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Since the 1990s, human civilization has turned digital, from the slogan of "digital survival" to the digital transformation as an economic development strategy. Networking, digitalization and intelligence led by information and communication technologies such as Internet, mobile communication, cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence are coming one after another, and we are entering the era of deep digitalization and deep intelligence. It is this trend of the times that makes the living space of human beings gradually migrate from physical space to cyber physical space, thus naturally giving birth to the concept and innovation of meta-universe.
Undoubtedly, under the impetus of Facebook's renaming Meta event, Metauniverse is becoming an exciting innovation hotspot driven by a new generation of digital technology. However, from the perspective of science and technology industry policy and governance, the hotter the phenomenon, the more cold thinking is needed. Metauniverse is popular to a great extent because it can roughly represent the integrated innovation framework of a new generation of digital, networked and intelligent technology applications, and whether it can really lead the trend of digital and intelligent development depends on whether the times will eventually choose it.
Specific to the dimensions of digital governance and emerging technology governance, the challenging question is: how can the development of metauniverse form a governance framework that can adapt to the breadth, depth and speed of its innovation, and promote its orderly development with agile governance with dynamic coping ability? In view of the fact that the development of metauniverse is still in the incubation period of concept dissemination and innovation, it is urgent to carry out a series of predictive interdisciplinary research to provide a set of working assumptions based on rational understanding before constructing a specific governance framework. Therefore, it is very necessary to clarify the essence and problems of the scientific and technological society represented by the meta-universe, establish a cognitive strategy to grasp the open innovation of the meta-universe, and then make forward-looking thinking on the value appeal and governance principles of the meta-universe.
Hyperuniverse and its challenge in the era of deep digitalization
Metauniverse itself is not a scientific concept like the universe, but a new general description of the information space driven and connected by digital technology. In fact, it is an open set concept, and its connotation will be continuously increased or decreased according to the development of technology. In recent years, the meta-universe has surpassed the connotation of immersive 3D virtual world given by Stephenson when he first coined the term 1992, and extended to objects, actors, interfaces in the physical world, and networks that build virtual environments and interact with them. Regarding the connotation of the metauniverse, The Metauniverse Roadmap: The Road to 3D Network published by the Accelerated Research Foundation (ASF) points out that the metauniverse is the fusion of virtual augmented physical reality and physical persistent virtual space, which enables users to experience both at the same time. No single unified entity is called metauniverse; The construction of metauniverse means that more and more virtual and 3D network tools and objects will be embedded in our environment and promote each other, which will become a lasting feature of our lives. In addition, the emergence of these technologies will depend on the potential benefits, investment and customer interests, and will be affected by their drawbacks and unexpected consequences.
In order to describe the development trend of the hyperuniverse, the roadmap of the Accelerated Research Foundation selects two groups of ever-changing lineages that may affect its evolution model: the technical pedigree from enhancement to simulation and the technical pedigree from privacy (identity-centered) to external (world-centered). Among them, enhancement technology refers to enhancing our perception and interaction with the physical environment by adding a new information control system, simulation technology refers to providing a brand-new interactive environment by building a virtual or mirror world, privacy technology involves the internal experience of individuals (including virtual avatars and virtual subjects), and external technology provides users with information and control technology about the surrounding world.
The four quadrants thus formed can roughly divide the metauniverse into four forms: virtual world, mirror world, augmented reality and life record (see figure 1). It is not difficult to see that these forms are actually interrelated. For example, in kevin kelly's eyes, augmented reality will lead to the emergence of a new large-scale technology platform that can be called mirror world: in the near future, every street, lamppost, building and room in the real world will have digital twins with the same size in this artificial mirror world, just like a map with the same size as the territory it represents.
However, in order to grasp the essence of the hyperuniverse and the deep digital age it represents, and explore the possible challenges that the hyperuniverse may bring to social values, we should take the opportunity of thinking about the hyperuniverse to conduct a more systematic and forward-looking discussion on the basis of deepening people's existing understanding of related issues. In fact, people have done a lot of thinking about the nature and problems of information communication technology and digital technology. Among them, in addition to the concepts based on spatial metaphor, such as cyberspace, information circle and related mental layers, hypertext space, global brain and other concepts similar to the meta-universe, there are three aspects that are representative and meaningful.
First of all, the basis of various possible metauniverse forms is the idea of digital computing and its technical realization. That is, the world and people (including behavior and interaction) are transformed into data-driven information machines through digitalization, and then automatically run by using information communication technology or digital technology. But the potential conflict caused by this is that human beings themselves are not completely equivalent to agents in information machines. People have thoughts, autonomy and initiative, people have biological bodies, and people's feelings and cognition are realized through their neurocognitive system. In this regard, the cognitive phenomenologist Melo-Ponty pointed out as early as the 1960s that it is actually a cybernetic idea to interpret human creation as a natural process of information. In this absolutely artificial perspective, the human body has become a possible body in the sense of an information machine, but in our life, the world of perception and processing should have existed for our body.
Thirdly, the discussion about the programmable future shows that the metauniverse itself is not mysterious, but its essence is a programmable world built by software codes. 20 1 1 mark anderson, the inventor and venture capitalist of the world's first mouse, once pointed out: "Software is devouring the earth!" The fact that books, audio-visual and other industries have been eroded by digital network enterprises on a large scale since then really reflects this point. Regarding the significance of the programmable world, Cosimo Yatoka pointed out in the newly published book Data Age: A Philosophical Guide to the Programmable Future: "In the universal and continuous development, distribution and activation of software code, from metaphor to practical significance, software code is attacking and destroying the world we know so far, as well as the way of society, economy and our production value ... in short. In his view, the function of code is not to compress and eliminate physical space, but to create and manipulate reality. In the data age, code is the key element to activate space generation activities, so it is isomorphic with space as code/space-through the generative operation of code, the relationship between proximity, fluidity, sociality, sensibility and accessibility is generated, and space is constantly revised and iterated.
Based on these important ideas, it helps us realize that the metauniverse is not a brand-new thing, but a trend of cumulative integration and innovation. Looking forward to it should not be based on the future vision of various sci-fi, nor should it be difficult to find the answer from the constantly refurbished scene application ideas and technical solutions. Instead, we should start with questioning the technology pedigree and the accompanying problem pedigree, avoid fleeting predictions and reveal real problems and challenges.
With the development of the meta-universe, the existing thinking provides us with a general direction for further exploration. First, the induced and manipulated behavior of virtual world, the influence and harm of immersive virtual experience on people's nervous system, and the changes of virtual life such as games on people's behavior patterns will undoubtedly aggravate these problems and become more complicated and difficult to deal with. Secondly, as an upgraded version of digital existence, the hyperuniverse will bring more life challenges: the duality of self and digital body, the relationship between virtual people will make self-identity more difficult, the general blurring of the boundary between reality and virtual will lead to more serious cognitive obstacles, lack of attention may become the new normal of the hyperuniverse society, and people may become isolated subcultures, and so on. Third, in the era of deep digitalization of the metauniverse, codes, sensors, data, algorithms and artificial intelligence are becoming brand-new generating devices. When creating space in space and building the world in the world, the spatial topological structure of the metauniverse will become "endless" and "inseparable". The resulting subversive forces may be abused, thus becoming a powerful force that undermines social unity and affects justice. More importantly, even if we can regard the metauniverse and its deep digitalization trend as subversive forces of the stars, we can't ignore that it is still built on the natural ecological environment, and we can't help but consider the ecological carrying capacity of the earth and the overall goal of sustainable development of human civilization.
Hyperuniverse as a social experiment of science and technology and its ethical influence
In view of the inheritance and exploration of the meta-universe, the study of its possible effects and reactions needs to adopt corresponding cognitive strategies in order to focus on the appropriate problem domain. In order to avoid platitudes, generalities and grandiloquence, two cognitive strategies should be adopted when exploring social, ethical and legal issues in the hyperuniverse. The first is the open inquiry strategy, that is, acknowledging that the hyperuniverse is actually an unfinished concept and innovation, and keeping an open attitude towards various possibilities. The second is the realistic possibility strategy, that is, grasping the most likely problems in its current development trend and their social repercussions, grasping the essence and exploring feasible countermeasures. Combining the two is helpful to clarify the presupposition and boundary of meta-universe-related research.
Therefore, the following facts can not be ignored and avoided: First, the dataization of the world and people, that is, virtual reality, augmented reality, augmented reality and other technologies as the predecessor or foundation of the meta-universe, are essentially digital simulations and simulations of the perception and behavior of the world and people; The second is the illusion of perception and experience, that is, the sense of virtual reality in the meta-universe is based on subjective perception and physical experience based on illusion; Third, the controllability of cognition and action, that is, augmented reality and augmented reality in the meta-universe make people's cognition and action based on experience and facts reintegrate with digital media and become recognizable and controllable objects. Faced with these facts, it is not difficult to reveal that the development of the metauniverse will inevitably lead to a series of complex and open ethical shocks far beyond the ethics of information and digital technology, which will lay a foundation for further discussion on the basic value demands and governance of the development of the metauniverse.
The first is the influence of data ethics in a fully intelligent environment. In the metauniverse, the collection and analysis of human behavior and biometric data will be the basis of its operation. According to a study of Stanford University 20 18, staying in virtual reality space for 20 minutes will leave about 2 million pieces of data, such as eye movements, hand positions and walking styles. Only by monitoring eye movements, we can understand people's psychological state and fatigue degree through detailed biometric data such as line of sight position, blink times and pupil opening degree at each moment. In the meta-universe, the existing laws and ethics on protecting personal information and personal data are far from being able to cope with this new trend. Therefore, from the beginning, it is necessary to ensure that the data obtained through VR headset, AR glasses or BCI interface and their use are safe and beneficial, in line with ethics and laws.
Secondly, the challenges of life and neuroethics in the deep digital environment brought by the illusion of perception and experience. If the hyperuniverse really leads the future of deep digitalization, technology developers will have to deeply study the plasticity of human mind or brain in virtual environment, the deep manipulation of virtual behavior on human behavior and identity, and the long-term influence of virtual immersion and avatar on human cognition and psychology, so as to draw the boundary between physical and cognitive security for human virtual activities on the basis of scientific facts. Otherwise, the development of some micro-industries is tantamount to human experiments without moral norms and legal constraints. Among them, the protection of vulnerable groups such as teenagers is particularly important. From the very beginning, it is necessary to explicitly limit the time that teenagers stay in the meta-universe, especially not to irresponsibly claim that teenagers are the original generation of the meta-universe in the name of any generation.
Thirdly, it is the subversive influence of social cognitive ethics and spiritual ethics, such as fact forgery and consciousness manipulation, brought about by the confusion and resolution of the boundary between virtual and reality. It should be recognized that with the continuous improvement of the fidelity of virtual and augmented reality technologies, coupled with the forgery of artificial intelligence and the adoption of brain-computer interface technology, the development of hyperuniverse cannot but prevent the abuse of these powerful technologies. For example, they can easily be used to confuse forged facts with real facts, and even fabricate false collective memories of specific events and history, thus interfering with people's social cognition and manipulating people's consciousness and spirit. It can be predicted that the anti-intellectualism and cognitive bias formed by metacosmic technology will be more stubborn and more difficult to crack.
Explore the value base point and governance principle of the meta-universe
Where will the future of deep digitalization and Internet go? How to deal with many subversive ethical shocks that may be caused by the meta-universe? This requires us to go beyond the technical level and establish the necessary value benchmark or anchor point for it from the perspective of man and technology, science and technology and human civilization. From a technical point of view, the current cognition of the metauniverse is more virtual, mainly as a large-scale, lasting, interactive and operable real-time platform composed of interconnected virtual worlds. However, if technology is regarded as the essential feature of human beings and science and technology as the endogenous variable of human civilization, then the world constructed by technology and science and technology can be defined as an artificial world, and thus the metauniverse can be regarded as a new version of the artificial world connected, organized and integrated by digital technology.
From the value point of view, the artificial world created by science and technology should be built for the future, so that the future may summon potential great power, but no matter how wonderful this possibility is, human civilization should have more room for development, not no future. If the use of nature by human scientific and technological activities in the industrialized era has caused many risks that make the natural ecology unsustainable, then the development of data-driven metauniverse should especially avoid the "futurization" of people and human society caused by its abuse.
Therefore, based on the above-mentioned open inquiry and realistic possibility cognition strategy, as long as we also admit that the foundation of scientific and technological civilization initiated by information and communication technology and digital technology is the natural environment, resources, our living body and the real society, we can put forward a directional presupposition on how the unfinished metauniverse will develop: just as the current cyberspace is not completely virtual and anonymous as originally envisaged, As a deeply digitized living space, the metauniverse will also be a space where numbers and physics are intertwined. The sustainability, health, happiness, beautiful life, unity and prosperity of matter and energy, ecology and environment, body and life, community and society have higher values.
This presupposition of directionality is helpful to establish the value anchor point for the future meta-universe, stars and seas. Accordingly, we will remain open to other more radical ideas, but at the same time we must question the realistic possibility of these ideas. For example, in view of Hans Moravec and ray kurzweil's computer-mediated dream of eternal life, it can be questioned who will enjoy this kind of eternal life when resources are scarce, especially in the initial iteration stage. More importantly, starting from this value benchmark, we can more clearly realize that the hyper-universe, as a scientific and technological social experiment, is not a simple technological innovation, but a complex scientific and technological social complex and artificial world, and the essence of its ethical impact is the deep-seated conflict between people and technology. How to deal with these shocks and carry out appropriate value balance and ethical construction is precisely the internal relationship between the hypercosmic innovation from 0 to 1.
Starting from the value benchmark or anchor point of the meta-universe, combined with the experience of digital governance and artificial intelligence governance, the following governance principles can be put forward to deal with its social and ethical impact.
First, the principle of classified governance. Metauniverse is a set concept and an integrated innovation in technology. In order to clarify the governance path and make full use of the existing governance experience, it is necessary to distinguish it according to the needs of governance and avoid policy ambiguity. For example, the current hyperuniverse can be roughly divided into games, digital assets and infrastructure, especially relatively serious economic and social life and games and entertainment. On this basis, related governance should find the crux of its existence according to different types, its scale and specific impact, and then seek further governance paths according to the existing governance paths.
Second, the principle of putting people first and protecting the real society. Specifically, it includes a series of measures, such as protecting personal data and privacy, protecting the physical and mental health of consumers and users, especially the physical and mental health of teenagers, protecting users from manipulation, balancing the relationship between rights and responsibilities in virtual worlds, protecting public spaces and public goods in virtual worlds, avoiding and reducing escapism and social isolation, and jointly building virtual worlds. Among them, many problems are more and more challenging, for example, how to prevent the virtual world from moving towards a relatively closed walled garden and the extreme development of subculture groups.
Third, the principle of balance between reality and reality. In view of the deviation of virtualization of hyperuniverse, this principle emphasizes that ecology, life and life in the real world have higher value. The construction of virtual world, mirror world and augmented reality is ultimately to make real social life more meaningful and efficient. It does not advocate completely replacing real life with virtual life, but emphasizes the existence of the boundary between virtual and reality.
Fourth, the principles of green, happiness and prosperity. That is to say, the ultimate goal of the construction of the meta-universe should be the sustainability of the natural environment, the happiness of personal life and the unity and prosperity of society. Based on this principle, the construction of metauniverse must consider the constraints of environment and resources, and take saving resources as an important index to measure its quality; People should avoid excessive consumption of time and energy in their activities in the hyperuniverse, and the design of the hyperuniverse should take avoiding addiction as an important technical indicator from the beginning; Virtual community should introduce the necessary autonomy mechanism to avoid extreme group thinking and social division. In a word, the development of the hyperuniverse should be conducive to the prosperity of the real world, not the other way around.
Finally, the principle of pluralistic governance. This principle requires that, on the one hand, the top-down governance structure of the state and industry authorities should be combined with the bottom-up self-discipline and adaptive governance of enterprises and industries, on the other hand, the intervention of the real world should be combined with the autonomy of the virtual world. In the specific governance practice, according to the experience of digital governance and artificial intelligence, the implementation of this principle should maintain a moderate tension between event-based processing and institutionalized governance to promote innovation and consumer protection. More importantly, in governance, it is necessary to conduct scientific research on related issues of the meta-universe, including negative effects, rather than just relying on imagination to regulate and punish adverse consequences. In fact, respecting and facing up to scientific facts is the greatest common denominator of all disciplines-it can not only promote and protect innovation, but also make its development conform to the interests of the country, society and users. Only in this way can we promote the healthy and orderly development of the meta-universe and make it the engine of the times leading the digital future.