Today, more than four billion people live in cities, which is more than 50% of the total population of the Earth. The number of megacities with a population of more than 10 million people has grown 17 times over the past 70 years. Due to the increase in the cost of construction, the increase in population density in cities and the limited resource of the area suitable for residential construction, own new housing can remain accessible to people only with a decrease in its area. We can no longer afford to start large families because we simply cannot provide a decent standard of living. The population is getting poorer, and the crisis is not going away. A quick glance at the daily news feed (political unrest, environmental crises and economic fluctuations, coronavirus and lockdown), and it is not surprising that the feeling of fear is growing all over the world. This is influenced by many factors that lead to depression and anxiety.
Basic communication skills have deteriorated over the past decades and continue to decline. Megapolis is an ideal place for effective solitude to flourish, as it provides unlimited opportunities to lead a virtual life, almost without touching reality. Young people are open to new things and they have nothing to lose. No matter what, they are ready to spend money on things that do not exist in reality. Generation Z are the main consumers of virtual content. The global entertainment industry is growing every year by an average of 4.3%. The top five fastest growing are three categories that relate to gaming: VR, esports, video games. In Russia, this category is growing even faster than the global average: growth is 6.4%, and the global figure is 4.3%. PlayStation 5 announced that it will soon have a new controller with tactile technology to simulate a number of sensations, such as running on grass or moving through mud. Scientists from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne have developed a soft new technology with which everyone can "touch" objects in virtual worlds.
All this is reminiscent of the novel Ready Player One.
Travis Scott hosted a concert in the online game Fortnite, Disclosure built a metaverse in the video game Minecraft, and aspiring Spirit Twin musicians organized @spirit.w0rld, the first virtual music festival in IMVU, the world's largest social network for avatars. When fashion weeks were canceled, new ways of showing clothes appeared, which marked the beginning of a new era of creativity. Digital modeling agencies already exist, 3D screenings are being streamed, digital identities are being created that are developing and going beyond the current formats of text, voice and video that connect us today.
Canadian singer Grimes has created WarNymph, a digital alter ego that allows her to “play to the strengths of digital existence” and helps her express herself (grow old, die and be reborn at will). In addition to the already well-known and successful ones, we are also seeing the emergence of digital twins of ordinary people. With the help of certain skills, 3d artists create virtual versions of themselves so that they can be in two places at the same time (their twins could attend a digital event, for example, while their physical self stays at home).
The pandemic has pushed us to the point where digital experience has become a necessity, not an experimental movement. Clothing brands will no longer be able to conduct their business as usual. They will need to continue to innovate and experiment in this area to satisfy the growing appetite of demanding consumers for digitization. There is a risk that digital models will be able to replace real people. They can be of any shape or size, and they can be put into the mouth of any idea that the company promotes. Virtual models do not sleep, do not get tired, do not exist and, accordingly, the risk of a scandal is minimal. The World Health Organization used the services of the team that created the Knox Frost avatar to spread the truth about the coronavirus, marking the birth of a new type of public service communication with the population in the digital world.
It seems that an increasing transition to the digital space is an inevitable future, but is it good or bad? New technologies allow us to communicate at a distance with like-minded people around the world. A person no longer feels lonely in a small apartment in the center of a huge anthill, when there is someone with whom you can play, talk and show a digital version of yourself. Perhaps the opportunity to change our identity in a virtual environment will help us to liberate ourselves and give us that sense of serenity and freedom that has been lacking so much lately. What do you think about this?
