Neal Stephenson, a metaverse author, advocates for an open metaverse

Image: Lamina1

Novelist Neal Stephenson is considered the inventor of the term “metaverse”. He wants his imaginary vision to become a reality.

In his 1992 sci-fi novel Snow Crash, author Neal Stephenson describes a digital world called the “metaverse.” Thirty years later, the term is the buzzword for the future of the Internet. It is a goal of many companies.

The main driver is the former Facebook group, which is currently transforming itself from a social media company to a metaverse company and is focusing almost entirely on building its own metaverse – including changing its name to Meta.

Nobody knows what the metaverse (definitions), will look like in the future. However, the spiritual father of the future vision does not want to leave his child in the care of strangers. Stephenson, Rony Abovitz, Magic Leap founder, and Peter Vessenes (blockchain entrepreneur), are working together to create a free metaverse.

Stephenson wants a metaverse open to Lamina1

Stephenson co-founded Lamina1 with Peter Vessenes, a metaverse company. They want to create a framework that allows for open metaverses and stop large tech companies from dividing the digital future.

Stephenson or Vessenes can have their way. One metaverse should allow for different experiences, virtual realities and experiences.

“If there’s going to be an open-source blockchain alternative for people who want to build metaverse stuff, what would that look like?” asks Stephenson. “What characteristics would it have as a technology and a social organization?” Lamina1 hopes to address these questions.

Vessenes admits that many people are skeptical at first because of Stephenson’s involvement in the company, “That’s potentially the first question: Is Neal selling his brand out to some fucking metaverse company? However, people who talk with us conclude that this is a principled effort. So, then they ask, ‘Is this real? Are you actually going to try to do this?’”

The funding question

Vessenes reports that Lamina1 employs three engineers at the moment. But, the building of the blockchain will require between twenty- and 200 specialists who are skilled in immersive and spatial technology.

Lamina1 continues to work on the metaverse foundation. External developers will soon be able to add more layers, such platforms for applications and games.

Lamina1’s venture capital funding means that it will need to refinance. But as with many metaverse startups, Lumina1 does not yet have a concrete business model: “The economics are tied to adoption—the more people use it, the more valuable it is,” says Vessenes. Vessenes predicts that revenue from the Lumina1 blockchain will be similar to gas fees.

Rony Abovitz says Stephenson is like Gandalf if you come from the mountains

Lamina1 investor Rony Abovitz is enthusiastic about Stephenson’s involvement: “It’s like Neal is coming down out of the mountains like Gandalf, to restore the metaverse to an open, decentralized, and creative order.”

Abovitz founded Magic Leap. He once failed to produce mass-market AR headsets that were affordable for all. With his new startup, Sun and Thunder, he’s working on AI characters that will one day drive their stories independently.

The Magic Leap founder presented his first short film late last year. Abovitz acts as a strategic adviser at Lamina1. He believes Stephenson can lend a moral and philosophical force to the story around a real-life metaverse that money can’t buy.

“Is the world cynical? Or are they idealistic? Or do people want to be open, democratic, creative, and work in peer-to–peer ways? I’m like, let’s grab our lightsabers and give it a shot!”

This isn’t the first collaboration for Abovitz and the sci-fi author. In 2016, Stephenson managed a Magic Leap creative space in Seattle.

Stephenson’s activities at Lamina1 will not last long. Stephenson’s main occupation is writing. He plans to return to writing next year.

“My publisher will send a hit man after me if I don’t fulfill my obligations,” he says, “So when the calendar turns over to 2023, it’s going to be back to the usual.”

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