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What’s All the Hype About the Metaverse?

人人都在谈论的元宇宙到底是什么？

Brian X. Chen

晋其角译

The term “metaverse” is everywhere.

“元宇宙”这个词如今无处不在。

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.

周二，微软以所谓的元宇宙为由，以687亿美元收购游戏开发商动视暴雪，称该交易将“为元宇宙提供基础”。Facebook的创始人马克·扎克伯格也将赌注押在元宇宙上，并将他的社交网络公司改名为Meta（元）。谷歌多年来一直致力于同元宇宙相关的技术。苹果也在开发自己的相关设备。

But what does the metaverse really mean, and does it even exist? Here's what you need to know.

但元宇宙到底是什么意思，它真的存在吗？以下是你需要知道的。

What is this metaverse?

到底什么是元宇宙？

The metaverse is the convergence of two ideas that have been around for many years: virtual reality and a digital second life.

元宇宙是两个存在多年概念的融合：虚拟现实和数字第二人生。

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.

几十年来，技术专家们一直梦想着这样一个时代，届时虚拟生活将和现实生活发挥同样重要的作用。理论上，我们会花很多时间在虚拟空间与朋友和同事互动。因此，我们也会在那里花钱，为我们的数字化身购买服装和物品。

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.

在扎克伯格等技术人士所说的元宇宙中，虚拟现实是一个让人们在网上过上第二人生的计算平台。在虚拟现实中，你戴上头盔，让自己沉浸在3D环境中。你可以戴上动作感应控制器与虚拟对象进行交互，并使用麦克风与他人交流。

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.

风险投资家马修·鲍尔就这个话题写过大量文章，他说，元宇宙代表了继大型机计算、个人计算和移动计算之后的第四次计算机浪潮。

“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.”

“它正在向人们所说的环境计算发展，”他谈到元宇宙时说。“这是关于在计算机内部，而不是访问计算机。这是关于永远在线，而不是永远接入网络世界。”

That's it? You and your avatar interacting with others in a digital environment?

就这样吗？就是你和你的网上化身在数字环境中与他人互动吗？

To put it simply, yes.

简单地说，是的。

Does the metaverse already exist in video games?

元宇宙是否已经存在于游戏中？

To some extent, there is already a metaverse in games. But – and it's an important but – it's rudimentary.

在某种程度上，游戏中已经存在一个元宇宙。但是——这很重要——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经出现在电子游戏中。以《堡垒之夜》（Fortnite）为例，这是一款可以在电脑、游戏机和移动设备上玩的在线射击游戏。《堡垒之夜》的一般玩家会使用个人化身，在游戏中花费数百小时，与其他玩家的化身战斗和互动。玩家还可以通过积累虚拟货币解锁装备和其他道具，来定制自己的化身。

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，这是林登实验室在近20年前开发的一个在线社交平台，人们在这里创建自己的数字代表，与他人社交。在这个虚拟空间中，用户可以购物、建造财产，丰富自己的虚拟生活。

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.

虚拟现实技术在电子游戏中也有所发展。2016年，索尼发布了售价400美元的PlayStation VR，这是一款虚拟现实头盔，可以接在PlayStation 4游戏机上玩虚拟现实游戏。本月，索尼表示将为PlayStation 5推出第二代头盔，但没有透露发布日期。

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.

但这些只是通向完整元宇宙的垫脚石，元宇宙目前仍在形成中。技术专家表示，得益于快速的互联网连接、功能强大的虚拟现实头盔和大量的游戏玩家，人们现在更有可能生活在一个动画丰富、栩栩如生的3D模拟环境中。

“It's only in the last few years that a critical mass of working pieces has come together,” Mr. Ball said.

“直到最近几年，才出现了一大批关键的工作部件，”鲍尔说。

What is Activision Blizzard building for the metaverse?

动视暴雪为元宇宙创造了什么？

Truth be told, not too much.

说实话，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.

动视暴雪以制作带有元宇宙元素的网络游戏闻名，玩家在游戏中花费数百小时建立社区。在2004年发布的角色扮演游戏《魔兽世界》（World of Warcraft）中，玩家在线合作完成任务，通过收集武器和盔甲等道具，让他们的数字化身变得更强大。

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.

但该公司尚未涉足虚拟现实领域。它主要为个人电脑和游戏机制作游戏，尚未推出虚拟现实游戏。

What is Microsoft building for the metaverse?

微软正在为元宇宙构建什么？

So far, Microsoft's work on the metaverse has been nascent.

到目前为止，微软在元宇宙的工作才刚刚起步。

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.

几年来，这家软件巨头开发了HoloLens，这是一种可以显示数字全息图的头盔，售价3500美元，专注于企业和政府机构的应用。该设备与增强现实技术有关，一些技术专家认为增强现实技术是未来元宇宙的一部分。

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.

微软也是Xbox的开发商，Xbox是受欢迎程度仅次于索尼PlayStation的游戏机。但与PlayStation不同的是，Xbox在虚拟现实游戏领域一直明显缺席。

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