Some technology transformations are so prodigious that it takes decades for mass adoption to happen. We might point to artificial intelligence or virtual reality as prime examples. Now we probably can add Web 3.0 and metaverse to that list.
At a practical level, we might also point to the delay of “new use cases” developing during the 3G and 4G eras. That is likely to happen with 5G as well. Some futuristic apps predicted for 3G did not happen until 4G. Some will not happen until 5G. Likely, many will not mature until 6G.
The simple fact is that the digital infrastructure will not support metaverse immersive apps, as envisioned, for some time. Latency performance is not there; compute density is not there; bandwidth is not there.
In fact, it is possible to argue that metaverse is itself digital infrastructure, as much as it might also be viewed as an application supported by a range of other elements and capabilities, including web 3.0, blockchain and decentralized autonomous organizations, artificial intelligence, edge computing, fast access networks and high-performance computing.
source: Constellation Research
Scaling persistent, immersive, real-time computing globally to support the metaverse will require computational efficiency 1,000 times greater than today’s state of the art can offer, Intel has argued.
To reduce latency, computing will have to move to the edge and access networks will have to be upgraded.
All of that takes time, lots of capital investment and an evolution of business models and company cultures. Metaverse is coming, but it is not here today, and will take a decade or more to fully demonstrate its value. Major technology transformations are like that.
No comments:
Post a Comment