Future of Metaverse: classifying Virtual Beings of its inhabitants
2021 was the year “Metaverse” attracted a lot of attention.
Metaverse may seem to be walking on its own, but to put it simply, it is a advanced version of the current Internet space.
The web space has been transformed into a VR space, 3D avatars are walking around the VR space instead of icons on SNS, and text-based communication has been replaced by voice communication.
The actual Metaverse would be like above, in other words, Internet space as an analog of the real world.
(note: VR is not necessarily essential to the metaverse, but this article assumes only VR metaverse.)
Meta (formerly Facebook), one of the most influencing company in the world, are getting serious about the metaverse. So I guess that such a metaverse will probably permeate our daily lives to some extent in recent years. Then, however, I believe that a certain issue will be raised: friction caused by differences in “mental stance” in virtual space.
In the sentence above I simplified the metaverse as a next version of the Internet, but in fact, not a few things will change due to its characteristics. What I would like to focus on is the mental influence the VR space bring to people.
Both consciously or unconsciously, People are greatly influenced by their appearance and attributes (age, gender, social status, etc.). For example, as we get older, the pressure to behave in a calm manner will naturally force to change our behavior. Needless to say about the gender differences between men and women.
However, in the VR space, there is the possibility to be free from these attributes of our real selves and be whoever we want to be.
3D avatars give you the appearance you want, and the VR space gives you the feeling (or illusion) that is a another you. In addition, the anonymity of the Internet space cuts off the connection with the real you, allowing the VR space to free people’s minds.
How does such stuffs change people’s minds? I discussed that in the article below, focusing on VTubers, who are also free to choose their own elements.
However, as the metaverse is getting familiar to the entire society, the majority of people will be those who regard the real self and the metaverse self as the same according to common sense.
The current VR space, VRChat, for example, has not escaped the realm for enthusiasts. That enables people to respect somewhat fanciful perceptions: self in VR world is different from reality, in the context of subcultures.
On the other hand, for ordinary people who will later become the majority, such context, or to put it in catchier words, the culture of the “Metaverse Natives”, is incomprehensible and alien.
To make matters worse, their difference come in mental stance thus invisible. That would make it difficult to distinguish between the two and understand each other. I think it is quite natural that conflicts is to occur between the two.
Fortunately, today there is a tendency to respect the rights of minorities (at least in developed countries), and thus there is a good chance that such way of being in VR world will also be respected, if not understood.
However, there is an indispensable condition for this: to be recognized its existence.
For example, think about sexual minorities such as LGBTQ. One reason why they can be respected is the concept (or name) of LGBTQ is widely recognized and shared in society. Otherwise, or the existence of LGBTQ were invisible, individual people would only be perceived as an occasional oddball, and would not have the social status that they have today.
Now you already know. To be recognized is a essential to be respected in society.
This is why I propose a taxonomy of the inhabitants of the metaverse: the virtual beings.
There are the ordinary people who see the metaverse as an extended reality, and at the same space there are the pioneers who found new possibilities that they can be different from the real self.
By expressing and visualizing them on a single board, I hope to help people understand and respect each other’s ways of being in VR space.
◆Framework for Classification
I propose a classification on a two-axis plane based on two indicators as a framework after much trial and error. The indicators were derived from the driving force behind the VR space’s new possibilities: the possibility of being different from reality and anonymity.
Indicator 1: PDRS (Psychological Distance from Real Self)
This is a measure of how much you identify with your real self and the self in the VR space closely. Or put it into another way, how much you try to be different from your real self in VR space.
For example, if your real self = your online self, your PDRS is small (close). If you behave differently on the Internet, PDRS is large (far).Indicator 2: PI (Personal Identifiability)
This is an indicator shows the amount of information about you in the VR space. It is a extended concept of anonymity (the inability to connect with reality).
For example, a user with a specific name has higher PI than nameless. Also, when you have more information like appearance (in VR space), gender, attributes, and more unique and distinguish you are, those result in higher PI.
Based on these two indicator, PDRS and PI, the table below categorizes the psychological stance of the “Inhabitants of the Metaverse” into eight types.
I’m sure you must be puzzled by this chart full of coined words, but let me explain them in order. From here on, I’ll divide these eight categories into three groups according to the direction of individualization in the VR space as below:
1) Pairing with Real Self
2) Virtual Person
3) Role-playing
◇Group 1: Pairing with Real Self
The first is “pairing with real self”.
The initial avatar in the VR space is impersonal and is in the realm of “Anonymous Accounts”. Therefore, many people try to differentiate themselves by customizing their avatars, as has already been done in various games and SNS. This is a behavior rooted in human nature to establish an identity.
Thus, people first move into the realm of “Avatars”.
The problem is how they differentiate themselves from this “Avatar” realm.
In other words, how does the self in the VR space develop its identity. The direction of this will divide the three groups here.
The turning point is whether or not to make the avatar resemble the real you. The group that chooses to imitate the real self here is Group 1: Pairing with the real self.
This is the stance that does not find any additional elements in the VR space, and it corresponds to the fact that the PDRS is small, which means that this group is located on the left side of the figure.
From this realm, these who are more inclined to connect their VR selves with their real selves will move to the “Real Name Account” realm.
In today’s SNS, people other than celebrities tend to avoid high-risk real name accounts, but Facebook is an exception and exactly this kind of world. “Real Name Account” realm is similar to this, where people connect real selves to VR selves through their real name. Needless to say, Meta probably envisions metaverse that is an extension of reality like above.
Both “Avatars” and “Real Name Accounts” have less resistance to changing their avatars up to this stage. This is because their identity is not related to the avatar in VR space but to the real world.
However, this situation changes in the realm of the “Digital Twin”.
They create avatars that are the most realistic scans of their real selves: copies of their real bodies. They regard VR self and the real self as identical subjectively. That’s “Digital Twin”.
In this state, the metaverse is very close to the real world, and the awareness that “This is my body.” will grow even in the VR space, and the awareness that other avatars are just playthings, like Halloween costumes, will become stronger.
“Avatars”, “Real Name Accounts”, and “Digital Twins”. In any case, the self in the VR space is merely an alter ego of the real world, and its identity depends on the real self. Therefore, the PDRS does not change from the left side of the figure.
However, by using real names and the same “body” as in reality, the VR and real selves overlap more strongly. This is expressed as a change in PI (i.e., the person’s uniqueness in the VR space) as a vertical shift in the figure.
◇Group 2: Virtual Person
The second group, which is somewhat different from the first, is “Virtual Person”. Unlike group (1), this group is not bound to the real self, but adds new elements to the self in VR space.
They choose different form from their real self in the process of “differentiating” from the initial avatar. That result in a difference in the PDRS (gap with the real self). Also slight difference occurs between Group 1 and Group 2 in the left-right direction even in the same “Avatar” realm, though ambiguous at this time.
Because people in this realm are not tied to their real selves, they are more likely to use different avatars than people in Group 1 (left side), who resemble their real selves. However, things changes after that.
Though many people will remain in this “Avatar” realm, there will be a certain number of people who will try to differentiate themselves from their real selves, as seen among today’s VR-SNS and VTubers: not only changing in their appearance (avatar) but also in their internal stuffs, like behavior or mind. One elementary example is one who talk and act differently from his real selves in order to match his avatar’s appearance.
Sometimes they will take on different names for their virtual self, or offer some sort of setting or status (sometimes unrealistic). This is an attempt to establish a unique identity as virtual self, so to speak.
VTubers are one popular example to imagine this. For example, Tsukino Mito (月ノ美兎) from Nijisanji (にじさんじ) acts as “Tsukino Mito of Class president” meanwhile her real self also exists. She is in a sense different person from her real self though those two are rooted in same body.
Their appearances and status are supposed to be interchangeable. However, you could easily imagine that there would be a strong resistance to do this, isn’t it?
This is because changing their avatar or status means abandoning own identity in the VR space. This is similar to the phenomenon people becoming attached to their long used e-mail addresses, SNS icons, and handles, and continuing to use them.
I believe that such a phenomenon will also occur widely even among ordinary people who are not VTubers. I named this type of presence as “Virtual Agents” because the combination of their avatar or status seem to behave like an agent of the real self in the VR world.
In such case, there is a gap between the real self and the metaverse self and additional information such as avatar and setting/status in the VR space will slip into this gap. This increases the amount of information you have as a person in the VR space. This means an increase in PDRS and PI respectively. Therefore, the realms of “Virtual Agents” are positioned to the lower left from “Avatar”.
Furthermore, we can think of a “Virtual Personalities” that claims its own existence as a single personality in the VR world.
In other words, for her, her appearance in the VR space is her true form and her personality exists only in the VR space inseparably from her avatar. So her personality cannot exist in the real world where her avatar couldn’t be. This is in contrast to the “Virtual Agents”, which assumes that the real one is behind her.
Of course, it is impossible to switch avatars for them, and changing avatars is the same as becoming other person.
Of course, this is unrealistic and a creative argument today. However, this analysis is about psychological stance so what is important is not objective fact but the subjective fact: how it feels.
Just as an avatar itself is also a creation, the VR space contains creative elements at its root. The “Virtual Personalities” is located at the intersection of reality and creation, where the false and the real mingle.
The real self and the VR self are, so to speak, similar but another person. So PDRS is large and thus it’s positioned to the right of the “Virtual Agent” on the figure.
◇Group 3: Role-playing
The last group is “Role-play”. This is somewhat exceptional. As I mentioned above, the VR space contains creative elements at its root, and such characteristics are most strongly expressed in this group.
“Role-playing” realm is the group that acts out a certain role or character in the VR space. VR self is the “role” played on the stage, and the real self is the spectator who watches it. Therefore, the PDRS is at its maximum and “Role-playing” is on the right side of the figure.
To be surprising, there are already certain number of people who behave like that in VR-SNS. That represents how VR space and its anonymity free people’s mind.
This group includes a wide variety of stances, ranging from role-playing based on real personality (like knight-playing in an MMORPG) to mimicking specific character.
Role-playing elements can also be found in “Avatars”, “Virtual Agents”, and “Virtual Personalities”. So boundaries between them are gradations.
However, one of the major differences between role-playing and other domains is the less resistance to changing avatars. Those who are in “Role-playing” realm doesn’t develop their identity in VR space deeply beyond a certain level. This is because they in VR space are not themselves. Or, if you are strongly hesitant to do so, you should consider that you are shifting to a “Virtual Agents” or “Virtual Personalities”.
And an extremely creative way of being is the “Virtual Character”. In contrast to “Role-playing,” where the person inside has an initiative, the character itself has it in the realm of “Virtual Character”. The Person inside serves to play the role of the character. It is like the relationship between a character and a voice actor in animation.
One example of “Role-playing” among VTubers is Noraneko P (ノラネコP)’s Nora-cat (のらきゃっと) . Another VTuber, Hello Kitty (ハローキティ), is a typical example of a “Virtual Character”. Kizuna AI (キズナアイ) also started out as a “Virtual Character”, but it is likely that the nature of her has been changing over time.
◆An aside: VTuber taxonomy
Now that I’ve had enough of lecturing, let’s take a break.
The topic “What is a VTuber?” is regularly discussed in the VTuber world. This is because the word “VTuber” has already become a multi-syllabic term, and it is difficult to unravel it.
To tell the truth, this article’s classification theory was originally developed to consider that. So I applied this classification theory again to some VTubers and classified on figure below along with their psychological stance.
The realms with red letters are that is known as VTuber. As you can see, there are VTubers in almost every category.
(Note: These positions are subjective and thus only a guess.)
Virtual Agents: Tsukino Mito (月ノ美兎), Gawr Gura, and Hosho Marine (宝鐘マリン)
This is the mainstream realm of current VTubers. Many live-streaming VTubers are positioned into this category. As they spent long time on streaming as VTuber and grows relationships with other VTubers through collaboration streams, they would have felt their avatar more human (=higher PI). It’s characteristic in Virtual Agent.Role-play: Nora-cat (のらきゃっと)
Nora-cat, who plays in the role of Bishojo android, is a representative VTuber in role-playing category. Because she operate according to the ideal image of “Nora-cat”, her personalities are relatively thin and their PI is low. Noraneko P’s note was very helpful in understanding the psychology of such role-playing.Virtual personalities: Tomari Mari (兎鞠まり) and Kizuna AI
For example, Tomari Mari, who works as beautiful girl but actually “she is he”. As her real and virtual selves don’t overlap in many ways due to their different genders, her personality would exists rather in Virtual space, so she can be considered in this realm.
On the other hand, Kizuna AI was originally born as a virtual character. However, as her “soul” has grown, or her personality has become stronger, eventually she would have stepped out of the frame of a character and now in this realm.Virtual Character: Hello Kitty (ハローキティ)
This is the most obvious example of a character that has a stricter framework than role-playing. One who inside, or voice actress, shouldn’t go over this framework.Avatar: Choueki Taro (懲役太郎)
He pushes his real life to the forefront but does not, or can’t show his face, instead avatar. So he is a subspecies of a Youtuber in a sense. This is why probably this realm is most appropriate for him.Real name account: Gatchman V (ガッチマンV)
He is a virtual version of Gatchman, who is also known as a real person, a famous streamer. Off course he does not use his real name but it is appropriate to place him here because he is connected to his real body through his widely known name.Digital Twin: Virtual Grand Mothers Kobayashi Sachiko (小林幸子) and Tsubokura Teruaki (坪倉輝明)
Sachiko Kobayashi, who took on a virtual form in one video with Kizuna AI, and Teruaki Tsubokura, an artist who has a 3D-scanned avatar of himself that is also available to the public, could be placed here. This is a very special case for VTubers, since those who can show his name and face would normally become Youtubers straightforwardly.
Does this categorization match with your feeling that “he and she are somehow different.”?
Now you would know why we sometimes get confused while talking about VTuber. For example, Suppose that I say “VTubers should follow their settings strictly”, assuming that they are “Virtual Characters”, which has lots of background settings at their core, one who imagines VTubers in the “Avatar” realm, which don’t have settings and are rooted in reality, would say “What are you talking about?”.
When you talk about VTubers, this figure may help you to understand. Why don’t you think about which realms you and the other person are talking about.
◆Where conflict Lies: The Wall of Unreality
Now that you have a better understanding of the classifications in this paper, let’s take a look at the classification chart again and see where conflict occurs in the metaverse as I noted at the beginning.
The boundary where the most friction would appear is the “Wall of Unreality” shown below.
This is the boundary between group (1) and group (2)(3) in the three groups explained above. In other words, this is the boundary between whether or not one considers real self as same as self in the VR space, or whether or not one approves the psychological creativity in the VR space.
In the metaverse that Meta is currently leading, the right side of the wall is probably not envisioned. As the metaverse permeates society within a few years, the VR space will be filled with people on the left side who have no idea what is on the other side of this wall.
On the other hand, the mainstream of existing VR-SNS, or “Metaverse Natives” are on the right side of this wall. There is a huge gap here, and I think that’s why VRChat users feel somewhat uncomfortable when they see Meta’s Horizon Worlds.
However, this Wall of Unreality has nothing physical. It is easy to overcome, as long as avatar customization is implemented to an extent.
Rather, the problem lies in psychological and social barriers: the common sense. When the Metaverse Natives, living on the right side, come into contact with the world on the left side, their behavior is immediately bound by the common sense of reality. That’s the nature of common sense.
However, that means in a sense death for the inhabitants of the world on the right side.
But that X-Day seems to be much closer now that Facebook has changed its name to Meta.
In fact I am the one in the right side. What will happen to our world on the right side and its inhabitants?
◆Divided World and Shifting Boundaries
These conflicts at the Wall of Unreality would result in the metaverses divided by boundaries.
In other words, the right side and the left side will be stabilized as separate metaverse…for example, Horizon Worlds and VRChat. And each world will be ruled by different common sense. Or perhaps the world will be further subdivided according to the walls of various values, while way of being in those worlds will be chosen that fits each world. Just as we behave according to TPO in reality, we would use different mental stances interchangeably in VR space.
This analogy can be found in SNS: worlds in a sense on today’s online space. There is Facebook, which is a real name system and an extension of reality; 4ch, 5ch, and reddit, which are anonymous spaces; and Twitter, which is somewhere in between.
Each SNS has its own atmosphere and off course its inhabitants are different. Such overview of SNS may hint at the future of the metaverse.
On the other hand, such a division goes against the trend of times.
The significance of the metaverse lies in the integration of all things into a single platform, just as the real world is.
Individual elements have already been created in the VR space as various applications: a small world for watching movies, a small world for live performances, a small world for interaction and conversation, a small world for shopping, and so on. The missing piece is just unity of them.
The metaverse takes on its meaning only when these elements are combined into a single large world and thus huge convenience is created.
In other words, the metaverse has both internal pressure from cultural opposition and external pressure for integration through economy and convenience, and there is a good chance that the latter will outweigh the former and lead to one single metaverse.
In fact, in the past hundred years, our world has been transformed from a microcosms of regions into a single global society under the pressure of economic rationality and convenience.
That would be the time of winter for the inhabitants in the right side. The possibility in VR space is overridden by the pressure of the left side, which is the reality itself.
All I can do is to tell the existence of right side world widely through my writings, and to ask many people to accept such a way of being.
◆Conclusion: The Future of the Metaverse and Its Possibilities
…However, such an era will not last very long.
As VR permeates society, more and more people come into contact with the possibilities of the right side of VR space. As people realize the appeal of becoming what they want to be, being what they want to be, and being free from reality, more and more people will eventually transcend the wall and come to the world of the right side.
This is the same reason why you don’t want it to resemble your real self for an avatar in a game, but rather your ideal self. Most people dream of behaving as their ideal appearance and personality at least once. If you look at VR-SNS in its infancy today, it is a future that will come with fairly high probability.
At that time, common sense itself will change. The walls of unreality will fade and eventually disappear as everyone will have their own way of being in VR world. The walls of common sense are strong due to so many people supporting it, but it also falls down easily over time because it is supported by many people.
At this moment, we strongly believe that the physical world is real and the VR space is a fictional.
However, the day will come when the VR space becomes a part of the real world, and many people will believe it to be real.
At that time, the number of “Virtual Agents” and “Virtual Personalities” will increase, as will the number of “Virtual Citizens” who use avatars as their bodies. In time, we will be able to live and work in virtual forms and names, opening up new possibilities that we have never even considered before.
And in a world where these various ways of being are intermingled in VR space, I believe that we will need to understand and respect the virtual ways of being each other even more than now.
I would be very happy if this article could be remembered as a guideline for a new era in the future.
I wish all the best for the future of the virtual world.
Omoi Kane
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
You can find original Japanese article “メタバースの未来を読む：メタバースの住人「バーチャルな存在」の分類論” on note.com.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Thank you so much for reading my article.
Feel free to send me message if you’re interested in.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/omoi0kane
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omoi0kane/
note: https://note.com/omoi0kane
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100058134300434
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpPeO0NenRLndISjkRgRXvA
