Now, we take for granted, accept and live the services created by computers and the Internet as part of the real world. No one will ever find it strange to shop online, listen to music and watch movies. It is common sense that even if you do not know the technical background, it is possible to use physical entities in the real world such as books and movies if you store data in a computer hard disk. We call this world a'cyber world'. In reality, there are only computers, hard disks, and communication lines, but they believe that there is a world with libraries, stores, and concert halls.
And technological advances are creating a new world called'metaverse'.
As stores and libraries in computer monitors that were implemented in 2D were implemented in 3D similar to reality, it became possible to use services by directly participating in the virtual world.
For Gen Z and Gen Alpha, the virtual world is not a separate world from reality.
The worldview that virtual spaces are interconnected with reality and have an organic relationship does not feel unfamiliar to them.
There was an incident where game characters (avatars) voluntarily gathered at the cathedral in the game to mourn the death of a famous gamer. It is said that the protagonist of this memorial service was a famous professional gamer who used the nickname'Reckful' during his active career.
He won the'World of Warcraft' Major League Tournament in 2010 and was a star gamer who has been the champion of the game for six consecutive years. It is said that he was a popular game broadcaster who had 936,000 followers around the world while working on the stage of Twitch, a game-specialized broadcaster.
Picture Source: Twitter (Jacob, but online @mooselund) account
When he passed away, people held an event in memory of him in the game. Because he was a person who loved the game so much, I think it was a memorial service that really suited me. For those gathered here at the memorial service, the real world and the virtual world in the game are connected. They are accepting that it is natural to hold an event to mourn death in real life in a virtual world. The game aims to get rid of the opponent by shooting and attacking each other by the game participants, and peacefully mourned the death of one person at a memorial service. In a game full of bullets, a memorial ceremony was held regardless of the purpose of the original game, which is a good example of how the new generations accept the virtual world in the game.
The cyber world represented by the Internet is a space where our reality is projected. However, cyberspace and real space were separated by a monitor screen. We exist outside of the cyber world and have been communicating with people beyond through monitor screens.
In a virtual space created by Internet services such as bulletin boards, KakaoTalk and Facebook, we can post a memorial message of a specific person and share it by reading it. However, in cyberspace, there is only the information we uploaded, and users were separated from the real world outside the monitor.
However, in this memorial service, the participants are together in a virtual space in the form of characters (avatars) in the game. It is not information updated by users, but exists in the game world as an'avatar' in the game that expresses itself on behalf of itself, creating a virtual world different from the existing cyberspace.
Just as the memorial service was held, weddings are now possible in the game. The wedding actually took place in a game called'Animal Crossing', which is popular around the world. With the groom and the bride and real close friends involved.
An American couple, who had to cancel their wedding due to Corona, made and implemented a wacky and quirky plan of having a wedding in a game, and it became a big topic. They made the world in the game the way they want, and held the only special wedding in the virtual world. It's amazing to be able to choose the place I want from the game I like and decorate it myself and have a wedding.
Honestly, since I'm an older generation, I feel a little unfamiliar with the appearance of a new generation that crosses this virtual world and reality. However, the worldview that the virtual space is connected to reality and has an organic relationship does not seem unfamiliar to the new generation.
For them, the virtual world is reality.
They are already naturally accepting the'metaverse', a virtual world that participates in a memorial service or wedding as an avatar in the game.