Ep53. Metaverse入面點先算窮？
最近大家好嗎？唔知最近令你有所啟發嘅嘢係啲咩呢？我近來想完成嘅一本書就係1992年Neal Stephenson嘅《Snow Crash》。點解我會發現到呢本書呢？係因為根據The Atlantic【1】、Google Books【2】同埋唔少網上文章，第一次出現Metaverse呢個字就係Stephenson嘅《Snow Crash》。因為Metaverse存在住好多嘅未知，所以與其著重於今時今日我哋覺得佢可以做啲咩，我反而想知道多啲前人對於Metaverse嘅幻想，因為好多我哋依家嘅發展都係建基於前人對呢個概念嘅幻想。Neal Stephenson嘅著作影響咗唔少人，例如Wired喺2021年10月26日嘅文章【3】提過，例如Bill Gates、Google cofounder Sergey Brin、Peter Thiel都係佢嘅忠實讀者，而Stephenson就曾經Amazon嘅Jeff Bezos所擁有嘅Blue Origin嘅advisor七年之久。
書名《Snow Crash》靈感來自當年Mac機故障時畫面出現嘅白色雪花，由此可推算，書中描述嘅世界都唔方好得去邊，係一本dystopian sci-fi。入面嘅背景係21世紀嘅無政府狀態嘅世界，裡面群雄割據，其中兩大派系係美國黑幫同商人Mr Lee’s Greater Hong Kong。書中人物Hiro Protagonist穿梭於現實與虛擬世界之間，係一位freelance hacker。喺現實世界入面遇到可疑嘅兇案，而虛擬世界入面好友亦都遭到病毒感染，引致好友喺現實世界中不省人事。所有嘅線索都指向一個病毒叫「Snow Crash」。前女友喺虛擬世界入面俾咗一張info咭佢，而呢張info card就好似我哋依家嘅USB、WeTransfer咁，係虛擬世界爆咗一個類似Siri咁嘅Librarian出嚟，幫佢一步一步sort through資料，搵出snow crash背後嘅陰謀。
劇情我就唔多講，因為佢都係想將宗教故事、語言等等撈埋一碟話佢哋係some sort of virus，但係因為我本身對宗教故事同古代文明等唔係太熟悉，所以體會唔到佢嘅奧妙之處。但係繼續睇落去嘅原因係佢經常會提起香港「Mr Lee’s Greater Hong Kong」，好似比較有親切感。
故事入面，Hiro進入metaverse嘅方法就係帶上goggles，而兩隻眼睇到嘅畫面會有少少唔同，造成事物係立體嘅感覺。而當裡面嘅影像以每秒72次閃動，2K畫質嘅畫面就好似真實識郁咁。當然仲要配上環迴立體聲啦，咁就真係好似睇緊3D影院咁喇－－依家睇返好似無咩新奇，但係要記得呢本書係1992年出版架！不過其實呢啲都唔係新嘅發明。作者嘅靈感應該係來自1962年Morton Heilig嘅專利發明：Sensorama simulator。講開又講，其實而家嘅VR嘅前身都係由1800s年開始一步步開發出嚟，想知道多啲可以去呢一個網站【4】！
戲肉嚟喇：「In the lingo, this imaginary place is known as the Metaverse...Hiro is approaching the Street. It is the Broadway, the Champs Élysées of the Metaverse. It is the brilliantly lit boulevard that can be seen, miniaturized and backward, reflected in the lenses of his goggles. It does not really exist. But right now, millions of people are walking up and down it.」Hiro所身處嘅metaverse好似現實生活嘅一條大街，好似紐約嘅Broadway、巴黎嘅香榭麗舍大道咁，只不過而家有幾百萬人係呢度穿梭緊。
「Like any place in Reality, the Street is subject to development. Developers can build their own small streets feeding off of the main one. They can build buildings, parks, signs, as well as things that do not exist in Reality, such as vast hovering overhead light shows, special neighborhoods where the rules of three-dimensional spacetime are ignored, and free-combat zones where people can go to hunt and kill each other.」好似真實世界咁，metaverse入面都有地產發展商喎。發展商可以喺大街以外開發橫街窄巷，可以起高樓大廈、公園、安裝大型廣告牌，甚至開發同真實世界物理定律完全唔同嘅空間，或者好似HBO嘅Westworld入面睇到嘅free-combat zones咁，入面嘅所謂「人」or avatar可以係入面互相殺戮。
睇嚟我哋似乎都係擺脫唔到資本世界嘅枷鎖，都係屈服喺地產發展商嘅控制底下。只不過未來嘅地產發展商係科技開發公司：「In order to place these things on the Street, they have had to get approval from the Global Multimedia Protocol Group, have had to buy frontage on the Street, get zoning approval, obtain permits, bribe inspectors, the whole bit. The money these corporations pay to build things on the Street all goes into a trust fund owned and operated by the GMPG, which pays for developing and expanding the machinery that enables the Street to exist.」如果要喺The Street度置業、開發，都係要攞permit、賄賂一番，只不過前就唔係用嚟買建築材料，而係用嚟support啲server、電腦、機器嘅maintenance。 如果科技公司（我呢到唔指明係邊間啦）可以控制未來嘅「地產發展」，咁我哋可以點樣制衡佢哋呢？現實世界入面土地係政府嘅，但係虛擬世界呢？我哋係咪可以係虛擬世界入面劃分國界？近在香港，新世界嘅Adrian Cheng都喺gaming platform The Sandbox買咗一笪地喎【5】
穿梭於現實同虛擬世界之間嘅Hiro都有兩個屋企，因為Hiro係programmer，所以佢可以喺Metaverse早期投資同埋自己開發（i mean code）一條小街，所以「That’s why Hiro has a nice big house in the Metaverse but has to share a 20-by-30 in Reality. Real estate acumen does not always extend across universes.」
講完住屋，我之前第29集講到Loreal喺zoom開發咗filter，喺虛擬世界入面我哋又可以點樣控制我哋嘅外貌呢？「Your avatar can look any way you want it to, up to the limitations of your equipment. If you’re ugly, you can make your avatar beautiful. If you’ve just gotten out of bed, your avatar can still be wearing beautiful clothes and professionally applied makeup.」其中最重要嘅一句係：「up to the limitations of your equipment」。你以為喺虛擬世界你都可以每日都咁靚咩？如果你窮，你就唔可以買最靚嘅filter，甚至乎已經唔會有filter。喺《Snow Crash》入面，我哋可以買唔同嘅avatars，如果唔夠錢，就只能夠買off-the-shelf avatars，買一式一樣好似Barbie & Ken咁嘅avatars。咁以後我哋可以唔洗擔心天生嘅樣貌美醜，但係可能就要擔心自己夠唔夠錢變靚；整容嘅生理風險就變成理財能力嘅高低。
正如我上一集講到，其實對於虛擬世界或者所謂元宇宙，其實都係現實世界嘅延伸。重點唔應該係問我哋喺入面可以做到啲乜，而係我哋點樣可以喺兩個世界之間遊走、生存、生活亦唔會痴線。喺《Snow Crash》入面，似乎就有一個例子可以作為啟發：
我最深印象嘅就係故事入面一個叫Ng嘅角色，不如就等我帶大家去Ng嘅世界。。。「Ng’s Metaverse home is a French colonial villa in the prewar village of My Tho in the Mekong Delta. He has a large office with French doors and a balcony looking out over endless rice paddies where little Vietnamese people work.」係元宇宙入面，Ng嘅屋企就好似返咗去1955年嘅越南，而Ng就住係一個充滿法國殖民地建築風格嘅別墅入面。
「Clearly, this guy is a fairly hardcore techie, because Y.T. counts hundreds of people out in his rice paddies, plus dozens more running around the village, all of them fairly well rendered and all of them doing different things.」主角要走過一片片稻田先可以去到別墅。主角沿途見到幾百個工人，有啲係度插秧，有啲就喺條村都走來走去，全部都做緊唔同嘅工作。佢哋每個人都幾像真，所以主角心諗，呢一位Ng嘅角色一定係一個hardcore techie！因為每事每物都係呢塊地嘅Owner自己code嘅。「Globes of condensation form on its surface, break loose, and trickle down the side. The rendering is so perfect that Y.T. can see a miniaturized reflection of the office windows in each drop of condensation. It’s just totally ostentatious. What a bithead.」似乎係元宇宙入面，都可以靠視覺判定一個人嘅身份地位。例如另一位主角Y.T. 就見到Ng嘅屋企入面，所有物件嘅視覺效果都係非常像真。例如見到冰凍嘅水杯上面一滴滴嘅水珠由杯邊滑落嘅效果，或者水珠上周邊嘅事物嘅倒影都非常仔細。
終於見到Ng嘞！「Ng himself, or at least, Ng’s avatar, is a small, very dapper Vietnamese man in his fifties... he is leaning forward in his chair, getting his shoulders rubbed by a geisha.」佢嘅avatar係一個身形細小，望落去約莫50歲嘅越南男人。當主角入到佢office嘅時候，當時有一位藝伎正係度按摩緊佢嘅膊頭。「But it is a very strange thing to do, for one reason: The geisha is just a picture on Ng’s goggles, and on Y.T.’s. And you can’t get a massage from a picture. So why bother? 」主角覺得好奇怪，因為喺Metaverse入面，呢個藝伎都只不過係一個圖像，而一幅畫又點會按摩一個人呢？係呢個時候，更加奇怪嘅嘢發生：「Ng picks up a glass from his desk and takes a drink from it. It looks like a mint julep.」佢見到Ng竟然拎起一個杯，飲咗入面嘅薄荷酒。同樣嘅邏輯：點解要多此一舉呢？元宇宙入面嘅avatars就算見面通常都唔會握手，因為一握手大家就會感受到佢哋身處嘅世界係假嘅，因為佢哋只係戴著一副眼鏡就所謂「進入」元宇宙，並無所謂嘅觸感、味覺等等。
主角以為呢個Ng只係多次一舉、好想showoff自己啲coding skills嘅怪人，但係當佢喺現實世界搵到佢嘅時候，佢終於知道點解：「At the top of this pouch, Y.T. can see a patch of skin with some black hair around it—the top of a balding man’s head. Everything else, from the temples downward, is encased in an enormous goggle/mask/headphone/feeding-tube unit, held onto his head by smart straps that are constantly tightening and loosening themselves to keep the device comfortable and properly positioned. Below this, on either side, where you’d sort of expect to see arms, huge bundles of wires, fiber optics, and tubes run up out of the floor and are seemingly plugged into Ng’s shoulder sockets. “Please excuse my appearance,” he says, after a couple of awkward minutes. “My helicopter caught fire during the evacuation of Saigon in 1974—a stray tracer from ground forces.”」現實世界中嘅Ng，喺1974年越戰由西貢（胡志明市）撤退嘅時候，佢嘅直升機起火。因為呢一次嘅意外，佢嘅手手腳腳受到重創，本來試過用義肢，但係都係覺得電動輪椅最好。但係點解電動輪椅要咁細部呢？於是佢改裝咗一部德國嘅機場消防車，佢嘅電動輪椅就係成架車咁大。當主角見到Ng嘅時候上咗嘅車，就係Ng嘅所謂「身體」入面。Ng解釋，當佢喺Metaverse入面命令藝伎按摩佢嘅時候，佢身上塗滿嘅electrocontractive gel就會將觸感傳達到佢身上。同佢喺虛擬世界入面飲一啖mint julep嘅時候，就有液體經由一支feeding tube駁去佢個咀嗰度。
為免劇透太多，就等大家喺書入面發掘其他更有趣嘅幻想。但係單純呢個例子都已經令我諗咗好多嘢。例如：
（1）第時身份嘅象徵或者財富，除咗係喺虛擬世界入面買咗幾多件名牌merchandize之外，可以玩嘅嘢就多喇！第時我哋要俾多啲錢，我哋喺元宇宙嘅屋企先可以像真，如果唔係就好似minecraft咁；又或者要有錢啲先可以接受到像真度高嘅畫面，如果唔係就好似日日睇480p咁！到時貧富懸殊可能就唔係喺你層樓有幾大，而係變成視覺貧窮、觸覺貧窮等等
（2）照咁睇，你哋係咪覺得Ng好可憐呢？因為現實世界身體殘缺，所以佢就喺虛擬世界創造另一個自己。主角係字裡行間帶出覺得佢要用機器延續自己嘅身體好可憐，Ng就更正佢話：「“Your mistake,” Ng says, “is that you think that all mechanically assisted organisms—like me—are pathetic cripples. In fact, we are better than we were before.”」佢嘅邏輯係，你哋呢啲健全嘅人覺得身體殘缺嘅人好可憐，但係事實係我哋比以前好太多太多。延伸去諗，佢哋甚至比健全嘅人更健全。靠機器作為身體嘅延伸，推到最盡諗，除咗能力更高之外，另一個問題就係究竟要保留幾多嘅身體我哋先至可以定義佢仲係一個人？係咪只要有同一個腦，就係仲係一個人？定係我哋仲係只係得「人」同「非人」嘅定義，定係我哋開始需要有唔同「人」嘅定義？例如「全人」、「半人」、「非人」等等？呢個問題之前喺《攻殼機動隊》嘅一集都有探討過。
（3）當我哋接收可以用機器取代某一個身體部份，我哋即係打開咗「身體延伸」嘅概念。例如我對機械腳要幾大先可以叫做機械腳？好似Ng咁，佢對腳係車輪。我哋以後會唔會將其他物件當成自己嘅身體？例如我推論得誇張啲，如果我哋嘅身體嘅感覺只係觸覺加neurotransmitters（化學物質），咁如果我將身體延伸到一間屋入面，當人進入你間屋，郁動入面嘅空氣，sensors就可以pick up呢啲stimulations，將之轉化為有性行為嘅時候嘅皮膚觸覺同埋neurotransmitter。身體延伸嘅概念推到盡頭，即係話我哋嘅感覺同肉身不再對應。唔知第時嘅世界會係點呢？
Podcast入面提到，Stephenson嘅新書《Termination Shock》係關於因為氣候變化而人類需要用科技去改變氣候求生。頭先講到貧富懸殊嘅問題，其實我未講到嘅係，第時世上亦都會有好多貧窮人口係冇電腦access嘅，佢哋就會永遠係真實世界入面生活。而我想大家聽完呢一集記得嘅係，真實世界係建基於大自然、一草一木、山峰深海等等，而元宇宙都係，只不過佢依賴嘅物質非常單一，就係電力。當我哋full speed開發虛擬世界，如果我哋忘記咗保育地球資源，咁我哋根本冇兩個世界可言，我哋只係加速一個世界嘅滅亡而開發另外一個新世界。
【1】https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/10/facebook-metaverse-name-change/620449/
【2】https://www.google.com/search?q="metaverse"&tbm=bks&tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:1800,cd_max:2003&lr=lang_en
【3】https://www.wired.com/story/sci-fi-icon-neal-stephenson-global-warming/
【4】https://www.dsource.in/course/virtual-reality-introduction/evolution-vr/sensorama-simulator
【6】https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/02/technology/facebook-facial-recognition.html
【7】https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/13/opinion/sway-kara-swisher-neal-stephenson.html?showTranscript=1