METAVERSE ROADMAP -- GDC SESSION PEEKS AT THE FUTURE....one of the most fascinating sessions at GDC (Game Developer's Conference) was the Metaverse Roadmap session
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http://www.accelerating.org/roadmapping for more info on the Metaverse Roadmap project from the Accelerating Studies Foundation (ASF) --
Above--quick photo from the luncheon session held at GDC in San Jose-- that attracted dozens of futurists to peek at what's next! Blogger Joyce Schwarz was behind the camera and sitting next to several brilliant forecasters. One of my contributions was about the importance of "HIGH TOUCH in HIGH TECH WORLDS" -- a favorite topic of mine and part of my presentation and upcoming publication "FUTURE SCHLOCK".
ASF MISSION IN PLAIN ENGLISH
Before I get into blogging about the Metaverse Roadmap session and what that project is, I'll take a moment here to give you some details on the foundation which is awesome. Here's their mission in PLAIN ENGLISH courtesy of their website:
What is the Importance of ASF's Mission? http://www.accelerating.org/missioninplainenglish.html
- Imagine you lived in the year 1800 and foresaw the transformative future of the steam engine, interchangeable parts, chemistry, electricity, and the railroad.
- Or circa 1900 and predicted the future represented by the internal combustion engine, the mechanical census computer, the assembly line, radio, and television.
- Now, imagine you live around the year 2000 and can foresee the accelerating future of certain forms of information and communications technology, automation, miniaturization, and artificial intelligence, as well as the limitations on other technological developments (including most biotechnology, space exploration, and some nanotechnology). How would you use this information to improve your world?
ASF is dedicated to helping you acquire that humane foresight – the ability to make significantly better decisions today with your limited time, energy, and resources. (Click on the link for more details: http://www.accelerating.org/missioninplainenglish.html).
WHAT'S A ROADMAP? WHAT'S A METAVERSE? So many questions, so many paths?
According to their site, ASF is embarking on a major new foresight project in 2006: the Metaverse Roadmap (MVR). See their PDF Metaverse Poster for a three page graphical overview of the project. 
To learn more about roadmapping go to: ASF's Roadmapping page. "The MVR is a comprehensive 10-year technology forecast and visioning survey of 3D Web technologies, markets, and applications."
Official kickoff: The process kicks off with an invitational Metaverse Roadmap Summit at SRI International in May.
John Smart,chair, AC Co-Producer; Founder LA Future Salon (at UCLA) explains that the GDC session was part of a pre-kickoff outreach just as the session held at the O'Reilly Tech conference was earlier in the San Diego area. The dozens of futurists gathering in San Jose included execs from Lycos, consultants for Sony's R&D lab, Second Life gurus and more. The group included some awesome input from contributors from as far away as Australia -- the future has no geographic limits!
Roadmap products:
1) written report (The Metaverse Roadmap: Pathways to the 3D Web)
2)companion website (www.metaverseroadmap.org, coming soon)
3)narrated Flash scenario animations (in the manner of Robin Good's EPIC/Googlezon 2014) Hollywood2020 --if you have not seen Googlezon-- go there now!
4) call for the creation of a Metaverse Industry Technology Partnership (Metaverse ITP)
CONVERGING TECH & METAVERSE COMPONENTS? according to the accelerating.org/metaverse pages online:
• Networked video games like Xbox Live
• User-created virtual worlds like Second Life
• Massively multi-player games like World of Warcraft
• Digital maps of our planet like Google Earth
• Artificial life like [email protected]
• 3D operating systems like Open Croquet
• 3D animation like Massive Software
• 3D creation tools like 3ds Max
• 3D fabrication like Fab Lab
Email ASF Research Director Jerry Paffendorf at jerrypaffendorf{at}accelerating{dot}org if you are interested in joining the project, or for more information.
PS Still looking for what a METAVERSE is? Here's a link on WIKIPEDIA.com of course ---The Metaverse, a phrase coined by Neal Stephenson's science fiction novel Snow Crash (1992) constitutes Stephenson's vision of how a virtual reality-based Internet might evolve in the near future
Your contributions at the session were great, thanks for spreading the word!
The project's own website recently went live, you will be able to directly add information to the resources page, and we strongly encourage it!
www.metaverseroadmap.org
Bridget Agabra
Metaverse Roadmap Project Manager
Posted by: Bridget Agabra | April 25, 2006 at 05:11 PM