As I was researching, I came across this site where smart people like Edward Castronova try to study and forecast the near-term (2016) future of the Metaverse (including Augmented Reality, Lifeblogging, "Mirror Worlds" like Google Earth, and mash-ups of these realms). This think-tank calls itself the Metaverse Roadmap. They've compiled a document in two parts, an Overview and Roadmap Inputs.
The last few pages of the Overview are pretty interesting because they look at implications. Christi, you may be interested in page 18, which raising some questions about virtual identity and relationships. What happens to people when they have 16 different identities in immersive environments? What does that kind of subjectivity or changefulness mean for society?
The Appendix (page 24) has some statistics from a web poll given to experts in the field about what they think the Metaverse will be like in the near-term. Questions like,
22. 2016, how many hours per week (0-20+) will a typical member of the U.S. population ages 13-30 use interactive, internet-accessing, 3D visual environments for EACH of the following activities?
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