Preface Introduction
When New York Times bestselling author Neal Stephenson first coined the term "Metaverse" in his 1992 cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, the term The pioneering work not only set a very high standard for subsequent science fiction writers, but also left a profound impact on movies such as "The Matrix". The immersive literary skills and attention to detail in his works (Seveneves, Anthem, Reamde, and Cryptonomicon) have created a world we are actively building today: the next generation information age of Web3 .
When New York Times bestselling author Neal Stephenson first coined the term "Metaverse" in his 1992 cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, the term The pioneering work not only set a very high standard for subsequent science fiction writers, but also left a profound impact on movies such as "The Matrix". The immersive literary skills and attention to detail in his works (Seveneves, Anthem, Reamde, and Cryptonomicon) have created a world we are actively building today: the next generation information age of Web3 .
However, his influence goes far beyond that. With the rise of blockchain technology, Neal Stephenson extended his vision to the construction of the Metaverse and became one of the important players in this industry.
This article provides an in-depth understanding of the life and works of Neal Stephenson (hereinafter referred to as "Neal"), who is known as the "Father of the Metaverse" and his connection with the Metaverse infrastructure Lamina1. We can get a glimpse of his role as a thought leader in technology. unique position in evolution, and his role in inspiring and leading the future. However, his influence goes far beyond that. With the rise of blockchain technology, Neal Stephenson extended his vision to the construction of the Metaverse and became one of the important players in this industry.
1. Prequel: The Life of Neal Stephenson
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Neal was born into a family of high-ranking intellectuals. His father was an engineering professor and his mother was a biochemist. Neal's grandfather was the famous physicist George M. Neal, which exposed him to the world of science and engineering from an early age, and he was also influenced by a strong scientific atmosphere while growing up.
As a child, Neal displayed a dual interest in literature and technology. He began reading a lot of science fiction in high school and developed a keen interest in computer science. In 1981, he entered Boston University to study physics, but soon switched to Earth and Planetary Sciences, where he eventually earned his degree. Neal also developed an interest in history and linguistics while in college, interests that would later be fully reflected in his writing.
After graduation, Neal began his professional career, but his passion for writing literature never diminished. He published his first novel, "The Big U," in 1984, and four years later, "Zodiac," a thriller about environmentalists fighting corporate pollution. Four more years later, Neal had his breakthrough with Snowfall, a cyberpunk novel best known for coining the term "Metaverse." Now a critically acclaimed New York Times million-selling novel, "The Snow" is a must-read for today's business and technology industries, as well as for many of the great thinkers. His follow-up novel, The Diamond Age, continued to explore the possibilities of distributed payment systems in global media networks and won a Hugo Award and a Locus Award.
In addition to his literary achievements, Neal has been actively involved in practical technology projects since the early 2000s. As a founder of Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company Blue Origin, which develops crewed suborbital launch systems, Neal was instrumental in evaluating alternative methods of space travel and propulsion. After 2007, Neal was hired as chief futurist by Magic Leap, the world's leading spatial computing company, to lead the development of a revolutionary augmented reality technology.
After leaving Magic Leap in 2020, he received an Epic MegaGrant to fund a virtual production project based on the book "The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.," which he co-authored with Nicole Galland. In June 2021, Neal and several colleagues released New Found Land: The Long Haul, an Audible audio drama based on the world they developed at Magic Leap.
With the rise of blockchain technology, Neal's interest once again extends to the emerging technology industry. He is actively involved in Metaverse infrastructure Lamina1, which aims to solve some of the key problems in the current Metaverse world and promote the development of Web3. Lamina1 is not only a metaverse innovation, but also his vision and exploration of the future information age.
2. Peak: A review of Neal Stephenson’s major works
2.1 "Snow Crash": The birth of the metaverse
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In 1992, Neal released his masterpiece "Snow Crash". This novel is not only a milestone in cyberpunk literature, but also invented the concept of "Metaverse" for the first time, foreshadowing the future of virtual reality and the online world. The metaverse in the book depicts a virtual world created and interacted by users, a concept that was later widely used in movies such as "The Matrix". Neal set new standards for science fiction literature through his depiction of future society, technology, and culture, profoundly influencing subsequent creators and technology developers.
2.2 "Cryptonomicon": Anticipating the encryption revolution
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"Cryptonomicon" published in 1999 is another important work of Neal. The novel travels through two timelines, World War II and modern times, and delves into the future of cryptography by telling an intertwined story of cryptography, computer science, and finance. Many of the ideas in the book, such as cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, are already being implemented in today's world. Through this novel, Neal not only demonstrates his deep understanding of technology and history, but also foresees the coming of the cryptocurrency revolution. The novel was so influential that it received the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award 14 years after its publication.
2.3 "The Diamond Age Diamond Age": Exploring Nanotechnology
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The Diamond Age, published in 1995, continued Neal's insight into the technology of the future. Centered around a device called an "interactive educational book," the novel explores the applications of nanotechnology in education and society. Not only is The Diamond Age a brilliant science fiction novel, but through its complex narrative and profound social critique, The Diamond Age won both a Hugo Award and a Locus Award, further establishing Neal's place in science fiction literature.
2.4 "The Baroque Cycle": a symphony of history and science
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Beginning in 2003, Neal ushered in a creative peak. He launched an ambitious trilogy of books, "The Baroque Cycle". This series of novels is set in the 17th and 18th centuries and can be regarded as a prequel to "The Codex" to some extent. . The novel consists of 3 volumes and 8 books in total, among which "Quicksilver", "The Confusion" and "The System of the World" are all popular among readers. Neal tells the story of the adventures of Europeans during that period by blending history and science fiction. In this series, both cryptography and numismatics play a considerable role. The System of the World won the Prometheus Award in 2005.
2.5 "Reamde": The collision of virtual world and reality
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2011's Reamde is an action-packed and suspenseful novel that tells a complex story that spans virtual worlds and reality. The characters in the novel not only go on adventures in the real world, but also engage in fierce confrontations in a virtual multiplayer online game. Through this work, Neal explores the impact of virtual worlds on real life, demonstrating his deep understanding of technology and social interaction.
2.6 "Seveneves": Space Exploration and the Future of Humanity
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2015’s Seveneves is Neal’s grand vision of space exploration and the future of humanity. The novel depicts the story of how humans fled into space in the face of global disaster and returned to Earth thousands of years later. Through precise depictions of scientific and technical details, Neal demonstrates his deep interest and knowledge of space exploration. The work gained attention from the film and television industry and was later made into a movie scheduled to be released in 2025.
As a science fiction novelist, Neal's works cover science fiction, suspense, mystery and other elements, and has been recognized by many international awards. Neal's creations are characterized by rich imagination and profound philosophy, and his works are rich in content and quite intelligent. His works cover a variety of themes and have achieved considerable success in the science fiction industry, and have been praised by readers and critics. His works have not only attracted attention from the literary world, but also attracted the attention of the film and television industry, and have been adapted into film and television works many times. It is no exaggeration to say that Neal has made a name for himself in the science fiction industry and is a shining star in contemporary literature.
3. Crossing the Boundaries: The Intersection of Neal Stephenson and Web3
Neal not only left a profound mark on science fiction literature, but also actively participated in the development and construction of the Metaverse world. Neal coined the term "Metaverse" in 1992 in his book "Snowfall," and now, 30 years later, he has teamed up with another cryptocurrency expert, Peter Vessenes, to turn his vision into reality.
3.1 Anticipating the future: From "Cryptonomicon" to Web3
Neal demonstrated his deep understanding of encryption technology and distributed systems as early as 1999 in "Cryptonomicon" (Cryptonomicon). The book details the applications of cryptography and information security, heralding the rise of modern cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
The Vision of Web3: Fairness and Interoperability
The spirit of Web3 aims to break down "walled gardens" or data silos, giving users full control over their digital experience and the ability to seamlessly switch between different virtual worlds. While most platforms are built on Ethereum, others are pursuing alternative strategies to leverage blockchain technology to further their vision.
Neal envisions Web3 as an ecosystem that is interoperable, fair to artists and creators, and accessible to everyone. This broad vision puts Lamina1 on the map in the industry.
Redefining the Metaverse
The term Metaverse originally conjured up images of a single space where users could log in and experience its powerful virtual world. But in reality, at least for now, the Metaverse is a series of multiple spaces, whether centralized or distributed, in which users access different Metaverse experiences. These spaces are isolated from each other and lack interoperability.
The virtual reality metaverse is developing rapidly, but each metaverse project is a closed system and is not open to the outside world. As advocated by people like Animoca Brands founder and CEO Yat Siu or anonymous non-fungible token (NFT) collector Punk6529, the goal of Web3 should be to build an "open metaverse", that is, one that spans all or at least most Platform interoperability space - Lamina1.
3.2 Lamina1: Frontier Exploration of the Open Metaverse
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Lamina1 is a first-layer blockchain ecosystem focused on providing Web3 developers with the infrastructure to build an "open metaverse."
Lamina1 was founded in June 2022 by Neal Stephenson and early cryptocurrency player and experienced Web3 venture capitalist Peter Vessenes. For the past two years, Lamina1 has been developing solutions that enhance metaverse content creation and development. Currently, Lamina1 has launched its betanet and Hub for creators to design the building blocks of the future open metaverse.
Lamina1 has made significant progress with nearly 50,000 participants participating in its Testnet and Betanet phases. These early stages lay the foundation for key features such as distributed asset storage solutions, user-friendly world-building tools, game engines and network SDKs, consumer-grade user experiences, and simple world servers for multiplayer experiences. . Lamina1 also uses a unique subnet architecture to enable identity, assets and creator experience.
3.3 Lamina1’s key technologies
Lamina1 is dedicated to solving the core challenges of current Metaverse infrastructure, including scalability, interoperability, and security:
Scalability: Lamina1 significantly improves the transaction processing capabilities of the blockchain by improving the consensus mechanism and sharding technology, enabling it to support large-scale users and applications. This technological advancement not only avoids the common problems of congestion and high transaction fees in traditional blockchain networks, but also provides a solid foundation for building large-scale Metaverse applications.
Interoperability: Interoperability is the key to realizing an open metaverse. Lamina1 is committed to realizing seamless connections between different blockchain networks, promoting the free flow of cross-chain data and assets, and building an interconnected blockchain ecosystem. This not only allows users to seamlessly switch between multiple virtual worlds, but also provides developers with greater room for innovation and promotes the collaborative development of the entire ecosystem.
Security: Lamina1 uses advanced cryptography technology and security protocols to ensure network attack resistance and data privacy. Users' assets and information are better protected on Lamina1, which provides users and developers with a more secure and reliable environment, further enhancing the trust and application breadth of the blockchain.
Metaverse as a Service (MaaS)
Lamina1 provides Metaverse-as-a-Service (MaaS) to support the creation and operation of virtual worlds. By providing a series of distributed services and tools, Lamina1 enables creators to easily build and manage virtual worlds, and enable the trading and interaction of virtual assets.
4. Lamina1’s Vision
Lamina1's goal is to create a true "open metaverse" by providing powerful technical infrastructure so that users can seamlessly switch between different virtual worlds and enjoy a continuous and consistent digital experience. Neal and his team provide a solid infrastructure for the development of the Web3 ecosystem by developing a series of tools and platforms to support developers and enterprises in building innovative distributed applications on Lamina1.
As Lamina1’s white paper reads: “To achieve a trillion-dollar economy in virtual worlds, we must first focus on infrastructure, support and availability. Lamina1 will host and drive economic and social transactions in the open metaverse, solving technical barriers to accelerate adoption and Release the ability.”
For Neal and Peter, opening the Metaverse is about more than just interoperability. It also emphasizes the Web3 ethos of promoting digital ownership, ensuring creators receive a fair share of revenue, and making the Metaverse an accessible space. Features that have not yet been prioritized by many existing projects.
5. Influence and future prospects
By actively building Lamina1, Neal Stephenson not only continued his exploration of the metaverse in "Snowfall", but also injected new impetus into the development of Web3. Lamina1's mission is to build an open, interoperable Metaverse ecosystem to ensure that creators receive fair benefits and to enable everyone to easily access and utilize this emerging digital world.
On May 28, the Lamina1 mainnet was officially launched, which is an important milestone in its development. As of press time, more than 1,024 blocks have been generated on the Lamina1 mainnet. This symbolizes the stable operation and rapid development of the Lamina1 network and provides a solid bridge for global users and developers to further support them in realizing unlimited possibilities in the Metaverse. Lamina1 is not only a metaverse ecosystem, but also a concrete realization of Neal Stephenson and his team’s vision for the future of digital society and technology. Through innovative blockchain technology and open infrastructure, as well as increased global influence, Lamina1 is expected to become a benchmark and miracle in the Web3 and Metaverse industries. In the future, Lamina1 will become the basic layer of the Metaverse, supporting an ecosystem of billions of users and countless applications, and becoming the core force leading the development of the Metaverse and promoting technological progress.
This article is reproduced with permission from: "Deep Wave TechFlow"
Original author: Lamina1CN
