John Carmack: "Crass Commercialization", Not High-Mindedness, Will Lead to the Metaverse

Joyce Bettencourt is a longtime metaverse developer (and Rhiannon Chatnoir in Second Life), and she got a chance to grab OculusVR CTO John Carmack at the company's recent developer conference to talk Second Life, Minecraft, and the Metaverse in general-- so let's watch:

"[H]e leans more towards platforms like Minecraft, which is coming to Oculus and GearVR as having potential to lead towards a metaverse than say Second Life." Joyce summarizes. "He mentions that the lack of implicit 'what do I do and gameplay' as downsides to SL."

That's a very valid point, something I've discussed at length here and with Second Life's co-founders -- both Philip Rosedale and Cory Ondrejka, who expressed a desire to see Second Life add a gaming system after leaving Linden Lab, and then went on to lead Facebook's acquisition of Oculus VR.

Anyway, more from Rhiannon, who provokes a good point from Carmack on how the metaverse will come about:

"[H]e starts talking on the metaverse at 3:50 and I question him on it. And then his comment on Oculus working on a metaverse is not the point, and that they do not want to 'Create a Second Life, but better'. He ends at the almost 7 minute mark talking on how commercialization and not high-minded betterment of the metaverse concept will drive things ultimately. He is a brilliant but pragmatic guy."

I agree, though having recently interviewed Carmack myself for an upcoming article, I think he also has some ideas that aren't necessarily as pragmatic -- more on that soon.

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Comments

[Lizardss]

Well, that's obvious. Just look at Philip Rosedale... what a creep!

[Shockwave Yareach]

Nobody watches television for the commercials. They watch for the shows. If you think vr has no future without commercials, look at computers and consoles. People do lots with them that have no commercial appeal.

Vr will succeed when it does something people want at a price they can afford. Computers weren't successful until the killer app VisiCalc let it solve a business problem for people. The real question is : what is the vr killer app?

[LW]

All going to fail other then a slower adaptation thru emerging technology combined with advancing case use reasons such as education.
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Basically the goals High Fidelity will stay testament but with a further timeline that will allow for a more natural cultural acceptance.5 to 10 yrs
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Got to love the north American & west Europeans who are so out of touch with the rest of the world thinking people are going to use these head devices and its going to change the world drastically.
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John Carmack is just another legend in his own mind type trying to push a trend most of the world does not want or has a current use case for in that specific culture as of now.
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I almost guarantee he has all the movie scripts from the star wars memorized and acts out the movies every time he watch's them.
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Faceflop can spend billions overseas to push it while countries can enable laws overnight to ban the tech and that will happen.
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I hear every starving child in Somalia is saving up for the rift viewer.next thing you know its rift viewers for farm animals too.

[irihapeti]

about VisiCalc

i think that was Mr Carmack's point

VisiCalc met a commercial need. The now capability of a non-ICT person like a accountant/manager/analyst to do budgets/forecasts/scheduling etc on a computer

+

killer apps are those that make a computer-based task possible without handson assistance from ICT staff

[Iggy]

Killer VR app? Master Listing Service (MLS) for homes for sale, or Zillow/Hotpads/etc. for the rental market. It's horribly inconvenient and time-wasting to tour every property before making a decision. VR tours would permit winnowing the ones you want a LOT faster.

2D pictures at these sites help, but imagine being able to walk through a house or apartment completely (including dark attics and crawl spaces for houses). It would require a realtor or owner to render every room for VR, since touring a property real-time would likely lead to "showercam" perving the existing tenants.

[irihapeti]

what Iggy said

real estate property walkthrus. Test drive a car/boat/plane. Apply makeup samples. Try a different hairstyle/cut/color. Do my nails. Try on new clothes/shoes. Check out a amusement park or school holidays programme for the children. Check out a hotel/backpacker/motel. A club/restaurant. A museum/exhibit. A holiday destination

etc etc

[LW]

@ irihapeti & Iggy

those are possible case uses just like google glass had case uses too but when long term case studies are done independence of this emerging tech that is it's not going cause vision,neurological or psychological damage to the device user then.
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What happens to the typical game addicted user who straps them on the head for a few hours then goes to get some fresh air kills a family in a car accident due to having seizures caused by the head-ware.
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Studies need to be done further and not the type of institutions were face book bribes the results or makes a large donation.
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Just because a half million fat unemployed Americans & Europeans sit on there ass playing video games all day does not mean its safe long term for the real world in extended use by the end user.
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Facebook wants people strapped in 16 hours a day as virtual advertisement cows in a virtual world & nothing more. YOUR VIRTUAL CATTLE
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Sounds like you & Iggy are dying to get strapped in while your udders are milked dry for facebook to profit.
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As much as you find positive case uses the rapist,child molesters & criminals are going to find advantage in it also.. but you will be too busy strapped in to notice.
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Rosedale wants to better the world using the tech i believe that 'while Facebook wants to pervert the population for monetary gains..
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In my view Carmack is nothing but a Goebbels type personality for a dystopian virtual world springing to life today innocently leading the way while in the distant future you are all slaves in virtual chains.

The Mans godless

[irihapeti]

@LW

wooo!!

from trying out a new hair style and painting my nails before I actual RL pay for it to being a slave in chains raped and molested. with udders on

i would never have made that connection myself at the salon

so thanks

[Cube Republic]

Every single use case given in the comments has been for commercial purposes. Why would you try your nail colour in VR lol

[irihapeti]

you have noooo idea do you about how many nail polish colours there are. 1000s

when I can VR my nails then I be able to do about 180 dif shades of the same colour in a hour. Instead of only 10 at the mo

if I can one day AR them then even better. bc I wouldn't have to even paint them then. So will leave me heaps of time to look at the colors of my chains

do you have any idea how many shades of silver there are ??? 1000s

and then try to match them proper with my nails ??? I be there all day just doing that. Maybe a week even

and that be just for my Monday brunch outfit. I have heaps more outfits as well to coordinate as well

i really wont have much time for Mr Goebbels really. Unless he make a appointment and I can fit him in, and he don't mind waiting in the hall for about 5 or 6 hours while I get ready

(:

[irihapeti]

you have noooo idea do you about how many nail polish colours there are. 1000s

when I can VR my nails then I be able to do about 180 dif shades of the same colour in a hour. Instead of only 10 at the mo

if I can one day AR them then even better. bc I wouldn't have to even paint them then. So will leave me heaps of time to look at the colors of my chains

do you have any idea how many shades of silver there are ??? 1000s

and then try to match them proper with my nails ??? I be there all day just doing that. Maybe a week even

and that be just for my Monday brunch outfit. I have heaps more outfits as well to coordinate as well

i really wont have much time for Mr Goebbels really. Unless he make a appointment and I can fit him in, and he don't mind waiting in the hall for about 5 or 6 hours while I get ready

(:

[melponeme_k]

I don't believe VR headsets will ever take off due to sheer non-practicality. Even if they were small, like regular glasses, they still blot out the world to a dangerous degree.

Not only that I believe it could cause mental states akin to psychotic episodes in healthy people much in the same way that current tech inculcates autistic behaviors in normal people now.

Likewise, VR will not take off in the near future. Especially since what did take off, made money and is still standing despite many contenders...Second Life, is being ignored and downgraded. Only in the tech business will a successful product be killed off to chase a whim with no legs.