RP1 is a small new startup which just unveiled its "metaverse browser" at the AWE conference. This demo video above may not look like much graphically, but having explored this virtual world in person, I can say the underlying tech is quite impressive. While its yet to publicly launch (that's happening soon), and actual deployment may not work as well as promised, I can say this: RP1 is creating a platform that's the closest I've seen to being the canonical Metaverse.
Canon as in directly matching what was described in Snow Crash: A vast, immersive virtual world simultaneously accessible by millions of users through VR and other devices, highly customizable avatars and powerful experience creation tools, has integration with the real world economy, and is compatible with external technology.
This is what RP1 has now:
100,000 user concurrency on a single shard. In the demo, there are thousands of simulated avatars, but RP1 says their current set up can support 100K -- then scale to millions of concurrent users.
Contiguous virtual world with a digital twin of Earth. They've actually modeled the entire solar system, which you're able to fly through at hypersonic speeds.
Protocol for controlling external real life devices. During my demo, I was able to turn off/turn on an actual light in the Long Beach demo booth from within the virtual world. This isn't just a neat parlor trick: developers tell me they hope this functionality will be used by orgs using their platform for digital twin applications -- i.e., controlling the electric appliances of a factory or office tower via an exact virtual replica of the building in RP1.
I did the demo in a Quest 3, but the developers tell me RP1 will be fully usable from any device. As for highly customizable avatars, powerful experience creation tools, and real world economy integration, those are coming soon: Check out their whitepaper for more details.
Excitingly, I think RP1 is a minimally viable product for use right now in many contexts like meetings, events, and concerts: It has impressive spatial audio, and core social / location browsing features similar to VRChat.
Hopefully this doesn't read too hyperbolic, because I do have some skepticism around the project. However, I did talk with another OG Metaverse Expert who also got the demo, was just as impressed.
Anyway, I'm still processing the demo and signing books at AWE, but more soon!
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