WWW.LWB.CO.NZ
•
BUY
•
ACCOMMODATION
•
SELL
•
•
INFORMATION
JOBS
•
No 827
FIRST ON THE STREET
16th Nov - 22nd Nov
LAKES WEEKLY BULLETIN
INFO@QMG.CO.NZ
JO
BS
18 IN 3 SI
D
E
Meta what?
...verse. It’s called the metaverse, and the news that Facebook has committed US$ 10 billion a year to pivoting into it seems to be big news. But what is the metaverse, and why will it be such a big deal for Queenstown? Facebook didn’t create the metaverse. Facebook’s pivot is big news, in the same way as when IBM engaged with the internet: The internet already existed; IBM getting involved was a big, knowledgeable company seeing the future, and wanting a piece. Which is what Facebook is doing. One way to understand the metaverse is as the new internet (there have been a few). The first internet was a computer text thing that only a few nerds seemed excited about; then it was every business needed pretty pictures for their website, and everybody needed email; then it was social media, online entertainment, satellite maps and navigation - still text and pictures, but also streaming sound and video everywhere, including on our phone. The defining signature of the metaverse is delivery of “immersive environments”. We all know an immersive environment, there’s one we like to call ‘reality’: We perceive our surroundings through our senses. Each sense sends information to our brain, which weaves them together to create what we understand as our surroundings - the environment we’re ‘immersed’ in.
Locals taking up the Canyon Swing offer last weekend. Canyon Swing was so delighted with the community response that they are extending the offer until the 21st.
The metaverse promises to deliver any immersive environment, as simply as the current internet delivers our email or a Youtube video. Flick a switch and we’re in the office: No commute, no parking, no caring whether we live in the same town or country as any of our colleagues. We can all be brought together in an immersive office environment - not zooming, not remote working - as far as our senses are concerned we are really there. Where to live becomes a lifestyle choice only, without work concerns. The queue of people wanting to live in Queenstown can only grow. Similarly, no one will need to travel for new experiences and environments. If you live in Quebec and want to experience Queenstown, the metaverse will deliver that immersive experience to you without having to pay thousands of dollars for the ‘fun’ of flying for 18 hours, managing suitcases and airports, and massive carbon emissions. More people than ever before will be able to ‘visit’ Queenstown, but none of them will have to come here to do it. Needless to say, we will have to evolve. The metaverse is early and primitive, but it will quickly become mature and sophisticated, offering us extraordinary opportunities to be seized and significant challenges to be met. Either way, it will be massive - far bigger news than Facebook and its paltry $10 billion. AJ Mason Errant astrophysicist, geek-in-residence, usual suspect.
2 1 FOR
STEAKS, RIBS & MAINS
Celebrate
info@ thepub.nz
03 441 4334
CALL US TODAY
AVAILABLE SUN - THURS FROM 4PM Terms and conditions apply.
CHRISTMAS Day at
Festive 3 course menu
PER
$8 5 PER
SON