nascent。
到目前為止，微軟在元宇宙的工作才剛剛起步。
For several years， the software giant has developed the HoloLens， a $3，500 headset that shows digital holograms， with a focus on applications for businesses and government agencies。 The device is related to augmented reality， which some technologists consider to be part of the future metaverse。
幾年來，這家軟體巨頭開發了HoloLens，這是一種可以顯示數字全息圖的頭盔，售價3500美元，專注於企業和政府機構的應用。該裝置與增強現實技術有關，一些技術專家認為增強現實技術是未來元宇宙的一部分。
Microsoft is also the developer of the Xbox， the second most popular game console after the Sony PlayStation。 But unlike the PlayStation， the Xbox has been conspicuously absent from the virtual reality gaming space。
微軟也是Xbox的開發商，Xbox是受歡迎程度僅次於索尼PlayStation的遊戲機。但與PlayStation不同的是，Xbox在虛擬現實遊戲領域一直明顯缺席。
（晉其角 譯）
*素材源自網路，僅供學習參考。
