Special Episode：Business Buzzwords with Tim 丨 Metaverse

Shanghai is growing from a mega-city into a ‘meta-city’. Instead of sweltering through a hot summer day what if you could swap the boiling outdoor heat for a much cooler, highly immersive virtual world where you can still gather with friends and colleagues to socialize, play, and work? Join our host Timothy Pope to experience the “Metaverse” 

STD1:

Imagine a world where you're not constrained by the physical, or even limited by screens. Imagine you could project yourself as a hologram or 3D avatar. This is what the tech buzzword known as the metaverse promises. And you might be experiencing it sooner than you think because tech entrepreneurs and giant tech companies are really moving into the virtual space.

试想一个世界并不存在实体的束缚，甚至没有屏幕。设想你能将自己投射到全息影像或者3D化身上。这便是科技流行词"元宇宙"所许诺的。由于科技企业家和科技巨头们正实实在在踏入虚拟空间，你也许会比你想象的更快地体验到它。

STD2:  

So we're in the metaverse. This is supposed to be me, in a bad hat. But we're gonna be having a look at some of the things we can do in the metaverse. One of the main questions about it is ownership, and how can we determine who owns what in the metaverse. And we do that through NFTs, non-fungible tokens. So we can see here there's a lot of artwork on display here. China is becoming a much more vibrant space for NFTs and their production. I think we can have a look at some of these here. And we can walk along and have a look of some of the other artworks that are on display here.

此刻，我们置身于元宇宙。这应该就是我，虽然戴着一顶不太帅的帽子。我们会看到一些我们可以在元宇宙中做的事情。其中一个主要问题便是所有权，在元宇宙里我们如何确定谁拥有什么。我们通过NFT，即非同质化货币，来实现这一点。我们可以看到这里展出了大量的艺术品。中国正在成为一个NFTs及其产品的更具活力的空间。我想我们可以从中看到其中的一些藏品。我们还可以往前走走，去看看这里展出的另外几件艺术品。

Interview1:

Q1:

How big is the NFT market in China?

NFT在中国的市场有多大？

A1:

I don't have exact numbers, but I would estimate that it was in the billions of RMB in both primary and secondary markets, and still growing at a very fast speed.

我没有确切的数字，但我估计一级和二级市场都有数十亿元人民币规模，而且还在快速增长。

Q2:

Who's trading in NFTs, like the ones we can see here? What are the most hotly traded NFTs in China at the moment?

谁在交易NFT？就像我们在这里看到的那些？目前中国交易最火爆的NFT是什么？

A2:

It supports RMB payment, In local currency. So that actually opens up the audience to the broader society. So everybody who has a favor for their own culture or like a brand or even like a movie star, they all can participate.

它支持人民币支付，用本地货币。所以这实际上为观众打开了通向更广阔社会的大门。如果你有自己喜欢的文化，自己喜欢的品牌，甚至是喜欢的电影明星，每个人都可以参与。

Q3:

We noticed as well that a lot of artists have been selling, as we can see, their artworks as NFTs. What's the attraction of doing this?

我们也注意到，许多艺术家已经在出售他们的艺术作品。这种方式有什么吸引力呢?

A3:

It's really easy to copy and paste art. You cannot define the ownership of digital arts. Right? However, with the technology of NFTs, people in the first time can actually prove their ownership a digital art. When those artists' works are traded in the secondary markets, part of the trading revenue are allocated back to the artists, which will not be able to happen in the traditional world. Because on the blockchain, it's a digital artwork. Every time it happened, it's on chain. When settlement happened, part of the revenue actually automatically allocated to the artists in a smart contract. So it's very cool.

复制和粘贴图像非常容易，你无法定义数字艺术的所有权，对吧？然而，有了NFT技术，人们可以第一次真正证明他们对数字艺术的所有权。当这些艺术家的作品在二级市场交易时，这些交易收入的一部分会被分配给艺术家，这在传统世界中是不可能发生的。因为在区块链上，它是一件数字艺术品。每次发生，它都在链上。当结算发生时，部分收益会通过智能合约自动分配给艺术家。这非常酷。

Track1:

The metaverse is in no way limited to art or recreation. And it will be interesting to see how the metaverse continues to change our understanding of the economy and how value is defined. Shanghai's blueprint to develop the metaverse aims to empower the economy, life, and the digital transformation of governance. The city is targetting an overall industrial scale of 350 billion yuan by 2025.

元宇宙绝不限于艺术或娱乐。观察其如何不断地改变人们对于经济与价值的认知将是件很有趣的事情。上海发展"元宇宙"蓝图，旨在赋能经济，生活以及城市治理等数字化转型。到2025年，元宇宙相关产业规模预计将达到3500亿元。

Q4:

When we talk about a digital city, what's the ecosystem we're talking about? What are the main components? What goes into a digital city?

当我们谈论数字化城市时，所说的生态是什么样的？有哪些主要元素？一座数字化城市里会有什么？

A4:

I think that surface level would be mapping. So that there is a digital version of the city, and it is important to map itself, the real aspects of the city. In the metaverse, you also have your identity which is somehow linked with your real world. The second level is whether we can make the metaverse version of the city more interesting, right? Instead we just browse it on the screen, whether you can use new technology to make you feel like you are living around. And the third level is not just I want to get information.And that means you need to have a layer that can settle the transactions, settle the economic activities, wherever there's an economic activity it is based on where you'll be. And this layer typically would be a blockchain to enable the possibility of having abundant economic activities in the digital world.

我认为表层会是地图构建，这样就有了一个数字版本的城市，绘制自身地图是很重要的，即城市的真实面貌。在元宇宙中，你也有你的身份，它以某种方式与你的真实世界联系在一起。第二个层面是我们是否能让元宇宙版本的城市更有趣，对吧？除了只是在屏幕上浏览它，你是否可以使用新技术让自己感觉身处其中。第三个层面就不仅仅是我想要获取信息，这意味着你需要有一个基于你所在位置的层面来结算交易，结算经济活动。这一层通常是一个区块链，使在数字世界中拥有丰富的经济活动成为可能。

Track 2:

Shanghai is doubling down on the metaverse by including it in its five-year development plan, which mentions encouraging metaverse use in public services, business offices and other areas. The city document marked the first time a local government mentioned the metaverse in a five-year plan. And in July the city released detailed plans, vowing to have 10 top international metaverse companies in the city. Shanghai is now home to half of the country's 5G talents and 40 percent of chip-making talents.

上海将发展元宇宙纳入"十四五"发展规划，以进一步加大对元宇宙的投入。其中提到鼓励在公共服务、商业办公室等领域使用元宇宙。这是元宇宙被首次写入地方"十四五"产业规划。今年7月，上海公布了详细的计划，并承诺将有10家顶尖的跨国元宇宙公司落户该市。目前，上海拥有全国一半的5G人才和40%的芯片制造人才。

SOT:

Shanghai has probably more blockchain projects than many places in the world. Shanghai has the talent that's needed. Shanghai has very strong governance and pours policies to bring blockchain technology and the whole ecosystem to the next front. And I think with blockchain technology, it's time to bring Chinese tech to the world. And it's something for everyone, it's not only for China, only for Germany, only for the US. It's something literally anyone in the whole world can benefit from if they have a mobile phone and internet access.

上海的区块链项目可能比世界上许多地方都多。上海拥有所需的人才。上海有很强的治理能力，有倾向性政策将区块链技术和整个生态系统带到下一个前沿。我认为有了区块链技术，是时候把中国的技术带给世界了。这对每个人都有好处，不仅是对中国，对德国，对美国有好处。世界上任何一个拥有手机和互联网的人都能从中受益。

STD3:

No doubt regulations will rise to meet the changing digital landscape. But one thing is certain: the metaverse is here, and our analog society is not gonna look quite the same after this. But we'll also gonna have to work out how the two different worlds, the meta, and the real, will coexist.

监管力度无疑会增强，以应对不断变化的数字景观。但可以肯定的是，元宇宙已然到来，我们的模拟社会在这之后也将今非昔比。但同时，我们也要解决好两种不同世界--元世界与现实世界--将如何共存的问题。