iNFTnews ｜ 从《雪崩》到百度“希壤”，元宇宙30年的16件大事

作者 | YuanShan@iNFTnews.com

元宇宙这一概念自2021年10月28日美国互联网科技巨头Facebook母公司更名为Meta之后，逐渐为人所知。

The concept of the Woncosmos has become increasingly known since 28 October 2021, when the United States Internet Science and Technology giant, Facebook, changed its name to Meta.

此后至今，微软、英伟达、谷歌、苹果、三星等互联网巨头都纷纷布局这一赛道。国内阿里巴巴、字节跳动、腾讯、网易等企业也都通过收购、投资、组建部门等方式陆续布局元宇宙产业。

Since then, there have been major Internet players such as Microsoft, British Weida, Google, Apple, and Samsung, all of whom have played this game. Ali Baba, byte beats, tweaks, web-friendly businesses in the country have also been able to develop the universe’s industries through acquisitions, investments, and the formation of sectors.

元宇宙是什么？又从何而来？对它的历史脉络进行梳理，越能对它有所把握和了解，我们也才有可能做好准备迎接这个即将到来的时代。

What is the meta-cosmos? And where does it come from? The more certain and understanding of its history, the better we will be able to prepare ourselves for this impending era.

1、1992年，科幻小说《雪崩》

1, 1992, Sci-fi Avalanche.

元宇宙这一概念最早可以追溯至1992年，尼尔·斯蒂芬森的科幻小说《雪崩》（Snow Crash）。

The concept of the meta-cosmos dates back to 1992, when Neil Stephenson's science fiction, Snow Crash, began.

尼尔在《雪崩》一书中提出了“metaverse”（元宇宙，中译本译为“超元域”）这个概念，描述了一个平行于现实世界的虚拟世界（Metaverse），故事发生在未来的美国，身兼黑客和披萨送货司机双重身份的男主人公Hiro，无意间让雪崩病毒感染了自己的朋友（也是元宇宙中一个极端重要的人物），导致后者虚拟身份崩溃和不可逆的脑部伤害，就此他开始寻找真相的历程。

In the book Avalanche, Neil introduced the concept of “metaverse” (the dollar universe, translated into a “super-mass domain”), describing a virtual world parallel to the real world (Metaverse), a story that occurred in the future in the United States of America, where the male master Hiro, who was both a hacker and a pizza delivery driver, inadvertently infected his friend (an extremely important person in the meta-cosmos) with the avalanche virus, causing the virtual identity of the latter and irreversible brain damage, and he began the search for the truth about it.

在《雪崩》所描述的故事里，所有现实生活中的人都有一个网络分身Avatar，现实人类通过虚拟现实设备与虚拟人共同生活在虚拟空间。“这个虚构之地，就是元宇宙。”尼尔·斯蒂芬森这样写道。

In the story described by Avalanche, all people in real life have a network of Avatars, and real people live in virtual spaces with virtual people through virtual reality devices. “This fictional place is the metaspace.” Neil Stephenson writes.

2、1995年，游戏ActiveWorlds出现

In 1995, the game ActiveWorlds appeared.

在整个90年代，计算机技术在持续的发展当中，开发者们做了相当多的尝试去把人们带进一个网络上的三维空间里面。

Throughout the 1990s, computer technology continued to develop, and developers made considerable attempts to bring people into a three-dimensional space in a network.

在此前1980年代，是包含 2D 图形界面、具有社交元素的虚拟世界，更往前的1970年代是基于计算机文本所构建的虚拟世界。

Previously, in the 1980s, it was a virtual world with a 2D graphical interface, with social elements, and further in the 1970s it was based on computer text.

“Metaverse”这个词其实也在这个时候开始用来描述这种带有社交属性的、网络上的三维空间。

The term “Metaverse” actually began to be used at this time to describe this three-dimensional web space with social attributes.

1995年10月14号的《新科学人》杂志上发表了一篇名为“如何建立一个元宇宙”（"How To Build A Metaverse"）的文章，提到了小说《雪崩》里面对"metaverse"的描述。

An article entitled “How to build a metaspace” was published in the magazine New Scienceman, 14 October 1995, referring to the description of “metaverse” in the novel Avalanche.

在包含用户创建内容（User-Created Content），3D 图像以及开放式社交的三维虚拟世界的1990年代，1994 年，Ron Britvich 创建了 WebWorld，这是第一个能让数万人聊天、建造和旅行的 2.5D 世界。

In the 1990s, which included user creation, 3D images and an open social three-dimensional virtual world, Ron Britvich created WebWorld, the first 2.5D world to allow tens of thousands of people to talk, build and travel.

不久之后，Britvich 便转到 Knowledge Adventure Worlds（后来成为 Worlds Inc.），在那里与其他设计师一起开发 Alphaworld。

Shortly thereafter, Britvich moved to Knowledge Adventure Worlds (later became Worlds Inc.), where it worked with other designers to develop Alphaworld.

1995 年，AlphaWorld 以其 3D 网页浏览器的名字重新命名，改名为 Active Worlds 。

In 1995, AlphaWorld renamed it the Active Worlds by the name of its 3D web browser.

Active Worlds 迅速成为最重要的 3D 社交虚拟世界，吸引了成千上万的用户，规模呈指数级增长。

Active Worlds quickly became the most important 3D social virtual world, attracting thousands of users and growing exponentially.

用户登录到 Active Worlds 世界后，能够探索其他用户创建的 3D 虚拟世界和环境。另外，用户之间可以互相聊天，或者可以自行构造建筑。Active Worlds 允许用户拥有自己的世界或者宇宙，并允许自己开发 3D 数字内容。

By logging into Active Worlds, users can explore the virtual 3D world and environment created by other users. Alternatively, users can chat with each other or build their own buildings. Active Worlds allows users to own their own world or universe, and allows them to develop 3D digital content.

在Active Worlds游戏中，出现了自主生成内容、实时聊天、多个世界、财产权等特征。

In the Active Worlds game, features such as self-generated content, real-time chatting, multiple worlds, property rights, etc. have emerged.

3、1996年，《Cybertown》——古典“元宇宙”重要的里程碑

3, 1996, Cybertown — an important milestone in the classical “Megacosmos”

《Cybertown》是通过虚拟现实建模语言（VRML）构建的，也是新古典“元宇宙”重要的里程碑，有着明显的赛博朋克画风，注重化身（Avatar）的定制化，2021年，被翻新为模拟城市建造游戏发布。

Cyberttown was built through the Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) and is an important milestone in the neoclassical “Megaspace”, with a visible Saberpenk painting style, focused on the customization of Avatar, 2021, which was refurbished and released as a simulation of city-building games.

4、1999年，《黑客帝国》描述的生活在人工智能统治的时代

In 1999, the Hacker Empire described living in the age of artificial intelligence.

《黑客帝国》（The Matrix）在全球上映被众多人熟知，它的故事明显的呈现了一个类似元宇宙概念。

The Hacker Empire, which is known to a large number of people around the world, clearly presents a concept similar to the meta-cosm.

在电影里实际情况中，空前强大的人工智能把人类圈养在营养仓，利用人体发电，人类的意志则被禁锢在看似正常的虚拟世界。所有人都通过一种脑后的仪器连接到虚拟世界，所有人都活在自以为的现实世界实则是那样的虚拟世界当中。

In reality, in a movie, human beings are trapped in nutrients, using humans to generate electricity, and human will is trapped in what seems to be a normal virtual world. All people are connected to the virtual world through an instrument behind their head, and all live in a virtual world that they think is a real world like that.

电影《黑客帝国》所呈现的故事，类似在未来的元宇宙中， 人们穿戴设备进入一个由计算机发展出的另类空间的世界。只不过《黑客帝国》是反过来，而当下的元宇宙概念是正向发展去向。

The story of the film "Hacking Empire" is similar to the story of the future meta-cosm, where people wear equipment into a world of computer-developed alternatives. It's just the other way around, and the current concept of meta-cosm is moving in the direction.

5、2003年，林登实验室推出游戏《第二人生》

In 2003, Linden Laboratories launched the game Second Life.

进入21世纪，这一初期的特点是商业虚拟世界（如 Second Life）的用户群急剧扩张，虚拟世界内容创建工具的增强，虚拟经济的发展以及图形保真度的逐步提高。

The beginning of the twenty-first century was marked by a dramatic expansion of the user base of the business virtual world (e.g., Second Life), the enhancement of the virtual world content creation tool, the development of the virtual economy and the gradual increase in graphic authenticity.

受到尼尔·斯蒂芬森《雪崩》的启发， 由Phillip Rosedale于1999年创立的林登实验室(Linden Lab)于2003年推出游戏《第二人生》（Second life），最早林登实验室是一家从事触觉技术开发的硬件公司。

Inspired by Neil Stephenson's Avalanche, the Linden Lab, founded by Phillip Rosedale in 1999, launched the game Second Life in 2003, the earliest of which is a hardware company engaged in tactile technology development.

《第二人生》游戏截图

A screenshot of the Second Life game.

《第二人生》不是单纯的游戏，没有故意制造的冲突和明确设定的目标。

Second Life is not a simple game; it is not a deliberate conflict and a clearly defined goal.

它展示出来的是一个开创性的现象级虚拟世界，在这个虚拟的世界里，有强大的世界编辑功能和发达的虚拟经济系统，“人们”可以在其中做现实生活中所做的任何事情，如看电影、听音乐、玩游戏、参加派对、买卖东西，以及为世界创造新的内容。

It presents a seminal virtual world in which there are powerful world editorial functions and developed virtual economic systems in which “people” can do what they do in real life, such as watching movies, listening to music, playing games, partying, buying and selling things, and creating new content for the world.

在经济活动领域，人们不仅限于买卖物品，还可以购买、出售房地产。进入游戏《第二人生》的普通用户，通常还可以获得一块土地和用来居住的房屋。

In the area of economic activity, people are not limited to buying and selling goods, but can also buy and sell real estate.

在《第二人生》里面，内容由用户生成，这一特点是元宇宙的重要组成部分。

In Second Life, content is generated by users, a feature that is an important part of the meta-cosm.

《第二人生》备受关注的事件，是在2006年居民Anshe Chung成为第一个通过《第二人生》事业成为百万富翁的人。

The high profile of Second Life was that in 2006 Resident Anshe Chung became the first person to become a millionaire through the Second Life project.

化名为 Anshe Chung 的用户在 Second life 当中创建了自己的商业帝国，通过购买虚拟世界当中的虚拟房地产，并将其细分为不同的主题用于出租或转售，从而获得了百万美元的收入。

A user named Anshe Chung created his own commercial empire in Second Life and earned millions of dollars in revenue by purchasing virtual real estate in the virtual world and dividing it into different subjects for rental or resale.

在虚拟世界中，Anshe Chung 所拥有的财富主要为虚拟房地产（相当于 36 平方公里的土地，由 550 台服务器支持）、数百万Linden Dollars、几个虚拟购物中心，虚拟连锁店以及建立的几个虚拟品牌。

In the virtual world, Anshe Chung holds the wealth of virtual real estate (equivalent to 36 square kilometres of land supported by 550 servers), millions of Linden Dollars, several virtual shopping malls, virtual chains and several virtual brands.

凭借这一百万富翁的名声，Anshe Chung登上了 2006 年5月版《商业周刊》的封面。在现实世界中她也创建了自己的工作室。

With this millionaire's reputation, Anshe Chung is on the cover of the May 2006 edition of Business Weekly. In the real world, she also created her own studio.

6、2004年，Roblox成立

In 2004, Roblox was founded.

Roblox 在某种程度上更被大家认为靠近 Metaverse 的概念。CEO Dave Baszucki说，Metaverse 应该具备的 8 个特点：身份、朋友、沉浸感、低延迟、多元化、随地、经济系统和文明，Roblox很好地突出了身份这一特征。

Roblox is, to some extent, considered to be close to the concept of Metaverse. CEO Dave Baszucki says that Metaverse should have eight characteristics: identity, friends, immersion, low delay, pluralism, locality, economic systems and civilization, and Roblox is a good example of identity.

在Roblox游戏里，你可以用这个虚拟身份穿梭在不同的游戏之间，可以随时前往一个游戏或者离开，所有发生在虚拟世界当中的行为都是由该身份所产生的，即便是社交行为，所连接的也是该虚拟身份，而不是电脑屏幕背后的玩家。

In Roblox, you can use this virtual identity to travel between different games, to go to a game or to leave at any time. All behavior in the virtual world is caused by that identity, and even if it is social, it is connected to that virtual identity, not the player behind the computer screen.

这和以往的游戏有很大的本质的不同。

It's very different from the game of the past.

Roblox曾经声称，美国所有9~12岁的儿童中，有一半都在其平台上。2019年，它的月独立用户已经跃升至9000万，并准备走向国际。

Roblox once claimed that half of all children between 9 and 12 years of age in the United States were on its platform. In 2019, its monthly independent users jumped to 90 million and were ready to go internationally.

在Roblox之前，有一家做教学软件的公司Knowledge Revolution。虽然设计的目的是让学生模拟物理实验，但其实他们也把它当成了游戏。

Before Roblox, there was a teaching software company, Knowledge Review. Although designed to allow students to simulate physical experiments, they used it as a game.

“乐趣似乎就在建立自己的实验中。”Baszucki说。“当人们在玩的时候，我们进了学校和实验室，他们都在做汽车撞车、建筑倒塌，做的东西真的很有趣。”

"The fun seems to be building its own experiment." Baszucki says, "When people are playing, we go to school and labs, they're all doing car crashes, buildings collapse, things are really fun."

有了沙盘，孩子们不只是做了关于质量或速度的实验，他们还做了一些游戏，或者是可以向朋友们炫耀的体验，让他们开怀大笑。

With sand plates, children have not only experimented with quality or speed, they have made some games, or they can show their friends the experience and make them laugh.

这个曾经成立于1989年的Knowledge Revolution公司，便是由Dave Baszucki和他的兄弟Greg（他后来并不是Roblox的联合创始人，但现在是其董事会成员）创立。

It was founded in 1989 by Dave Baszucki and his brother Greg (who was not later a co-founder of Roblox but is now a member of its Board of Directors).

近十年后，它被做专业仿真工具的MSC软件公司以2000万美元收购。

Almost a decade later, it was acquired by MSC Software, a professional imitation tool, for $20 million.

在离开前，Baszucki又在那里继续工作了4年，成为一名天使投资人。他把钱投给了Friendster，这家公司在社交网络范畴比Facebook和MySpace更早。这笔投资为Roblox的另一个想法埋下了种子。

Before leaving, Baszucki continued to work there for four years, becoming an angel investor. He invested his money in Friendster, a company that was in the social network earlier than Facebook and MySpace. This investment planted seeds for another Roblox idea.

总的来说，Knowledge Revolution和Friendster的遗产是支撑Roblox的两个关键组成部分：一个是具有强大的创造工具的物理沙盒，一个是社交图。

Overall, the legacy of Knowledge Review and Friendster are two key components underpinning Roblox: a physical sandbox with powerful creative tools and a social map.

Baszucki本人是拼图中的第三块。他可以说是史蒂夫·乔布斯一代，具备一种产业变革的性质，比如虚拟环境、游戏、教育、数字身份和科技的未来。在这个令人心驰神往的混合体中，Roblox的想法产生了。

Baszucki himself is the third piece of the puzzle. He's a Steve Jobs generation, with the nature of industrial transformations, such as virtual environments, games, education, digital identity, and the future of technology. In this moving mix, Roblox's ideas emerged.

Roblox最初名为Dynablox，由Baszucki和Erik Cassel于2004年创办，后者是一位曾在Knowledge Revolution公司工作的工程师。

Roblox, originally named Dynablox, was founded in 2004 by Baszucki and Erik Cassel, an engineer who worked at Knowledge Review.

在发展理念中，Roblox不像普通的消费类创业公司有目标地存活下来，也没有病毒式的拐点，没有早期投资者的快速翻身。他一直专注于长期的、几乎是哲学性的目标：建立一个新的娱乐和通讯类别，而不仅仅是一家公司或快速套现。

In the concept of development, Roblox does not survive with the usual consumer-type start-up companies, there are no viral stops, and there are no early investors turning their backs. He has been focusing on long-term, almost philosophical, goals: creating a new type of entertainment and communication, not just a single company or a fast-disposal.

Baszucki说：“我们一直有这样的态度，产品是永远不会完成的。我们认为它是以百分之一的比例来实现愿景。当我们推出的时候是3%。今天，我们仍然延续了这个态度。”

Baszucki said, "We've always had this attitude, and the product will never be finished. We think it's a one-per-cent ratio to realize the vision. When we were launched, it was 3 per cent. Today, we continue that attitude."

后来，他提到有一个30年的愿景，在这个愿景中，用户有一个完整的数字身份--也许是在Roblox这样的沉浸式环境中。

Later, he referred to a 30-year vision in which users had a full digital identity -- perhaps in a immersed environment like Roblox.

2006年Roblox公司发布同时兼容了虚拟世界、休闲游戏和用户自建内容的游戏Roblox，用户之间可互相添加好友聊天，用户也可以通过购买虚拟形象、各类道具装饰自己，还有稳定汇率的平台币Robux（类似Q币）可以购买。

In 2006, Roblox launched a game that is compatible with the virtual world, leisure games and user-built content. Users can add friends and chats to each other, users can decorate themselves by purchasing virtual images, props and props, and platform currency Robux (like Q coins) that stabilizes the exchange rate.

通过这种社交+游戏+平台币经济的组合，Roblox可以满足人们在虚拟世界中工作、玩乐、消费的需求，从而呈现出一种Metaverse的经典生态。

Through this combination of social + game + platform currency economies, Roblox can meet the demand for people to work, play and consume in the virtual world, thus presenting a classic metaverse ecology.

2021年3月10日Roblox首次将“元宇宙”概念写进招股书的公司，成功登陆纽交所，上市首日市值突破400亿美元。此后，关于“元宇宙”的概念与文章迅速充斥各类媒体，引发思想界、科技界、资本界、企业界和文化界，甚至政府部门的关注。

Roblox, the first company to write the concept of the “mass universe” into a bid book on March 10, 2021, successfully landed at New York House, with a market value of $40 billion on the first day of the market. Since then, the concept and articles on the “mass universe” have been rapidly overflowing with various media, drawing attention from the intellectual, scientific, capital, business and cultural communities, and even from government.

7、2009年瑞典Mojang Studios开发《我的世界》（Minecraft）

7/ 2009 Mojang Studios, Sweden, Development of My World (Minecraft)

“2009年也就是游戏刚刚诞生的时候，第一批玩家来到了这个方块世界，纷纷开始了这个世界的探索和开发，在那个时候有一句口号：要想富，先撸树。

“In 2009, when the first players came to this square world, the first players began the exploration and development of the world, and there was a slogan: to be rich, to be rich first, to be able to make trees.

这一年Minecraft大陆上诞生了草方块、圆石、还有人类、猪、苦力怕等等生物。在那个时候第一次遇到苦力怕吓得慌了神的样子，那时为了挖矿第一次探索地底世界，当时游戏的目的只有一个——生存下去。”

The year saw the birth of grass squares, round stones, humans, pigs, the fear of bitterness, and so forth on the mainland of Minecraft. The first time at that time, when bitterness scared the hell out of me, the first time the mine explored the Earth, and the purpose of the game was only one — to survive.”

这是一位《我的世界》资深用户为了表达自己的怀念袒露的心声。

This is the voice of a senior user of My World to express his memory.

《我的世界》游戏呈现了一个完全自由的世界，并且这个世界更充满想象力。此后，这款游戏一直在不断更新、迭代，因其十分高的自由性和可探索性保持着十分强大的生命力。这或许是玩家第一次尝到了在另一个数字搭建的世界所体验到的快乐，这种体验带来的感受也会是属于元宇宙的。

The game of My World presents a completely free world, and the world is more imaginative. Since then, the game has been constantly updated and iterative, with its very high degree of freedom and delucidability maintaining a very strong life force. It may be the first time a player has tasted the joy experienced in another digitally constructed world.

8、2011年，小说《玩家一号》

8-2011, Player One.

和斯蒂芬森的《雪崩》一样，恩斯特·克莱恩通过《玩家1号》这部小说也描述了一个虚拟现实世界。《头号玩家》便是以此小说改编的电影。

Like Stephenson's Avalanche, Ernst Klein describes a virtual reality world through the novel Player 1. The first player is a film adapted from this novel.

在《玩家1号》叙述的故事中，虚拟实境技术与网络游戏得到了完美结合，游戏公司“绿洲”以此起家，成为人们避世的港湾。

In the story of Player 1, virtual reality technology and network games were perfectly integrated, starting with the game company Oasis, which became a haven for people.

孰料“绿洲”创始人哈利迪的一份遗嘱引发了一场巨大的风波。该遗嘱宣称，谁能在“绿洲”中寻获他设置的彩蛋，就有望接手“绿洲”成为新的世界首富。

A will from Halliday, the founder of Oasis, gave rise to a huge wave of wind. The will states that whoever can find his eggs in Oasis is expected to take over Oasis as the richest in the new world.

主角韦德，一个最普通不过的玩家，也投身到了遗嘱所引发的狂潮之中，然而他很快发现，若想继承哈利迪的遗产，他不但要和数以亿计的同行展开竞争，还要面临同样觊觎这份财富的大公司的死亡威胁。

The protagonist, Wade, the most common player, was also involved in a wave of wills, but he quickly found out that if he wanted to inherit the legacy of Halliday, he would not only compete with hundreds of millions of his peers, but would also face death threats from large companies that shared that wealth.

韦德面临着朋友，敌人，信任，背叛等一系列议题，这便是《玩家1号》的故事。

Wade faces a series of issues such as friends, enemies, trust, betrayal, and that is the story of Player 1.

这个故事把虚拟现实世界和精彩剧情结合起来，让人首次可以想象从现实世界进入超级计算形成的虚拟世界。后来《头号玩家》把这个故事概念搬上荧幕，起到了推动元宇宙概念的普及作用。

This story combines the virtual real world with the fantastic scenery, making it possible to imagine, for the first time, moving from the real world to a super-counted virtual world. The first player then moved the story concept onto the screen and helped to spread the concept of the meta-cosmos.

9、2012年，玩赚游戏RuneScape用户达到2亿

In 2012, 200 million users of RuneScape played a profit game.

玩赚游戏允许玩家 "真正 "赚取和拥有数字资产，然后他们可以在游戏之外自行出售。玩赚模式可以把数字身份、资产和所有权给到玩家手中，事实上玩赚游戏似乎正引领着一个更大的趋势：现实世界和数字世界的日益融合。

A profit game allows players to " really " earn and own digital assets, and then they can sell them out of the game themselves. A earning mode can give digital identities, assets, and ownership to players. In fact, a earning game seems to be leading a larger trend: the growing convergence between the real and the digital world.

Roblox曾提出过元宇宙的八个关键特征：身份(Identity)、朋友(Frieds)、沉浸感(Immersive)、低延迟(Low Friction)、多样性(Variety)、随地(Anywhere)、经济(Economy)、文明(Civility)。在RuneScape游戏中，已经实现了身份、经济这些特征。而且X2E的模式也在近两年成为当下的经济热潮，吸引许多有想法的人参与其中。

Roblox has proposed eight key features of the meta-cosm: identity, friends, immature, low delay, diversity, Anywhore, economy, civilization. In the RuneScape game, identity and economy have been realized. And the X2E model has also become the current economic boom in the last two years, attracting many people of thought to participate in it.

10、2012-2013年：NFT的概念源—彩色币Colored Coins

10 2012-2013: The conceptual source of NFT - Colored Coins

NFT作为元宇宙的组成部分，是元宇宙发展历程里面重要的一环。它作为一种独一无二的数字内容资产，可以普遍在元宇宙中使用。它最早的概念源于所谓的“彩色硬币”，最初于 2012-2013 年在比特币区块链上发行。

NFT, as an integral part of the meta-cosm, is an important part of the meta-cosm. It is a unique digital content asset that can be used in the meta-cosm. Its earliest concepts originated in so-called “colour coins”, which were first released in 2012-2013 on the Bitcoin block chain.

彩色硬币是代表区块链上现实世界资产的代币，可用于证明任何资产的所有权，从贵金属到汽车再到房地产，甚至是股票和债券。这个最初的想法是将比特币区块链用于数字收藏品、优惠券、财产、公司股票等资产。

Colour coins are tokens of real world assets on the block chain that can be used to prove ownership of any asset, from precious metals to cars to real estate, even stocks and bonds. The original idea was to use the bitcoins chain for digital collections, coupons, property, corporate shares, etc.

这一新技术直到最近一两年开始大力发展、推进。

Until the last year or two, this new technology has been developed and advanced vigorously.

11、2013年，Vitalik Buterin创立以太坊

In 2013, Vitalik Buterin founded the Etherium.

2013年年末，以太坊创始人Vitalik Buterin发布了以太坊初版白皮书，启动了项目。

In late 2013, Vitalik Buterin, the founder of the Etherayas, launched the project with the release of an initial version of the Etheraya White Paper.

2014年7月24日起，以太坊进行了为期42天的以太币预售。2016年初，以太坊的技术得到市场认可，价格开始暴涨，吸引了大量开发者以外的人进入以太坊的世界。

A 42-day pre-sale in Etheria began on July 24, 2014. At the beginning of 2016, when Etheria technology was recognized by the market, prices began to surge, attracting a large number of developers to the Etherm world.

以太坊是一种公有区块链，这种技术使得在互联网上的任何一种行为都可以被记录且永久存储，由于去中心化存储、可溯源、且不容易被纂改的特质，它使得未来在元宇宙中进行自由交易成为可能。同时建立在以太坊链上的钱包、数字内容、组织形式都成为一种去中心化的形式，为元宇宙形成基础特征。

The technique is a public block chain that allows any kind of behavior on the Internet to be recorded and permanently stored, making it possible to trade freely in the metacosystem in the future because of the characteristics of decentralized storage, traceability, and not easy to alter. It is also built in the form of a decentralized wallet, digital content, and organization on the tether chain, which is the basic feature of the metacosystem.

12、2015 ，虚拟现实平台Decentraland推出

12, 2015, virtual reality platform Decentraland

2021年11月23日，歌手林俊杰在推特上宣布自己花12万美元买了Decentraland的虚拟土地，正式跨足元宇宙世界。这个虚拟现实平台便是在 2015 年推出的。

On November 23, 2021, singer Lin Junjie announced on Twitter that he had spent $120,000 on the virtual land of Decentraland, officially crossing the universe. The virtual reality platform was launched in 2015.

Decentraland字面意思为去中心化的土地。事实上Decentraland定位于一个去中心化的世界，也就是元宇宙。在这个元宇宙里自成一个世界，用户可以购买土地、建造房子、开设商店、买卖商品等等。它如今作为当前元宇宙概念的代表应用，受到众多关注。

Decentraland literally means decentralized land. In fact, Decentraland is located in a decentralized world, the meta-cosmos. In this meta-cosm, users are able to buy land, build houses, open shops, sell goods, and so on. It is now being used as a representative of the current meta-cosm concept.

比如在Decentraland，房地产是由非同质化代币（NFT）LAND（土地）来表示的，用户可以用Decentraland的原生代币MANA购买地块。以此类推，使用它的虚拟货币可以购买任何物品。

In Decentraland, for example, real estate is represented by non-homogenous tokens (NFTs) LAND (land), and users can buy lots from MANA, the original currency of Decentraland. By this means, using its virtual currency can buy anything.

在买卖土地上，Decentraland跟现实世界类似，土地所有权会有记录。在Decentraland，LAND的所有权会记录在以太坊区块链上。2021 年 NFT 的热潮导致游戏的部分房地产地块以超过 100,000 美元的价格出售。

In the buying and selling of land, Decentraland is similar to the real world, and land ownership will be recorded. In Decentraland, the ownership of LAND will be recorded on the Etherm block chain. In 2021, the boom in NFT led to the sale of some of the real estate parcels of the game for over $100,000.

2020年借以太坊为平台，支持用户拥有和运营虚拟资产的Decentraland，支持用户拥有土地和数字资产，构成了“元宇宙”第三历史阶段的主要的历史节点。

By 2020, Taipa served as a platform to support users to own and operate virtual assets in Decentraland and to support users to own land and digital assets, constituting the main historical nodes of the third historical phase of the meta-cosmos.

13、2016，The DAO – 去中心化自治组织

13, 2016, The DAO - Decentralised Autonomous Organizations

元宇宙作为下一个“互联网时代”，就在于它不是某一种技术，也不是某一种应用，而是当前新兴计算机技术共同的集合和一种不同的理念、价值观的呈现。

As the next “Internet age”, the meta-cosmos is not a technology, nor an application, but a combination of emerging computer technologies and the presentation of different ideas and values.

DAO就是这一理念的体现。DAO即去中心化的自治组织。

The DAO is a decentralised self-governing organization.

2016 年 5 月，名为 The DAO 的公司通过众筹代币的方式启动，创下当时历史上最大的众筹活动记录。它旨在成为另类风险投资基金，创建在以太坊的区块链上用作分散的融资模式。

In May 2016, a company called The DAO was launched by means of public money, creating the largest record of public fund-raising in history. It was designed to become an alternative venture capital fund that was created to serve as a decentralized financing model in the Teewan block chain.

不幸的是2016 年 6 月，用户利用了 The DAO 代码中的漏洞，使得资金受到损失，导致了 The DAO 作为一家公司消亡。但去中心化自治组织（DAO）的概念继续存在。

Unfortunately, in June 2016, users took advantage of the loopholes in the DAO code, resulting in a loss of money, which led to the disappearance of The DAO as a company. But the concept of decentralised self-governing organizations (DAOs) continues to exist.

未来的元宇宙，DAO会作为一种类似公司的组织形式而存在，并参与元宇宙的活动。这些公司由组织中的参与者共同管理，规则和金融交易记录在区块链上。例如，DAO 是围绕 NFT 的共同所有权而形成的。

The future metacosystem, DAO exists as a form of organization for similar companies and participates in metacosystem activities. These companies are managed jointly by participants in the organization, and rules and financial transactions are recorded on the block chain. For example, DAOs are formed around joint ownership of NFT.

14、2021年8月，英伟达花费数亿美金推出元宇宙模拟平台Omniverse

In August of 14, 2021, Yveida spent hundreds of millions of dollars to launch a meta-cosm simulation platform, Omniverse.

NVIDIA Omniverse是英伟达于2021年4月推出的面向企业的实时仿真和协作平台，被称为“工程师的元宇宙”。

NVIDIA Omniverse is a business-oriented platform for real-time simulation and collaboration, known as the “Engineer's Metacosm”, launched by British Weida in April 2021.

基于Pixar通用场景描述和NVIDIA RTX，NVIDIA Omniverse拥有强大性能，专用于处理3D制作流程，目前已被700多家公司和7万多名个人创作者采用。

Based on the general Pixar scene description and NVIDIA RTX, NVIDIA Omniverse has strong performances dedicated to processing 3D production processes, which are now used by more than 700 companies and 70,000 individual creators.

元宇宙被认为是在传统网络空间基础上，伴随多种数字技术成熟度的提升，构建形成的既映射于、又独立于现实世界的虚拟世界。

The metacosystem is considered to be based on traditional cyberspace, accompanied by an increase in the maturity of multiple digital technologies, to construct a virtual world that maps and is independent of the real world.

NVIDIA Omniverse定位模拟数字孪生的项目，在虚拟空间中复制真实世界的环境，提供了元宇宙的基础。由于它定位在B端企业，已有诸多公司参与合作。

The NVIDIA Omniverse Digital Simulation Project, which replicates the environment of the real world in virtual space, provides the basis for the meta-cosm. As it is located at the B end, a number of companies have been involved.

15、2021年10月，Facebook改名Meta

15, 2021, Facebook changed its name to Meta

2021年7月，扎克伯格公开描述了他对元宇宙的愿景，并希望用五年左右时间将Facebook打造为一家元宇宙公司，之后还宣布成立了一个致力于元宇宙开发的团队。

In July 2021, Zuckerberg publicly described his vision of the meta-cosmos and hoped to build Facebook into a meta-cosm company over a period of about five years, followed by an announcement of a team dedicated to the development of the meta-cosmos.

到了10月29日，在Facebook Connect 2021 增强现实和虚拟现实发布会上，马克·扎克伯格正式官宣，将公司名称更改为“Meta”，新名称正是元宇宙“Metaverse”的前缀。

On 29 October, at a Facebook Connect 2021 conference to enhance reality and virtual reality, official Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would change the name of the company to “Meta”, the prefix of the metaverse “Metaverse”.

Facebook更名受到全球关注，被后来的诸多媒体、企业、业界看作是一个具有重要意义的事件，资本也相继持续涌入这一产业。

The renaming of Facebook has received global attention and has been seen as a significant event by a number of subsequent media, business and industry, with successive capital inflows into the industry.

在未来的元宇宙时代，它的更名一事可以被看作代表世界开始进入元宇宙的标志事件。正是从这一事件开始，元宇宙真正从不完善的、不成规模的市场形势进入到全球互联网科技巨头共同布局的市场形势。

In the future era of the meta-cosmos, its renaming could be seen as a sign that the world began to enter the meta-cosm. It was from that moment on that time that the meta-cosmos really moved from an imperfect and unsized market situation to a market situation where the global Internet technology giants had a common layout.

16、2021年12月27日，百度发布元宇宙产品“希壤”

On December 27, 16, 2021, 100 degrees of “Hyoma” was released.

元宇宙在国内，也随着资本和技术的发展出现。

The meta-cosmos also emerges within the country, along with capital and technological developments.

“希壤”作为百度在2021年12月27日发布的首个“国产元宇宙”产品，从目前的活动行为来看，应是定位在一个提供品牌商家营销的平台方和内容提供方——百度已入股爱奇艺。毕竟，目前对元宇宙的想象应是泛娱乐的地方，这样的地方才会吸引人想要进入元宇宙。

As the first “national-producer universe” product released on December 27, 2021, the “Shilom” should, in terms of current activity, be positioned on a platform and content provider that provides brand-seller marketing – 100 degrees of eccentricity. After all, the current image of the metacosystem should be a place of general entertainment, where people want to enter the metacosystem.

同时，“希壤”作为国内的元宇宙产品，也带有中国元素，这个跨越虚拟与现实、永久续存的多人互动空间，融入了大量中国元素——中国山水、文化、历史都已融入城市建设和互动体验当中。

At the same time, as a domestic meta-cosm product, there is also the Chinese element, which transcends the virtual and reality-based, permanent multi-person interactive space and integrates a large number of Chinese elements — Chinese mountain waters, culture, history — into city-building and interactive experiences.

写在最后

It's in the end.

通过梳理元宇宙的发展历史，从概念到现实，从文本到平面再到三维空间，这些历史脉络带给人更系统和感性的认识。比如一些当前出现的热门项目，经过梳理才发现早在之前就已经出现了，比如X2E项目（2012年玩赚游戏）。

By combing the development history of the meta-cosmos, from concept to reality, from text to plane to three-dimensional space, these historical connections give people a more systematic and sensitive understanding. Some of the current popular projects, such as the X2E project, have come to light long before.

元宇宙为何存在，人们为何需要一个不同于现实世界的空间，技术的一步步发展客观上又为构建元宇宙带来了哪些帮助，等等。我想这些好奇会是我们一步步要追问下去的动力。

Why the metacosystem exists, why people need a space that is different from the real world, what the technological step-by-step development objectively brings to the construction of the metacosystem, etc., and so on. I think these curiositys will be the driving force for us to keep going.

元宇宙发展至今已走过了三十多年，互联网技术的日新月异也许从一开始就注定让我们走入它的终极形态——元宇宙。当然，我们还未来到这个时刻，但我们通过回顾它的历史，对它多一些了解——如本文开篇所述——更好地迎接它的时代。

More than 30 years have passed since the development of the meta-cosmos, and the rapid and rapid changes in Internet technology may have meant us from the beginning to move into its ultimate form, the meta-cosmos. Of course, we will also come to this moment, but by looking back at its history, we have learned more about it — as we said at the beginning of this paper — to better meet its era.

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