Mark van Rijmenam - Step into the Metaverse

If Web 2.0 and the social Web enabled data harvesting at a large scale, imagine what can happen in an immersive digital environment. The possibilities to collect and analyze our data will grow exponentially, enabling corporate or state surveillance at unprecedented levels. That is why we need an open metaverse, owned and controlled by users instead of a select group of tech elites.

When I first heard about Step into the Metaverse , I appreciated the vision of Mark van Rijmenam to write a blueprint for an open metaverse. The metaverse will unlock an entirely new economy, where the lines begin to blur between the physical and digital worlds, or our virtual lives and physical lives. Looking at the metaverse from an economic perspective raises important questions about how inclusive it is and who can participate in the digital economy and who cannot. Van Rijmenam does an excellent job discussing how we can ensure an open metaverse economy, where interoperability of digital assets, a self-sovereign identity, and cryptocurrencies play a vital role.

Web 3.0 technologies are vital for an open metaverse, and the companies we are supporting at Outlier Ventures are all contributing to this. In an open metaverse, everyone can finally contribute to and benefit from the first truly universal and permissionless economy humankind has ever known. In Step into the Metaverse, Mark van Rijmenam succinctly explains how we can build this immersive internet that can deliver magical digital experiences while incorporating a fully open economic system, enabling the interoperability of digital assets and changing our society from one of value extraction to one focused on value creation.

—Jamie Burke

Founder & CEO

Outlier Ventures

On October 28, 2021, the digital world stopped when Mark Zuckerberg announced that he was pivoting Facebook from a social network to the metaverse—the future of the internet. At the same time, he claimed the next iteration of internet and rebranded Facebook to Meta. Although Zuckerberg said all the right things—we need an open, interoperable *metaverse powered by the users—few believe him. In fact, there was a Forrester survey that showed 75 percent of the 700 respondents not trusting Zuckerberg with building the metaverse. 1Research by WSJ showed that of the 1,058 US internet users interviewed, 72 percent do not trust Facebook much/at all. This matches my own simple survey on LinkedIn, where 78 percent of the 469 people indicated that they do not trust Zuckerberg with building the next iteration of the internet. 2Time will tell how successful he will be, but if users and content creators can choose between a world owned and controlled by one person or a world owned and controlled by those creating it, I think I know the answer.

In the past months, I have gone down the rabbit hole of the metaverse. As part of my research for the book, I have spoken with almost 100 creators and creatives all involved in building the metaverse and another 133 completed a long survey about the metaverse. They are the pioneers of this new internet, and they are all building an open, decentralized, inclusive, and interoperable metaverse.

I hope you will enjoy this journey as much as I did uncovering this magical world where we are only bound by our own creativity. In this book, I will share my vision for the metaverse, what it can become, and how it will change our identity as well as how we play, socialize, shop, and work. If we manage to develop an open metaverse, the trillions of dollars generated will be shared with all creators and creatives. But beware, there are dangers lurking on the road ahead that we need to think carefully about to avoid making the same mistakes as we did when building Web 2.0 or the social internet. I realize that every chapter of this book can be an entire book by itself as there is so much happening when it comes to the metaverse, and the world is constantly changing. However, I tried to keep it brief while covering as much as possible. I will start with offering a glimpse of what the future might look like when the metaverse is here, in 2032. Enjoy!

1 *Interoperability is a crucial aspect, and I will discuss it in-depth. It basically means that you can take your data and digital assets from one platform to another, something that is not possible today.

Ae, one of the latest AI virtual assistants, and Daryl, a young intelligent man from a small village in the south, stood in holographic form on the other side of Laya's large oak desk. Behind them, a virtual presentation sat floating in the air.

“Good morning, Prime Minister,” Ae's neutral soothing voice announced. Laya's chief of security always had reservations about using Ae, but the software worked well, and with the founding of the M.C.P, the Ministerial Cyber Police, Laya disregarded his old-school aversion to new tech.

“Can we just get this over with? Today's the first day I'll see my family in months,” Laya told them, AR glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. Ae and Daryl exchanged a knowing look and got to work.

Daryl began his spiel in his usual tone, updating the Prime Minister on three key programs, New Skills, Cultural Protection Program, and Blockchain Plus. Daryl started with New Skills , an initiative added onto Universal Basic Income with the idea to support and encourage redundant workers to retrain and transition into future-proof jobs. After, Daryl covered the Cultural Protection Program , a program created to reassure the older citizen, a group who've witnessed so much change within such a short amount of time.

Ae took over for the third. With an uncanny-valley smile, she stepped forward and changed the presentation to display the latest on Laya's education reforms, and an update on the Treasury's Blockchain Plus program.

They discussed the most pressing issues for another hour and, at the stroke of nine, Laya bid a “good morning” to her assistants, and with a touch of her glasses, she was alone. It was the first day in two months she'd put aside to spend with her family and she'd be damned if anything was going to keep her from it.

Laya stood up and walked over to her Communication Wall. There, she removed a sleek lightweight metal-coated headset and walked to the middle of the room where a 6×6 box had been outlined on the floor. On the far side of the box, a comfortable but sturdy-looking safety chair sat. Most VR zones had one considering how tiring VR could be. Laya stood in the middle of the outlined box, put her gear on, switched on the smart lidar system that captured her movements, and issued a command.

The screen illuminated, and suddenly she was standing in a digital twin of her office. It was almost exactly the same in every way, down to the panic button under her desk and even the pile of coats hanging in the corner. The only difference was a data screen with live economic projections and headlines floating above her desk.

Using her default avatar, Laya walked over to a digital wardrobe. The glowing doors opened automatically, spiraling away into nothingness. She cycled through a few outfits and avatar choices, before settling on a light tan suit. It had an air of casualness, ideal for family and any unannounced digital paparazzi.

With another slightly different wave, she raised a group of tabs. Swiping through a few, she stopped on People. There at the top of the list, a contact labeled “Terry XOXO” sat. Having pressed the name, Laya selected the “Travel to” option.

Laya's vision turned black for a moment, spare a small ball, roughly the size of a basketball, spinning in front of her, slowly filling with color. The moment the ball was fully colored, Laya found herself in front of an endless row of squash courts, all styled in various fashions. She still hadn't quite gotten used to how instant everything was, when only a couple of years ago lag was pretty much expected no matter where you went in the metaverse.