本文的词汇注释还在整理中，敬请期待。
元宇宙英文原词“Metaverse”，出自尼尔·斯蒂芬森1992 年的科幻小说《雪崩》，在这部小说中讲述了大量有关虚拟化身、赛博朋克等场景。
而Metaverse一词则是由Meta＋Verse组成而成，Meta指超前，Verse由Universe演化而来，泛指宇宙、世界。
至于中文词义“元宇宙“，也由此直译而来。甚至，我们还会看到很多公司产品名都在采用Meta、Verse这些词根，不乏MagicVerse、Cyberverse、Ominiverse、MetaHuman Creator等等。
Meta 这个词根有两层意思：一个是元，本质；另一个是超越，超过。
The term was coined by writer Neal Stephenson in the 1992 dystopian novel “Snow Crash.” In it, the metaverse refers to an immersive digital environment where people interact as avatars. The prefix “meta” means beyond and “verse” refers to the universe. Tech companies use the word to describe what comes after the Internet, which may or may not be reliant on VR glasses.
这个词是由作家尼尔·斯蒂芬森在1992年的反乌托邦小说《雪崩》中创造的。在这部小说中，metaverse指的是一个沉浸式的数字环境，人们在其中作为化身进行互动。前缀“meta”表示超越，“verse”表示宇宙。科技公司用这个词来形容互联网之后的事物，互联网可能依赖于虚拟现实眼镜，也可能不依赖虚拟现实眼镜。Think of it as an embodied Internet that you’re inside of rather than looking at. This digital realm wouldn’t be limited to devices: Avatars could walk around in cyberspace similar to how people maneuver the physical world, allowing users to interact with people on the other side of the planet as if they’re in the same room.把它想象成一个具体化的互联网，你在里面而不是看着它。这个数字领域不会局限于设备：化身可以在网络空间中走动，就像人们操纵物理世界一样，允许用户与地球另一端的人进行交互，就像他们在同一个房间一样。But for a robustvirtual universe, everyone needs to want and afford VR headsets. The technology would need to be stylish and minimal enough to interest more people and sophisticated enough to work seamlessly. That hasn’t happened yet.但对于一个强大的虚拟世界，每个人都需要购买虚拟现实耳机。这项技术将需要足够时尚和简约，以吸引更多的人，并足够成熟，以无缝工作。这还没有发生。Nimble wireless headsets, like Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2, take a hit on image quality, while bulky VR goggles, like the HTC Vive Pro 2, enable more computing power with their wires. Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 is among the most affordable at $299, while the HTC Vive Pro 2 headset starts at $799 plus the cost of controllers.灵活的无线耳机，如Facebook的Oculus Quest 2，在图像质量上大受欢迎，而笨重的VR护目镜，如HTC Vive Pro 2，则可以通过其电线实现更高的计算能力。Facebook的Oculus Quest 2是最便宜的产品之一，售价299美元，而HTC Vive Pro 2耳机起价为799美元，外加控制器成本。How does the metaverse work?
In theory, you’d log on to the metaverse similarly to logging on to the Internet. Only you’d use a head-mounted display, not a screen, to view contentand a form of motiontracking, like Facebook’s wristband, to grab objects.
从理论上讲，您登录元宇宙的方式与登录Internet的方式类似。只有你会使用头戴式显示器，而不是屏幕，来查看内容和一种运动跟踪形式，比如Facebook的腕带，来抓取物体。To be a full universe, no single company could own the metaverse, similarly to how no one owns the Internet. But companies may try to monopolize their respective corners of the metaverse, just as a handful of large tech companies dominate online content today. Firms could do this similarly to how they make money off apps via subscription services, shopping carts and advertising.作为一个完整的宇宙，没有一家公司可以拥有元宇宙，就像没有人拥有互联网一样。但各公司可能会试图垄断元宇宙各自的领域，就像少数几家大型科技公司主宰着当今的在线内容一样。公司可以像通过订阅服务、购物车和广告从应用程序中赚钱一样做到这一点。“There will be power players for sure,” said Denise White, founder of the immersive tech company Blank XR. “Once you’re able to put on your new AR glasses and you suddenly see these holograms walking around in the world, then you’ll know, you’re now inside of the metaverse.”沉浸式科技公司Blank XR的创始人丹尼斯·怀特（Denise White）说：“肯定会有实力的玩家。”一旦你能戴上新的AR眼镜，你突然看到这些全息图在世界上四处走动，你就会知道，你现在在元宇宙中。”With so many devices offered by different companies, it’s unclear how a single avatar could move between them. One theory is that the metaverse would pick up cues from web browsers. Just like you can toggle between websites on your smartphone, your avatar might jump between platforms built to be cross-compatible and inclusive, said Daniel Liebeskind, CEO of Topia, a video chat platform.由于不同公司提供如此多的设备，不清楚一个化身如何在它们之间移动。一种理论是元宇宙会从web浏览器中获取线索。视频聊天平台Topia的首席执行官丹尼尔·利贝斯金德（Daniel Liebeskind）说，就像你可以在智能手机上的网站之间切换一样，你的头像可能会在为实现跨兼容和包容性而构建的平台之间切换。Who are its power players?
Several large tech companies are chasing down the metaverse. Facebook bought Oculus in 2014 with this metaverse vision in mind. Zuckerberg said in a statement at the time that the social networking site is “getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow.” More recently, Facebook launched a new product group to build the new 3-D social space, calling for a “connective tissue” to bridge varying services together.
几家大型科技公司正在寻找元宇宙。Facebook在2014年收购Oculus时就考虑到了这一元宇宙愿景。扎克伯格当时在一份声明中表示，该社交网站正在“为明天的平台做好准备”。最近，Facebook推出了一个新产品组，以构建新的3D社交空间，呼吁建立一个“连接组织”，将各种服务连接在一起。In May, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company working to build an “enterprise metaverse.” A month earlier, Epic Games said it raised $1 billion to spend on its metaverse plans. The computing giant Nvidia and gaming platform Roblox are also working in this realm. Last year, Spatial released a free AR app allowing avatars to appear within a user’s real-world environment. Meanwhile, Snapchat has been moving in this direction for years, introducing custom avatars and filters that overlay the world with digital content. Apple also has longtime AR ambitions.5月，微软首席执行官萨蒂亚·纳德拉（Satya Nadella）表示，该公司正在努力打造一个“企业元宇宙”。一个月前，Epic Games表示，它筹集了10亿美元用于元宇宙计划。计算巨头Nvidia和游戏平台Roblox也在这一领域开展工作。去年，Spatial发布了一个免费的AR应用程序，允许化身出现在用户的真实环境中。与此同时，Snapchat多年来一直朝着这个方向发展，引入了定制的头像和过滤器，用数字内容覆盖整个世界。苹果也有长期的AR野心。Magic Leap was one of the earliest companies to draw attention to the space when it released an augmented reality app in 2011. Today, it mostly sells to businesses, according to its website. But there’s still room for start-ups, since a digital world would require loads of content, tools and places for people to see and engage with.2011年，Magic Leap发布了一款增强现实应用程序，是最早吸引人们关注这一领域的公司之一。据其网站称，如今，它主要面向企业销售。但创业公司仍有空间，因为数字世界需要大量的内容、工具和场所供人们观看和参与。Will the metaverse actually happen?
It’s not yet clear. While technological advances have made VR headsets lighter weight and more affordable in recent years, the devices are primarily used by a niche group — gamers — and have been since the beginning. And most gamers still don’t have a VR system. Just 29 percent of the 169 million gamers in the United States say they own one, according to figures from the Entertainment Software Association.
现在还不清楚。近年来，技术进步使虚拟现实耳机重量更轻、价格更实惠，但这些设备主要由一个小群体——游戏玩家——使用，而且从一开始就一直如此。大多数玩家仍然没有虚拟现实系统。根据娱乐软件协会（Entertainment Software Association）的数据，在美国1.69亿玩家中，只有29%的人说他们拥有一个。“At the moment, VR is stuck as a subset of games consoles, and it’s not self-evident that it will break out of that,” said Benedict Evans, a tech analyst and former partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. “Gaming is a big business, and it’s hundreds of millions of people, but is not billions of people. So it’s not a universal experience.”“目前，虚拟现实只是游戏机的一个子集，它是否会突破这一点并不不言而喻，”风险投资公司Andreessen Horowitz的技术分析师兼前合伙人Benedict Evans说游戏是一项大生意，它有几亿人，但不是几十亿人。因此，这不是一种普遍的体验。”So why are companies doing this?
It depends on whom you ask.VR companies say it’s only a matter of time before consumers, already obsessed with social media, will want somewhere new to interact and attract digital likes. A metaverse could allow people tired of photo filters and video editing tools to digitally embody whole new personas and show their creativity or financial status through avatars. It might also drive young people to spend even more time online.
这取决于你问谁。虚拟现实公司表示，已经痴迷于社交媒体的消费者想要在新的地方进行互动并吸引数字爱好者，这只是时间问题。元宇宙可以让厌倦照片过滤器和视频编辑工具的人们以数字方式体现全新的人物角色，并通过化身展示他们的创造力或财务状况。这也可能促使年轻人花更多的时间上网。Facebook for years has described its mission as connecting people online, whether it’s through virtual reality, groups on the social networking app or commerce business. Zuckerberg argues that the metaverse is part of the company’s natural evolution, allowing people to move between virtual reality, augmented reality, personal computers and traditional smartphones.多年来，Facebook一直将其使命描述为将人们连接到网上，无论是通过虚拟现实、社交网络应用程序上的群组还是商业活动。扎克伯格认为，元宇宙是该公司自然进化的一部分，允许人们在虚拟现实、增强现实、个人电脑和传统智能手机之间移动。It would also give Facebook and other companies a new revenue stream. “If you can create a universal pair or AR glasses, you own the platform under which everyone has to buy assets,” said Mike Cadoux, general manager at QReal, a start-up creating 3-D models for VR.这也将给Facebook和其他公司带来新的收入来源。”如果你能制作一副通用眼镜或AR眼镜，你就拥有了一个平台，每个人都必须在这个平台上购买资产，”为VR制作3D模型的初创公司QReal的总经理迈克·卡杜克斯（Mike Cadoux）说。Other firms are likely investing in the metaverse vision because they don’t want to risk getting left behind, while some are experimenting to see what the possibilities are. “It’s the little kid in all of us that wants to live in a sci-fi novel. We want life to be fun like a game,” said Jon Morris, a founder of Nowhere, a virtual events platform. “And there aren’t the tools to do it well on the Internet yet.”其他公司可能会投资元宇宙，因为他们不想冒被落在后面的风险，而一些公司正在进行试验，以了解其可能性。“我们每个人心中的儿时梦想都想生活在科幻小说中。我们希望生活像游戏一样有趣, 但是目前还没有在互联网上做好这项工作的工具。”虚拟活动平台Nowhere的创始人乔恩·莫里斯（Jon Morris）说。