Metaverse may require a 1000x boost in computing power

“Metaverse” has to be the most prominent buzzword of 2021. Everyone is talking about it, large corporations are developing devices to access it, and it appears to be the next major communication platform on the magnitude of the internet.

But, according to chipmaker Intel, there is still a long way to go until this becomes as common as visiting a website.

In its first official remark since everyone began chiming in on the metaverse following Facebook’s rebranding, Intel claims that for immersive computing to truly take off, we will need a 1000x boost in computing efficiency from today’s finest tools.

According to Raja Koduri, a senior VP at Intel, in addition to hardware, new software architectures and algorithms will be required to make the metaverse a reality.

Obviously, there is no hard and fast rule for how much computer power the metaverse will need. Some argue that the metaverse already exists in a primitive form.

However, Koduri’s comment raises an essential point: in order for the metaverse to deliver plausible social interactions to a large number of individuals, processing efficiency would most likely need to be much improved.

We just need a lot more power if we want the metaverse to be more than just VR and AR massively multiplayer games, especially if we want to access the metaverse via wearable, practical devices.

An encounter in the metaverse would involve more than just simple avatars, according to Koduri, who describes encounters in the metaverse that would feature convincing and detailed avatars with realistic clothes, hair and skin tones, all rendered in real-time and based on sensor data recording real-world 3D objects; data transport at super-high bandwidths and extremely low latencies; a permanent model of the environment, which may comprise both real and simulated elements.

It’s difficult enough to handle all of that with a high-spec gaming PC and cutting-edge technology, let alone the all-in-one gadgets that would likely power the metaverse of the future. Furthermore, Koduri does not believe that hardware alone will be able to achieve 1000x — at least not anytime soon — and instead believes that AI and software advancements will fill the gap.

Of course, accurate renderings of people and settings are only one piece of the jigsaw; one could argue that developing the standards that the metaverse will require to function is a far more crucial aspect.

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