Towards the end of the 20th century as interactive3D virtual worlds and connectivity of computersadvanced, many science fiction writers and filmmakersenvisaged a future where the real and virtual worlds wouldcome together and sometimes be indistinguishable. In Ender'sGame (1985) the protagonist thought they were in a simulationwhilst they were actually in combat, and in the Matrix (1999)the majority of humans were unaware they were in a simulation.A term that has generally come to define such convergenceis the “metaverse” first coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992science fiction novel Snow Crash. In the novel, humans spendtheir time in a “computer-generated universe that their computersdraw on their goggles and pump into their earphones... animaginary place known as the Metaverse”. The attributes of thedigital avatars controlled by the humans were based on theirsocial economic status and wealth, an extension of the physicalworld in digital format. In a recent interview the author told theEconomist, “I was just trying to imagine what a popular mediumwould look like centered on the use of 3D graphics technologyand the metaverse was my best guess as to what something likethat might look like.”
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