【TED】 The awesome potential of many meta

There is this word that you might have heard a lot recently, like right now: metaverse. It's suddenly a huge thing. And while for many people, it causes a lot of excitement, I think it also causes other feelings, like confusion and concern. And I think that's fair.

你可能最近经常听到 这样一个词，比如现在： 元宇宙。 这忽然间成了件大事。 虽然对很多人来说， 它很令人激动， 但我认为，它也带来了其他感受， 比如困惑和担忧。 我觉得这也不难理解。

And I’ve also felt confused. Metaverse is not really a new thing. Many massively multiplayer online games, for example, can be seen as metaverses. And I've certainly also felt concerned, especially when people talk about "the metaverse." That assumes that there's only one owner of the metaverse, and this owner would get far too much power and data. It also risks being exclusive. It might not be accessible for everyone, and will risk to introduce many of the inequities we see in the real world in the metaverse. This was pretty sad to me. So then you might wonder like, why am I here talking about the metaverse? That doesn't make sense.

我也曾经感到困惑。 元宇宙已经不是什么新鲜事物了。 比如，许多大型多人在线游戏 也被视为元宇宙。 我当然也感到担忧， 尤其是当人们谈论“此元宇宙”时。 那就是在假设元宇宙 只有一个所有者， 而这位所有者将拥有 过多的权力和数据。 它还存在着排他的风险。 它可能不是对每个人都开放， 并且可能会在元宇宙中引入许多 现实生活中的不公平现象。 这让我很难过。 你可能会想， 我为什么要在这里谈论元宇宙？ 这有点讲不通啊。

Well, the thing is, I'm not. I'm here to talk about metaverses and the vision of how they can provide a lot of delight to their communities and even make the real world a better place. And here we can learn a lot from games.

嗯，问题是，我没有。 我是要在这里谈论诸多的元宇宙， 以及它们如何为社区带来更多乐趣， 甚至让现实世界变得更美好的愿景。 在这里我们可以从游戏里学到很多。

So what is even a metaverse? How do we create a delightful, long-lasting metaverses? And how can metaverses make the real world a better place?

那究竟什么是元宇宙呢？ 我们如何创造一个令人愉悦的、 持久性的元宇宙？ 元宇宙如何让现实世界变得更美好?

And there are, of course, many answers to these questions, and I cannot give you the answer, but I can give you one answer. If, instead of talking about the metaverse, we talked about thousands or millions of metaverses created by people from all around the world, it would be much more inclusive and less risk of toxic uses. To me, that sounds quite lovely.

当然，这些问题有很多的答案。 我无法给你一个标准答案， 但是我可以给你一个答案。 如果我们不是在谈论某个元宇宙， 而是谈论那些数以千计 或者数以百万计的、 由世界各地的人们 所创造的元宇宙， 那么它的包容性就会更强， 造成有害作用的风险就会更小。 对我来说， 这听起来相当的美好。

What I'm showing you right now are persistent, endless virtual worlds where players can have lots of fun together. They are worlds that connect people. Each of these worlds were made by individuals in Minecraft. By removing and placing their own virtual building blocks, They could create anything they can imagine. And to me, these are creative and delightful examples of metaverses. And I know the power and the beauty of these worlds because I have my own that's more than ten years old.

我现在给你们展示的是 持续性的、无尽的虚拟世界。 在那里，玩家可以 一起享受诸多的乐趣， 那是可以让人们建立连接的世界。 每一个世界都是由《我的世界》 （Minecraft）中的游戏者们创造出来的。 通过移除和放置 他们自己的虚拟构件， 他们可以创造出 任何他们能想象到的东西。 对我来说，这些都是具有创造性的、 令人愉快的元宇宙的例子。 我知道这些世界里的力量 和它们的美丽， 因为我有自己的元宇宙空间 已经十多年了。

This is my world. After many years of playing, developing, thinking and even dreaming about Minecraft, I have gained some experience and learnings. Watching our community use the game in so many different ways made me realize how powerful metaverses can be. So I would love to, with these learnings, paint a different picture of what metaverses can be if everyone could craft your own. And I hope it's a creative, fun and inclusive picture.

这就是我的世界。 经过多年的玩游戏、开发、思考， 甚至做梦都会梦到《我的世界》。 我获得了一些经验， 也学习到了不少。 看到我们的社区 以各种不同的方式使用游戏， 我意识到了元宇宙有多么强大。 因此，如果每个人 都能创造自己的元宇宙， 我想通过 这些学习到的经验， 描绘出一幅不一样的 元宇宙图景。 我希望这是一幅富有创造性、 趣味性和包容性的图景。

In Minecraft, this is one example of this. We give the players tools and endless worlds and an infinite amount of building blocks to have fun and tinker with. And with these, the players can craft their own unique metaverses. The metaverses, therefore, belong to the players. They do not belong to us, making the game. And like, ah, it’s so fascinating, because the players are so very, very creative with the metaverses. Some use them to be like, big cities, castles, or like my five-year-old daughter's recent project, an underwater playground for fishes.

在《我的世界》中， 就有这么一个例子。 我们给玩家提供工具、无尽的世界 和无限的积木， 让他们摆弄、尝试、尽情开心。 有了这些，玩家就可以创造 他们自己独特的元宇宙。 因此，元宇宙是属于玩家的。 他们不属于我们这些制作游戏的人。 啊，这太吸引人了， 因为玩家们在元宇宙方面 非常有创意。 有些人把它们建造成了 大城市、城堡， 或者像我五岁女儿最近的创作， 一个鱼类的水下游乐场。

And some players are engineers and build the most complex machines. It's very, very impressive. And some prefer to just have a lovely time with their friends. The possibilities are endless, and it's up to each player to set their own goals and decide if they want to create their own metaverse or join someone else's.

有些玩家是工程师， 制造最复杂的机器。 这令人印象非常深刻。 有些人更喜欢和他们的朋友 度过美好的时光。 可能性是无限的， 每个玩家都可以设定自己的目标， 并决定是想创建自己的元宇宙， 还是加入其他人的元宇宙。

And it's easier to be creative and connect with people when you have fun. Fun is important. And what's more fun than games? Within games, we've actually had metaverses for a really long time. Long-lasting games like World of Warcraft or Eve Online could be seen as metaverses. And this doesn't surprise me, because when we humans spend time together, we want to do it in a fun and joyful way. And this is true when we spend time together virtually too. Fun means different things for different individuals. Maybe not all of you want to build fish playgrounds, even though that clearly is very fun. But this is another reason to why there should be many different metaverses. My dream is that there will be a huge and diverse set of metaverses. Having millions of metaverses with different strengths and focuses enables everyone to find virtual places they love, feel welcome in and just can have so much fun in.

当你兴致盎然时，更容易发挥创造力 并乐于与他人连接。 乐趣非常重要。 还有什么比游戏更有趣的呢？ 在游戏领域中，我们实际上 拥有元宇宙有很长一段时间了。 像《魔兽世界》 （World of Warcraft) 或《星战前夜》（Eve Online) 这样持久的游戏可以被视为元宇宙。 这并不令我感到惊奇， 因为当人们花时间相处， 我们会希望以一种有趣和 快乐的方式在一起。 当我们在虚拟世界中 共度时光时亦是如此。 乐趣对于不同的人来说， 意味着不同的东西。 并不是所有人都想建造鱼类游乐场， 尽管它非常有趣。 但这也是为什么应该有 众多不同的元宇宙的另一个原因。 我的梦想是，将有一个庞大的、 多样化的元宇宙集合体。 拥有数以百万计的具有不同 优势和焦点的元宇宙， 使每个人都能找到 他们热爱的、 可以感到自己受欢迎的、 并在其中享有很多乐趣的 虚拟场所。

We live in a time where almost everything seems to depend on statistics, metrics and diagrams, and we can for sure learn a lot from this. But I feel there is a risk we forget the pure human side, the things that excite us, the things that make us passionate. I don't think Tolkien used metrics and stats when he wrote "Lord of the Rings." He crafted a universe based on passion, vision and delighting his readers. And that’s what metaverse developers shoul do too. We should bring smiles to our place. We should develop features to give this excited, butterfly-in-the-stomach feeling. And I hope this is the case for anyone building metaverses.

我们生活在一个几乎所有事情 都依赖于统计数据、 模型和图表的时代， 我们肯定可以从中学到很多东西。 但我觉得我们可能忽略了 纯粹人性的一面， 那些让我们兴奋、 充满激情的东西。 我不认为托尔金（Tolkien） 在撰写《指环王》时 使用了参数和数据。 他在激情、愿景和 取悦读者的基础上， 精心打造了一个宇宙。 这也是元宇宙的开发人员应该做的。 我们应该给我们的空间带来微笑。 我们应该开发一些功能 带来这种兴奋的、 心潮澎湃的感觉。 我希望所有建设元宇宙的人 都能做到这一点。

But I must confess, I am a bit worried that the main question people will ask when they build future metaverses will be, "How can we profit from this?" That's the wrong question. Instead, we should ask how will our metaverses benefit the users. And of course, I know that money is important in this real world we live in. But the thing is, if players are super happy long-term, that's very likely also related to money. So everyone can be happy. We must focus on taking care of our communities instead of taking from our communities. And that goes hand-in-hand with player trust and thinking long-term. Because if you know that you can trust that your beloved metaverse will be around and be very much alive for a lifetime, you feel safe to spend all this time and all this love on it.

但我必须承认，我有点担心， 当人们在构建未来元宇宙时 会问的主要问题是： “我们如何从中获利?” 这是个错误的问题。 相反，我们应该问的是， 我们的元宇宙将如何使用户受益。 当然， 我知道金钱在我们生活的 现实世界中很重要。 但问题是， 如果玩家能长期保持超级快乐， 这就很有可能会牵涉到金钱。 这样所有人都会开心。 我们必须专注于照顾我们的社区， 而不是从我们的社区索取。 这与玩家的信任 和长远的想法是相辅相成的。 因为如果你知道 你可以相信你所爱的元宇宙 就在你身边， 并且会伴随你的一生， 你就会觉得在它身上 倾注时间和爱是有安全感的。

Look at this amazing world. It started as a small family project, and now, ten years later, the family still plays together in this world. I think this is a great example of why you should be able to trust that your metaverse will be around and work very well for a lifetime. It would be devastating for this family if they lost this project they have together and all the dreams they still hope to fulfill in this creative metaverse of theirs. As metaverse developers, we have a responsibility to keep people's memories and dreams safe.

看看这个神奇的世界。 一开始只是一个小小的家庭项目， 而现在，十年之后， 这家人仍然在那个世界里一起玩耍。 我认为这是一个很好的例子， 说明了为什么你应该能够相信 你的元宇宙会一直存在， 并陪伴你一辈子。 如果他们失去了这个 他们共同拥有的项目， 失去了希望能够在他们创造的 元宇宙里实现的所有梦想， 那对这个家庭会是打击巨大的。 作为元宇宙的开发者， 我们有责任确保人们记忆 和梦想的安全。

And there's one more thing. The virtual worlds can't reach their full potential on making the real world a better place if they don't represent and include everyone. Also, everyone deserves the joy and inspiration a lovely designed metaverse can give. Therefore, there need to be metaverses available and accessible for everyone. Each person that wants to, I will not force anyone, should be able to craft the metaverse of their dreams independent of their situation in the real world. The in-metaverse economy should not mirror the inequities we see in the real world. And it’s much more delightful and inclusive if the resources in the metaverse are part of a fun and fair game system instead of a system introducing artificial scarcity. We also need a variety of metaverses, including ones that don't require expensive devices.

还有一件事， 如果虚拟世界 不能代表和包括每一个人， 那它就不能充分发挥所有的潜力， 使现实世界变得更好。 此外，每个人都应该 有权享受由亲切友善的元宇宙 所带来的快乐和灵感。 因此，必须要有每个人都可以 使用和访问的元宇宙空间。 我不会强迫任何人， 每一个愿意的人都应该能够创造出 他们梦想中的元宇宙空间， 无关乎他们现实世界中的处境。 元宇宙里的经济模式不应该反映出 现实世界中的不平等。 它会更加令人愉快和包容， 如果元宇宙的资源是一个 有趣而公平的游戏系统的一部分， 而不是一个引入人为稀缺性的系统。 我们还需要各种各样的元宇宙， 包括那些不需要昂贵设备的元宇宙。

So when we then have all these, like, beautifully designed metaverses for everyone, I mean, on top of all the joy they will bring, we also get many more opportunities on making the real world a better place. And I have seen so many beautiful examples of how people do that with their metaverses. One that's very dear to me is the dad who created a minecraft server to be a safe and welcoming place for his son and other children on the autism spectrum. This kind of community-created world is a great role model for future metaverses. It's a world that welcomes players that maybe don't always feel welcome in the real world, and it's a world that enables these players to express themselves in their own ways. Family members have witnessed how these amazing children use communication skills they learned in the metaverse in the real world. And metaverses can help charities reach new audiences and make it more fun and easy to participate in charity events. The World of Warcraft community, for example, raised more than one million dollars [for] Doctors Without Borders to be able to make a difference in the global response to COVID-19. In the metaverses, charities can meet people where they are.

所以，当我们有了这些 为每个人设计的精美的元宇宙， 我的意思是， 除了它们将带来的所有欢乐， 我们也有了更多的机会 让现实世界变得更美好。 我已经看到了很多美丽的例子， 展现了人们是如何用元宇宙 做到这些的。 我很喜欢的一个例子是，一位父亲 创建了一个《我的世界》服务器， 为他的儿子和其他自闭症儿童 提供了一个安全舒适的地方， 这种由社区共建的世界 是未来元宇宙的一个很好的榜样。 这是一个欢迎那些在现实世界中 可能不受欢迎的玩家的世界， 也是一个让这些玩家能够 以自己的方式表达自己的世界。 家人们在现实世界中见证了 这些了不起的孩子们 在元宇宙里学到的沟通技巧。 元宇宙可以帮助 慈善机构获得新的受众， 让参与慈善活动 变得更有趣、更容易。 例如，《魔兽世界》社区 为无国界医生组织筹集了 超过一百万美元的资金， 以便能够在全球应对 新冠疫情方面有所作为。 在元宇宙中， 慈善机构可以抵达 人们的所在之处。

And metaverses can help us communicate in a common language, a language of play, creativity and fun. There is an organization called Games for Peace that uses games and their metaverses as a neutral playground to create dialogue, friendships and trust between young people in conflict zones. It wouldn’t even be possible to bring these young people together if not for a metaverse they can meet in.

元宇宙还可以帮助我们 用一种共同的语言—— 一种充满娱乐、创造力 和乐趣的语言交流。 有一个组织叫做“游戏和平促进协会” （Games for Peace）， 它在游戏及其元宇宙空间 提供了一个中立的空间， 在易起冲突的年轻人之间 建立对话、友谊和信任。 如果没有一个可以会面的元宇宙， 甚至没有办法 把这些年轻人聚在一起。

And metaverses can help amplify voices. Kids in Kosovo used the metaverse to build their dream neighborhood area. By giving the kids millions of virtual building blocks and endless space to build and collaborate in, they could explore and visualize their ideas in a fun and accessible way. Young people aren't typically involved in planning spaces, but this time it was the kids who were the experts. Just imagine all the joy, confidence and creative ideas that leads to. And the very lovely thing here is that their vision was built in the real world. Their ideas from the metaverse became a safe and open meeting area in their neighborhood.

元宇宙还可以帮助扩大影响力。 科索沃的孩子们利用元宇宙 建造了他们的梦想社区。 通过给孩子们提供 数以百万计的虚拟积木 和无尽的空间来建造和合作， 孩子们能以一种有趣又可触及的方式 来探索和可视化他们的构想。 年轻人通常不会参与空间规划， 但这次孩子们成为了专家。 试想一下，由此产生的所有快乐、 充满自信和创造性的想法。 令人非常欣慰的是， 他们的愿景在现实世界中 被建造了出来。 他们在元宇宙里产生的想法 变成了社区里一个既安全 又开放的活动区。

One of the kids summarized the joy and confidence this brought in such a lovely way when she said, "Being heard and listened to is one of the best feelings you can feel." Anytime we can include new voices in processes where they have typically been left out, we shift dynamics, which ultimately builds a better world. If we, in the future, have even more metaverses on different platforms, beautiful examples like these ones can happen even more. I hope and believe that these learnings from the game industry and from the metaverses the communities created truly can help us all make better metaverses in the future. A challenge for all of us that will design and build metaverses is to ensure that we use them for creativity, fun, inclusivity, and ultimately to build a better real world.

一个孩子总结了 这其中的喜悦和自信， 她用了一种可爱的方式说： “被人听见和聆听 是你能感受到的最美好的感觉之一。” 任何时候，只要我们能在 可能会忽略一些意见的过程中 聆听新的声音， 我们就能改变局势， 最终建立一个更美好的世界。 如果我们在未来，能在不同的平台上 有更多的元宇宙， 像这样美好的案例会发生得更多。 我希望并相信，这些从游戏产业 和社区共建的元宇宙中学到的经验， 能够帮助我们在未来 创造出完更善的元宇宙。 对于我们所有设计和构建 元宇宙的人来说，有一个挑战是 确保我们将它们用于创造力、 乐趣、包容性， 并最终建立一个 更美好的现实世界。

Thank you so much.

非常感谢你们。