This book weaves emerging themes in future 6G and Next G networks carefully together. It points to three spheres of contexts with different narratives for the year 2030 and beyond, in which the coming Metaverse as the precursor of the future Multiverse can be embedded naturally. The book aims at providing the reader with new cross-disciplinary research material, ranging from communication and computer science to cognitive science, social sciences, and behavioral economics, for building a deeper Metaverse. It will be instrumental in helping the reader find and overcome some of the most common 6G and Next G blind spots.
Modern networks are more than communication and computer science. They may be better viewed as techno-social systems that exhibit complex adaptive system behavior and resemble biological superorganisms. 6G and especially Next G should go beyond continuing the linear incremental 6G=5G+1G mindset of past generations of mobile networks. To this end, the book:
- Helps readers inquire into new areas of knowledge or understanding that they didn’t have or didn't pay attention to find their 6G/Next G blind spots
- Highlights the unique potential benefits of the virtual world for society in that it provides a useful extension of the real-world economy by compensating for its well-known market failures, e.g., rising income inequality
- Provides a comprehensive description of the original Metaverse vision and highlights the different Metaverse components, applications, open research challenges, and early Metaverse deployment examples from both industry and academia
- Describes how the Multiverse goes beyond the Metaverse origins and explores the importance of experience innovation since experiences play a central role in the Metaverse
- Explains Web3 and the emerging field of token engineering and tokenization, i.e., the process of creating tokenized digital twins via programmable tokens, which are viewed as the killer application of Web3 networks for creating technology-enabled social organisms and restoring tech-driven common goods
- Reviews anticipated 6G paradigm shifts and elaborates on the difference between 6G and Next G research, including Next G Alliance's audacious goals and their symbiotic relationship between technology and a population's societal and economic needs
- Doubles down on the mutually beneficial symbiosis between digitalization and biologization for our possible evolution into future metahumans with infinite capabilities by making us smarter and creating a fundamentally new form of sociality in the Metaverse and Multiverse as well as the future stigmergy enhanced Society 5.0 by leveraging on time-tested self-organization mechanisms borrowed from nature
- Presents a variety of different concepts of the true nature of reality that bring us closer to the original Metaverse vision and explains how 6G, Next G, and the Metaverse may eventually pave the way to the peak-experience machine that democratizes access to the upper range of human experiences
- Touches on the possible transition from communication to services beyond communication, most notably the cross-cultural phenomenon of communitas in anthropology and its increasing degrees of perceived connectedness with others, the world, and oneself, given the importance of creating a deep sense of community in the Metaverse
Written for students, network researchers, professionals, engineers, and practitioners, 6G and Onward to Next G: The Road to the Multiverse explores the latest Internet developments, with a particular focus on 6G and Next G networks in the context of the emerging Metaverse and future Multiverse as the successors of today’s mobile Internet that has defined the last two decades.
Table of Contents
About the Author xiv
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xvii
Acronyms xviii
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Toward 6G: A New Era of Convergence 1
1.2 Fusion of Digital and Real Worlds: Multiverse vs. Metaverse 5
1.2.1 The Multiverse: An Architecture of Advanced XR Experiences 7
1.2.2 Metaverse: The Next Big Thing? 9
1.3 The Big Picture: Narratives for 2030 and Beyond 11
1.3.1 From IoT-Based Industry 4.0 to Human-Centric Cyber-Physical-Social Systems 11
1.3.2 Human-Centric Industry 5.0 12
1.3.3 Society 5.0 13
1.4 Purpose and Outline of Book 17
1.4.1 Embedding the Multiverse and Metaverse in Meta Narrative Society 5.0 19
1.4.2 The Art of 6G and Next G: How To Wire Society 5.0 22
1.4.2.1 Next G: Beyond Incremental 6G = 5G + 1G Mindset 23
1.4.2.2 Society 5.0: Exodus to the Virtual World? 25
1.4.3 Finding Your 6G/Next G Blind Spot 26
1.4.4 Outline 27
References 33
Chapter 2 Metaverse: The New North Star 37
2.1 Origins 38
2.1.1 Avatars and Daemons 38
2.1.2 Hypercard and Language of Nature 39
2.1.3 Sumerian Creation Myth: The Nam-Shub of Enki - A Neurolinguistic Virus 40
2.1.4 Metaverse: At Once Brand New and Very Ancient 43
2.2 Early Deployments 44
2.2.1 Metaverse Components, Applications, and Open Challenges 44
2.2.2 Nissan’s Invisible-to-Visible (I2V) Connected-Car Technology Concept 46
2.2.3 Internet of No Things: Making the Internet Disappear and “See the Invisible” 48
2.3 Key Enabling Technologies 49
2.3.1 Metaverse Roadmap of 6G Communications and Networking Technologies 49
2.3.2 CPSS-Based Sustainable and Smart Societies: Integrated Human, Artificial, Natural, and Organizational Intelligence 52
2.3.3 NFTs: Tulip Mania or Digital Renaissance? 54
2.3.3.1 What Is an NFT? 55
2.3.3.2 How Do NFTs Work? 55
2.4 Definition(s) of the Metaverse 56
2.4.1 Confusion and Uncertainty as Features of Disruption 57
2.4.2 Blockchains, Cryptocurrencies, and Tokens: The First Digitally Native Payment Rail 58
2.4.3 Social DAOs 60
2.4.4 Metaversal Existence: Life, Labor, and Leisure 62
2.4.5 Gaming on the Blockchain 63
2.5 Metaverse Economy and Community: Gamified Experiences 64
References 66
Chapter 3 The Multiverse: Infinite Possibility 67
3.1 Experience Innovation on the Digital Frontier 67
3.2 The Multiverse 69
3.2.1 Realms of Experience 69
3.2.2 Experience Design Canvas 73
3.3 Beyond the Metaverse Origins: Into the Future 74
3.3.1 Limitless Mind 75
3.3.2 Realm of the Infinite: The Eternal 75
References 75
Chapter 4 6G Vision and Next G Alliance Roadmap 77
4.1 6G Vision: Recent Progress and State of the Art 79
4.1.1 6G Paradigm Shifts 79
4.1.2 Value-Creation-and-Capture Problem 81
4.1.3 Perceptive Mobile Networks (PMNs) 81
4.1.4 Quantum-Enabled 6G Wireless Networks 82
4.1.5 From Softwarized to Blockchainized Mobile Networks 83
4.1.6 AI-Native 6G Networks 84
4.1.6.1 From 5G AI4Net to 6G Net4AI 84
4.1.6.2 Intelligence-Endogenous Network (IEN) 86
4.1.6.3 Native Edge AI: Mimicking Nature Through Brain-Inspired Stigmergy 87
4.1.7 THz Communications: An Old Problem Revisited 89
4.1.8 Comparison between NG-OANs and 6G RANs 90
4.1.9 6G Standardization Roadmap 91
4.2 NSF: Next G Research 92
4.3 Next G Alliance Roadmap 93
4.3.1 Six Audacious Goals 93
4.3.2 Societal and Economic Needs 95
4.3.3 The Four Fundamental Areas for 6G Applications and Use Cases 96
References 98
Chapter 5 6G Post-Smartphone Era: XR and Hybrid-Augmented Intelligence 101
5.1 XR in the 6G Post-Smartphone Era 101
5.1.1 Internet of No Things: The Gadget-Free Internet 103
5.1.2 Extended Reality (XR): Unleashing Its Full Potential 104
5.1.3 Invisible-to-Visible (I2V) Technologies 105
5.1.4 Extrasensory Perception (ESP) 107
5.1.5 Mimicking the Quantum Realm: Nonlocal Awareness of Space and Time 108
5.1.5.1 Precognition 109
5.1.5.2 Eternalism 110
5.2 Hybrid-Augmented Intelligence 114
5.2.1 Ethereum: The DAO 116
5.2.2 DAO Use Case: Decentralizing Technosocial Systems 117
5.2.2.1 The Tactile Internet: Key Principles 118
5.2.2.2 FiWi-enhanced Mobile Networks: Spreading Ownership 119
5.2.2.3 Decentralizing the Tactile Internet: AI-Enhanced MEC and Crowdsourcing 120
5.2.3 From AI to Human Intelligence Amplification (IA) 124
5.2.3.1 Cognitive Assistance 124
5.2.3.2 Hybrid-Augmented Intelligence 125
5.2.3.3 Decentralized Self-Organizing Cooperative 125
5.2.4 Collective Intelligence: Nudging via Smart Contract 126
References 128
Chapter 6 Web3 and Token Engineering 131
6.1 Emerging Web3 Token Economy 131
6.2 Backend Revolution 132
6.3 Technology-Enabled Social Organisms 132
6.4 Tokens 133
6.4.1 Tokenization: Creation of Tokenized Digital Twins 133
6.4.2 Token Contract 134
6.4.3 Fungible Tokens vs. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) 134
6.4.4 Purpose-Driven Tokens 136
6.4.4.1 Public Goods and Externalities 136
6.4.4.2 Club Goods and Tech-Driven Public Goods 137
6.5 Mechanism Design and Token Engineering 138
References 140
Chapter 7 From Robonomics to Tokenomics 141
7.1 Robonomics 141
7.2 Blockchain Oracles and On-Chaining 142
7.3 Blockchain-Enabled Trust Game 143
7.3.1 Open Research Challenges 144
7.3.2 Blockchain-Enabled Implementation 146
7.3.2.1 Experimenter Smart Contract 146
7.3.2.2 Blockchain Mechanism Deposit 147
7.3.2.3 Experimental Validation 148
7.4 On-Chaining Oracle for Networked N-Player Trust Game 150
7.4.1 Architecture of Oracle 151
7.4.2 On-Chaining of Voting-Based Decisions 153
7.4.3 Experimental Validation 153
7.5 Playing the N-Player Trust Game with Persuasive Robots 155
7.6 Tokenomics 161
References 162
Chapter 8 Society 5.0: Internet As If People Mattered 165
8.1 Human Nature: Bounded Rationality and Predictable Irrationality 166
8.2 Society 5.0: Human-Centeredness 167
8.3 The Path (DAO) to a Human-Centered Society 168
8.3.1 Token Engineering DAO Framework for Society 5.0 168
8.3.2 The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society 170
8.4 From Biological Superorganism to Stigmergic Society 171
8.4.1 Stigmergy Enhanced Society 5.0: Toward the Future Stigmergic Society 172
8.4.2 Implementation 173
8.4.3 Experimental Results 175
8.5 Biologization: Exiting the Anthropocene and Entering the Symbiocene 176
References 178
Chapter 9 Metahuman: Unleashing the Infinite Potential of Humans 179
9.1 Becoming Human: The Biological Uniqueness of Humans 179
9.1.1 Social Cognition 180
9.1.2 Coordinated Decision-Making 180
9.1.3 Uniquely Human Sociality 182
9.1.4 How Evolution Makes Us Smarter and More Social 183
9.2 Implications of Biological Human Uniqueness for Metaverse 185
9.3 MetaHuman Creator: Building a More Realistic Virtual World 189
9.3.1 Crossing the Uncanny Valley 189
9.3.2 Infinite Reality: Embodied Avatars and Eternal Life 190
9.3.2.1 Embodied Avatars 191
9.3.2.2 Eternal Life: Virtual Immortality 192
9.4 The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes 193
9.4.1 Cognitive Science: From Token Economy to the World as a Network of Conscious Agents 193
9.4.2 The Fitness-Beats-Truth Theorem 194
9.5 Simulated Reality: The Simulation Hypothesis 195
9.6 Metareality and Metahuman 196
9.6.1 The Human Condition 197
9.6.2 Deus Ex Machina 197
References 198
Chapter 10 Opportunities vs. Risks 201
10.1 The “New New Normal” and Upcoming T Junction 202
10.2 Opportunities 207
10.2.1 An Inconvenient Truth for Everything: Earth Inc. vs. Global Mind 207
10.2.2 The Social Singularity 209
10.2.2.1 Social Physics and Human Hive Mind 209
10.2.2.2 Ethereum: The World Computer 210
10.2.2.3 Extended Stigmergy in Dynamic Media 210
10.2.3 6G, Next G, and the Metaverse: Toward the Peak-Experience Machine 211
10.2.3.1 The Experience Machine 212
10.2.3.2 Toward Peak-Experiences 212
10.2.3.3 Deus Ex Machina Technologies 214
10.3 Risks 215
10.3.1 Ray Kurzweil’s Age of Spiritual Machines 216
10.3.2 Platform Capitalism: Uberworked and Underpaid 217
10.3.3 BUMMER Machine 2.0 218
10.4 Team Human: From Communications to Communitas 220
10.4.1 Self-Refuting Tech Prophecy 221
10.4.2 The Human Strategy 221
10.4.3 Understanding Thinking: From Silicon Valley and Computation to Human Reasoning and Intelligence 222
10.4.4 Communitas: Fusion of Self and World 225
10.4.4.1 Transcendent Experiences 225
10.4.4.2 Communitas: Jumping the Gap into the Future 226
10.4.5 Team Human: Are We in the Midst of the Next Renaissance? 228
References 230
Chapter 11 Conclusion and Outlook 233
11.1 Today’s Life in “Parallel Universes” 233
11.2 The Road Ahead to the Future Multiverse: 6G, Next G, and the Metaverse 235
11.2.1 Metaverse: Mirror of Real World Rather than Virtual Escape Hatch 235
11.2.2 Overcoming 6G and Next G Blind Spots 237
11.2.3 Super Smart Society 5.0: From Galileo’s Telescope to Metaverse’s Telóscope 242
11.3 Age of Discovery: Navigating the Risks and Rewards of Our New Renaissance 247
11.3.1 The Formula for Mass Flourishing 248
11.3.2 Cognitive Blind Spots: Social Complexity vs. Cognitive Capacity 250
References 252
Epilogue 253
Index 257
