- France believes that the metaverse should always be available whether or not there are users in the virtual world
- This opinion comes after embarking on an exploratory mission commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Economy
- In the mission, France discovered that big brands are likely to rule the metaverse
The French government has released a summary of its exploratory mission on the metaverse which was spearheaded by the economy, culture and digital transformation ministries. The government concluded that an ideal metaverse should always be available and resemble the open approach of the internet for it to gain widespread adoption. However, the report also finds that big brands are likely to rule the virtual space and will possibly corrupt the actual image of the immersive world.
Metaverse with Small “m,” not Capital “M”
According to the report’s authors, the metaverse should be a sharable, 3D, immersive digital planet that will exist in real-time whether users are present or not. Interestingly, the authors found it misleading to use the word metaverse with capital “M” interchangeably with that of a small “m” since they don’t refer to the same thing.
For them, the version with a small “m” is best used when referring to the virtual immersive planet, while the other one is ideal when describing concepts relating to the immersive, virtual, 3D world.
Be Careful of Big Brands
The report added that big brands like Meta (formerly Facebook) and established nations like China are likely to shape the general image of what is or is not the metaverse. As such, they say that it’s important to “question with suspicion the constraining and restrictive visions” propagated by these entities.
The report also highlighted that the country is involved in innovative projects “essential for navigating and transacting in metaverses.” Some of these projects revolve around identity management, digital assets and decentralised wallet applications, while president Emmanuel Macron recently made an appearance in the metaverse to endorse France’s digital plans.
Although companies like Meta are obsessed with the metaverse, others like Apple are avoiding the term and have shifted their focus to virtual and augmented reality instead of the metaverse.
