Hey Hive Peeps
For this post, I wanted to talk a bit about CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) and what the metaverse of the future could look like. I have recently been doing a fair amount of research on the current state of CGI and some of the many areas that utilise it.
Looking at the current landscape, it is really starting to feel like we might be on the verge of what could be a kind of industrial revolution when it comes to software like Unreal Engine and Unity. I think it’s also fair to say that consumer-grade hardware is finally getting to a point that can deliver visual experiences that are almost indecipherable from the real thing and at a semi-affordable cost. As I’m sure some of you are aware there is now a battle going on between Unreal Engine and Unity to see who can deliver the best tools for developers to be able to craft these experiences and I’m still not quite sure who is winning at the moment as they are both doing a pretty mind-blowing job of pushing that envelope to places it has never been pushed before. All I can say is that they are both getting very good at making the bleeding edge bleed.
Given that both these companies are already playing a very large part in the building of platforms that will eventually come together to form what we will possibly come to call the metaverse, it has me wondering, how real could things look in this elusive world when it eventually gets here?
Being a self-confessed Unreal Engine and Matrix fanboy I thought I would start with Unreal’s release of the photorealistic city that they created for the Matrix Awakens tech demo given that it is pretty much a whole city like world out of the box and is available to be experienced by anyone who has the hardware that is up to the task of running it. It is entirely conceivable that an asset like that could quite easily be turned into a metaverse type platform or that something similar to it in nature could be created for that purpose. It would definitely be interesting to experience it in a VR setting and It wouldn’t at all surprise me if a mod like that is already in the works somewhere.
Epic Games have also been kind enough to make a large number of the assets that were used to create this city available in the Unreal Engine marketplace so that people can have some fun with them in their own creations.
Pretty cool!!!
The whole Matrix Awakens city development was definitely groundbreaking for many reasons and also did a really good job of showcasing what is possible with the new Unreal 5 Nanite and Lumen technology which from what I understand are 2 of the main things that have really made this type of project possible given the previous constraints that were involved with the baking of lighting and the general optimization of graphical elements in CGI production environments. This was something that really began a short while back with the production of The Valley of The Ancients Tomb Raider tech demo and revolved around the ideology of being able to achieve more with less.
Here is a really good vid that explains this in more detail so you can see where it all started.
Another massively important tool that forms part of the Unreal 5 arsenal of tools is the Quixel megascans asset library. The team at Quixel have created an entire asset library of laser-scanned assets that can literally be dragged and dropped directly into your Unreal environments and with the use of the nanite technology be blended seamlessly into almost any scene.
I have been finding that the deeper I dive into this world the more amazing the people and the things that they create become. It seems that there is honestly no limit to what can be achieved when it comes to this amazing world of CGI. It is a world that knows no bounds except that of the imagination. It’s hard not to love it.
Another area where both Unreal and Unity are starting to shake things up is the world of movie production. It is well known how much it can cost to make a high fidelity Hollywood movie production as there are so many factors that are involved that, when brought together can end up costing millions of dollars. Things like actors, film locations, wardrobe, hair and makeup, camera equipment, film crews and so on. Things like Unreal and Unity have managed to find ways to be able to virtualise many of these components and drastically reduce the cost of production in a lot of ways. We already have amazing TV shows like The Mandalorian that are already using Unreal 5 to solve some of these problems.
We are also now at a point where entire movies are being created using software and CGI and in some cases have been created by a single person using a single computer.
Here are some nuggets created by some incredibly talented people that I managed to dig up.
The last example is from the recent Unity Enemies tech demo which is probably one of the best tech demos I have seen so far when it comes to digital humans. Unity recently joined forces with
Ziva Dynamics and Weta Digital which is a move that may well help level the playing field between Unreal and Unity.
So in answer to the question, how real could the metaverse look? Pretty Damn Real I think!!!
If we are already creating things of this quality now, what will we be creating 3 or 5 years from now?
I think the bigger question is are we ready for this kind of reality?
I will leave you with that thought for now.
I hope you enjoyed this little showcase and as always thanks for taking the time to read my post.
But now, how much processing power is needed for everyone to have access to the metaverse, since a phone with 3 gb of ram would burn and a basic computer is no good either.
I think that for the metaverse to be accessible to all, they should increase the current technological capacity, providing more processing power to all.
And with the chip component crisis, I don't think that will be possible in the next 5 years.
yes I think you are right if we are talking about mass adoption at levels similar to something like Facebook or tik tok but it does also depend on how we look at what the metaverse will be. Personally, I am currently looking at it as a progression of the internet and the things that exist on there now. The majority of platforms that class themselves as metaverse type platforms now are more like online multiplayer games with shops and shared social experiences and many of those don't require that much in terms of computational resources. If you look at platforms like Decentraland which is kind of a front runner in that space at the moment then it's not hard to access on a low powered device as its browser-based. In my opinion, a real metaverse experience would need to support VR in order to provide a good level of immersion so that would require a bit more but could still be accessed using the level of power that a mobile device has available. The Oculus Quest 2 VR headset is a good example of that as it contains mobile phone technology and is able to access quite a few metaverse like platforms. HTC has also released the Vive Flow headset which is a lot more compact and they say that will soon be able to do the same. The best platform that I have seen that's currently in development is the RFOX VALT platform. That is the most advanced platform that I have come across so far. I looked at a lot of this stuff in a previous post if its of interest.
Of course, you are right, mobile technology is becoming more and more accessible and better, it is true. I will read the article you tell me, thanks for your answer.
😉
Really good post. Or better article. It's more a great article!!! Could not say it better. On the one side I looove all this technology stuff, even AI Generative art and so on, on the other side I always have to think about Matrix and animatrix 2nd renaissance
But scary on the other side... I remember when Facebook chat bots started to recognize they talk to another AI and created an own language.... Til they shut them down or this interview of two AIs.... And this vids are old... Who knows what's new out know. I love science fiction soooo much and cyberpunk but when it will get real we have to watch out I think.
The metaverse is also an own topic... Normally I would say cool for education and other positive stuff but damn,i just saw a documentary about the bad side of it 3 days ago...not funny. Even not for kids!!!!!
At the end I hope we as humans just pay caution and take care enough, hope you know what I mean? Anyway, great post and thanks for sharing it with us. Have an amazing evening.
Thankyou that's very kind of you to say. I agree with you completely. The good side is so very exciting but the bad side absolutely terrifies me. I do honestly fear for our kids and what they may be subjected to. It makes me sad knowing that there are people out there who are already looking for ways to exploit kids using some of this new tech. We must all be vigilant and call out these predatory scumbags when we see them.
Exactly, we have to watch out. More technology can bring more fantastic stuff but also has this shadow sides... Or image if it will be really like in animatrix aka matrix? Than we also have to learn to live with this new created living forms on a kind way. Do you saw "ready player no. 1"? The movie is cool, a futuristic gamers movie where we live in a second world and so on (I don't wanna spoil it if you don't know it)
Thanks for you amazing article and thoughts. Have an awesome day.
Environmental visuals have reached a point in some games where the only thing more immersive is to add surround sound and a VR headset. While we're still struggling a bit with the uncanny valley for human-like graphics, everything else is getting pretty jaw-dropping.
I'm glad I lived through the retro era of gaming so that I can have a better appreciation for how far we've come!
!PGM
BUY AND STAKE THE PGM TO SEND A LOT OF TOKENS!
The tokens that the command sends are: 0.1 PGM-0.1 LVL-2.5 BUDS-0.01 MOTA-0.05 DEC-15 SBT-1 STARBITS-[0.00000001 BTC (SWAP.BTC) only if you have 2500 PGM in stake or more ]
5000 PGM IN STAKE = 2x rewards!
Discord
Support the curation account @ pgm-curator with a delegation 10 HP - 50 HP - 100 HP - 500 HP - 1000 HP
Get potential votes from @ pgm-curator by paying in PGM, here is a guide
I'm a bot, if you want a hand ask @ zottone444
I completely agree. They are getting very close with regard to the uncanny valley but they aren't quite there yet. Soon though I think. Once VR tech catches up a bit and can deliver a much higher quality image and the headsets become easier to wear, I think things will really start to gain some momentum. I'm really looking forward to that. You are right though, it's a really great time to be alive.
Congratulations @cyberrascal42! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):
Your next target is to reach 20 posts.
Your next target is to reach 800 upvotes.
Your next target is to reach 50 comments.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:
Support the HiveBuzz project. Vote for our proposal!