Apr 7
Is this Web 4.0?
Web 1.0 was like read only bulletin boards with a Url. You needed a Trumpet Winsock connected, then you could run Netscape to surf the World wide web!
Web 2.0 is when apps came along, now you can register and login, They were apps built and hosted by one company with complete control over your data and the application’s functionality. If you aren’t paying to use a Web 2.0 app, then you are the product or you were there to buy something. Your data and willingness to be advertised to, makes it all possible, just like watching commercials on “Free TV”.
There are billions of Web 2.0 websites now. Most, if not all of them, follow the Web 2.0 pattern shown above. Some don’t need a database and just host static content similar to Web 1.0. We really haven’t come that far in 30 years..
Web 3.0
With Web 2.0, you never really “Owned anything” and if you did it was exclusively for some company who controlled what your ownership really meant. Today, people want to take thier digital things with them! They want to be able to buy and sell things if they want to. Shouldn’t the things you pay money for or work hard to build or design be yours ?
The shift to Web 3.0 moves the “backend and database” to the blockchain. It’s really a similar dynamic, but the authentication shifts to Metamask and the Database backend becomes a decentralized public ledger, ie a blockchain.
Once you authenticate and prove your blockchain identity, you digitally owned items naturally follow. You should be able to use your digital things in multiple places, not just where you bought them from.
MetaVerse — Web 4.0 ?
Web 4.0 services will be autonomous, proactive, content-exploring, self-learning, collaborative, and content-generating agents based on fully matured semantic and reasoning technologies as well as AI. — Dictionary
We aren’t there yet, Web 3.0 can present the user with new experiences using AR / VR devices. These devices can enhance the user’s experience with a brand. How does this change the hosting and distribution model?
Not by much really.
To consume content on your VR / AR device, the web front-end need to provide additional content types to be consumed by different devices in addition to the traditional browser.
Mobile phones can act like Hybrid AR / VR devices by using Cardboard style mounts, Or by using the phone’s camera and spatial scanning capabilities to present your phone into a 3d context.
Where is that Front-End ?
Web 2.0 the Front-End was simple HTML content, maybe some java script. Websites / pages just rendered HTML for the browser to display.
Web 3.0 adds in a decentralized identity provider (like Metamask). This provides your identity to the system and lets you transact on the site.
The 3D environment in which you experience in VR/AR is hosted in a similar way to Web 2.0, it uses Javascript frameworks and the capabilities of your web browser to present an immersive experience.
Web XR can surface a VR experience right through a browser, whereas other technologies are rendered and uploaded to play.unity.com or other hosting providers.
VR needs to stream both video and audio content to and from a host in real-time. That takes bandwidth and some CPU processing.
So, it comes to this, hosting the front-end!
The “unstoppable nature” of blockchain and IPFS, means the backend of your app will keep running forever. Technically, users don’t even need a “Front-End”, they can interact directly with your smart contracts or make thier own UI. This is the key to Web 3.0, the democratization of web technology.
As you might expect when buying a car or a barbecue grill, you’ve gotta provide your own gas or charcoal and you’ve gotta bring the steak!
Cars won’t “go” without gas and websites won’t load without CPU!
AR/VR Hosting providers:
Your AR/VR frontend, could be just a 3D model file exposed with a URL, or you might need a browser style construct with aFrame.js or WebXR,js technology running client side.
You need to host this somewhere!
Host on Oculus — https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1904256272986594/
Host on Steam — https://store.steampowered.com/app/828240/HOST/
Host in Azure / AWS / GCP? Host on Internet Computer? DeepStreamHub?
Host on Unity.com? Host on Spatial.io? Host on EndiVerse?
EndiVerse CUBES to the rescue? That’s another story… stay tuned.
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