A tech-industry battle is taking shape over the metaverse.
元宇宙之戰在科技產業間逐漸成形。
What is the metaverse?
什麼是元宇宙？
A metaverse.
一個元宇宙。
In the metaverse.
在元宇宙中。
Metaverse.
元宇宙。
The metaverse will be the successor to the mobile Internet.
元宇宙將會取代行動網路。
A metaverse is essentially a massive virtual world that can be accessed in real time by millions of people using avatars. The concept is rooted in science fiction movies like Ready Player One.
基本上，元宇宙就是個大型虛擬世界，數百萬人可以使用虛擬替身即時存取。這個概念源自於科幻小說電影，像是《一級玩家》。
A whole virtual universe.
一個全然虛擬的世界。
But now it's playing out in the real world. Facebook just changed its name to Meta to better reflect its expansion into the metaverse, and it joins companies like Roblox, Epic Games, and Microsoft and planning to spend billions to be at the forefront of building out these virtual realms.
但這件事在現實中實現了。Facebook 才剛改名成 Meta，充分展現他們將版圖擴張至元宇宙，而他們跟 Roblox、Epic Games 還有微軟等公司一樣，計畫斥資數十億，成為打造虛擬王國的領頭羊。
I think we're still in the beginning stages of this. And so a lot of what's happening is still just competition, if you will, between the companies to, like, establish themselves in the metaverse.
我想我們還在很初始的階段。所以，要說的話，現在都還只是企業間的角力，有點像是在元宇宙中卡位。
But how exactly will the metaverse work? And why do tech giants see it as the next evolution of the Internet?
但元宇宙究竟會怎麼運作呢？而為何科技巨頭都把它視為網路的再進化？
For the metaverse, it is a convergence of physical and digital, almost like your digital lifestyle catching up to your physical lifestyle in some ways.
就元宇宙而言，它是物理和數位世界的結合，幾乎有點像是數位生活趕上了物質生活。
Cathy Hackl is the chief metaverse officer and CEO of the Future Intelligence Group, a consulting company that provides strategic insight for companies navigating the metaverse space.
Cathy Hackl 是 Future Intelligence Group 的元宇宙長兼執行長，這是一家顧問公司，提供企業探索元宇宙空間的戰略觀點。
It is enabled by many different technologies, like augmented reality, virtual reality, blockchain—obviously, NFTs play a big part there—AI, 5G, cloud computing. So, it's not just about one technology, and it's not just one thing.
元宇宙結合了各種不同的技術，像是擴增實境、虛擬實境、區塊鏈－－而明顯地，非同質化代幣也很重要－－還有人工智慧、5G 和雲端運算。換句話說，這不僅是一項科技或一個概念。
For now, most metaverse virtual spaces will look more like the inside of a video game than real life. And some big tech executives envision the metaverse as an interoperable open platform. This means no one company or organization will own it, and the avatars will be able to move freely between metaverse virtual spaces.
目前而言，大多數的元宇宙虛擬空間長得比較像是遊戲中的世界，而不是真實世界。而有些高階科技主管預想元宇宙會是個交互性的開放平台。意思是元宇宙不隸屬於一家公司或一個組織，而虛擬替身可以在不同的元宇宙之間自由穿梭。
There's all these different platforms. And the question is, sort of, How do you connect all those? And whether it's gonna be possible to jump from—you know, you have your avatar in Roblox, can you, you know, somehow cross through and get to Facebook through that? Are the platforms gonna be connected?
平台各式各樣，五花八門。問題是要怎麼相互連結？還有是否有可能從－－比方說，你在機器磚塊上有你的虛擬替身，那你可以找到一個方式，讓這個替身跨越到 Facebook 上嗎？這些平台會連結在一起嗎？
In some ways, the metaverse is already here. Immersive games, like Fortnite, and gaming platforms, like Roblox, include metaverse-like elements, where gamers can use avatars to play games and attend events or use digital currency to buy products.
某方面來說，元宇宙已經存在了。沉浸式遊戲像是《要塞英雄》，還有像《機器磚塊》這樣的遊戲平台，就有用到類似元宇宙的元素，玩家可以使用虛擬替身來玩遊戲或參與活動，或使用虛擬貨幣購買商品。
Roblox and Fortnite, so they kind of—I guess some would say—have, like, authority because they already have these huge user bases, and they have the platform developed. You know, they're not building something from scratch. And so, I think that's a huge advantage for them. So, they're most, I think, just focused on developing these in-app experiences or these games.
《機器磚塊》和《要塞英雄》，他們堪稱是－－我想有些人會說－－他們是權威，因為他們已經擁有大量的使用者群，而且平台也開發好了。所以他們不需要從頭開始建立。而我覺得那是個巨大的優勢。換言之，我認為這些公司只要專注於開發應用程式內的體驗或遊戲就好了。
For instance, Roblox recently unveiled what would be a huge overhaul for its avatar system, allowing players to be more life-like and customizable.
舉例來說，Roblox 日前公布將大規模重製虛擬替身系統，讓人物更逼真、更個人化。
Our vision goes well beyond play; we're imagining a place where people learn together, where people work together.
我們的目標不僅僅是遊玩；我們想像的是一個大家可以一起工作學習的地方。
Meanwhile, Epic Games, which owns Fortnite, announced it raised one billion dollars in funding to support its vision for the metaverse.
同時，《要塞英雄》的開發商 Epic Games 宣布募資到了十億元，要支持他們對元宇宙的願景。
They recently made an announcement that they're gonna start to look at potentially working with blockchain developers, so that, in itself, is a big signal of some level of openness.
他們最近宣布要開始考慮與區塊鏈開發商合作的可能性，因此，這本身就是個某種程度上開放的訊號。
Facebook's name change reflects its ambition of being a big player in the metaverse race.
Facebook 改名的這件事，就反映了他們想在元宇宙中搶占鰲頭的野心。
We believe the metaverse will be the successor to the mobile Internet. We'll be able to feel present, like we're right there with people, no matter how far apart we actually are.
我們認為元宇宙將會是下個世代的行動網路。我們將有辦法身臨其境，彷彿跟人面對面一樣，無論彼此的距離有多遙遠。
The company, which already owns Oculus VR, is spending billions on other VR company acquisitions and hardware development. And it plans to create ten thousand jobs in the European Union over the next five years to build the virtual space.
開發 Oculus VR 的公司砸下數十億美元收購虛擬實境公司以及硬體開發。他們計畫在接下來的五年間，在歐盟中創造一萬個就業機會，打造虛擬空間。
We expect to invest many billions of dollars for years to come before the metaverse reaches scale.
在元宇宙的規模建立起來之前，我們預計在接下來幾年投入數十億美元。
The company's expansion into the metaverse comes amid intense criticism over revelations in The Wall Street Journal Facebook File series, which showed the company knows its platforms are riddled with flaws that cause harm. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that the criticism paints a false picture of the company he co-founded.
Facebook 擴張至元宇宙的這個時機點，正值他們因《華爾街日報》「Facebook 檔案系列」揭露內情而受到猛烈批評的時候，該專題顯示公司內部知道他們的平台充斥著漏洞，且會造成傷害。執行長馬克．祖克柏表示，批評聲浪詆毀了 Facebook 的形象，他共同創立的這間公司。
It would be in the best interest of the company to, kind of, make sure that they maybe distance themselves from, you know, the Facebook app and some of the things that have come to light.
這對他們公司來說是好事，因為或許可以弱化跟 Facebook 應用程式的連結，還有沖淡他們被爆出來的事件。
Zuckerberg says the name change reflects the company's goals to move beyond social media apps.
祖克伯表示，改名體現了公司想跨足非社交應用程式的目標。
Building our social media apps will always be an important focus for us. But right now, our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can't possibly represent everything that we're doing today, let alone in the future.
開發社群應用程式會一直是我們很重要的目標。但目前，我們的品牌跟其中一項產品的連結過於緊密，使得品牌可能無法展現出我們現在正在做的每件事，更不用說是未來。
Other companies, like Microsoft, are focusing on strategic game company acquisitions that could give them a foothold in the metaverse space. The company already has a history in the gaming world. It created the popular video game console, Xbox.
其他公司像是微軟，正專注於收購策略性遊戲公司讓他們在元宇宙中取得一席之地。而微軟在遊戲領域中也有涉略。他們曾開發出非常受歡迎的遊戲主機 Xbox。
They closed, like, a 7.5 billion dollar deal on the video game company, ZeniMax Media, earlier this year. And they also were previously in talks to buy Discord.
微軟在年初與 ZeniMax Media 這間電玩公司談成了 75 億美元的協議。而他們先前也討論要買下 Discord。
And in March, Microsoft announced its new Microsoft Mesh platform, which enables shared experiences on any device through mixed-reality applications.
而三月時，微軟也發表了新平台 Microsoft Mesh，該服務讓使用者能透過混合實境應用程式，在任何裝置上啟用共用體驗。
Accelerated interest in the metaverse was fueled in part by the pandemic. While stuck inside, people spend more time online. Roblox reported 42.1 million daily active users in Q1 of 2021, a 78 percent increase from the same time the previous year.
大家對元宇宙之所以趨之若鶩，一部分是受到疫情的刺激。困在家中時，人們會花更多時間上網。Roblox 報告指出，2021 年第一季每天有 4210 萬活躍用戶，跟去年同期相比，成長了 78 個百分比。
So, the pandemic really kind of set us forward a couple of years in people understanding the convergence of digital and physical, right? And really for us to really think about the future of the Internet. What comes next?
疫情可說是讓我們快轉了好幾年，讓人了解到數位與物質的結合，對吧？也真的讓我們認真思考網路的未來。接下來會是什麼？
For now, the shared ambitions of these giant corporations are setting the stage for a high-stakes race to create this digital world.
目前，這些大公司共同的野心是設立一個舞台，來進行這場數位世界的高風險戰爭。
The metaverse is gonna impact every vertical and every industry in some way, right? That's gonna impact the way we socialize, the way we work, the way we have fun. So, it is gonna touch, you know, almost every aspect of our lives.
元宇宙會以某種方式，影響到各個垂直行業和產業，對吧？那將影響到我們社交、工作和娛樂的方法。它會觸及到幾乎我們生活中的每個面向。
- 「成形、有了雛形」- take shape
A tech-industry battle is taking shape over the metaverse.
元宇宙之戰在科技產業間逐漸成形。 - 「根據…、源自…」- be rooted in
The concept is rooted in science fiction movies like Ready Player One.
這個概念源自於科幻小說電影，像是《一級玩家》。 - 「出現」- play out
But now it's playing out in the real world.
但這件事在現實中實現了。 - 「從頭開始做某事」- from scratch
You know, they're not building something from scratch.
所以他們不需要從頭開始建立。 - 「充斥著某物」- be riddled with something
The company's expansion into the metaverse comes amid intense criticism over revelations in The Wall Street Journal Facebook File series, which showed the company knows its platforms are riddled with flaws that cause harm.
Facebook 擴張至元宇宙的這個時機點，正值他們因《華爾街日報》「Facebook 檔案系列」揭露內情而受到猛烈批評的時候，該專題顯示公司內部知道他們的平台充斥著漏洞，且會造成傷害。 - 「將某物描繪成…的形象」- paints a...picture of something
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that the criticism paints a false picture of the company he co-founded.
執行長馬克．祖克柏表示，批評聲浪詆毀了 Facebook 的形象，他共同創立的這間公司。 - 「對某人有好處、有利」- in the best interest
It would be in the best interest of the company to, kind of, make sure that they maybe distance themselves from, you know, the Facebook app and some of the things that have come to light.
這對他們公司來說是好事，因為或許可以弱化跟 Facebook 應用程式的連結，還有沖淡他們被爆出來的事件。 - 「曝光、被披露」- come to light
It would be in the best interest of the company to, kind of, make sure that they maybe distance themselves from, you know, the Facebook app and some of the things that have come to light.
這對他們公司來說是好事，因為或許可以弱化跟 Facebook 應用程式的連結，還有沖淡他們被爆出來的事件。 - 「更不用說」- let alone
But right now, our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can't possibly represent everything that we're doing today, let alone in the future.
但目前，我們的品牌跟其中一項產品的連結過於緊密，使得品牌可能無法展現出我們現在正在做的每件事，更不用說是未來。
