== draft document from follow-up conversations after indiebio's talk. == == created 8 August == Business pitch Metaverse is a new way to use the web. Despite the hype, it is most likely not a 'new internet', as it still relies on the current physical infrastructure and protocols, but it is optimising how these work. The combination of 5G innovations that address last-mile mobile is a driving force, and it is in the mobile companies interest to push innovation further than that. We are building a open source, immersive, interactive, internet platform, based on a topographic, 3D low-poly geographical rendering of earth that allows geographically independent full participation in (remote work, play and) ecommerce,specifically thinking about the African context. We intend to do this on a Overte instance. Overte is an open source virtual world and social VR software for both VR and non-VR users. Urban metabolism Aside from the ecommerce platform, a large part of the project is concerned with data and visualisations relating to resource flows. The data contributed remains free and available for use by anyone, commercial and otherwise. Combining an ecommerce platform with a scientific component allows greater visual interest and commercial potential for science and data-based ventures, but also provides the ability to share resources and an economic incentive to a public good. Linking data that users have control over to this integrated platform allows guidance in how to manage this data properly (solid poject stuff) Solid How the data comes in How people can do their own data How the geopositioning comes in How the topography comes in How things move with time How commerce works Separate layer as with the current way the internet works. Base layer is free - free as in liberty, and open source. Layers on top of that can be monetised, and support that makes the base data accessible, like server storage, can be rewarded. But the base data is licensed as CopyLeft. Blockchain. We share the belief that the balance between centralization and decentralization of the web needs to be revised. However we believe that this is better achieved through a web of trust, and creating stability through collaboration. Our shot-hand for this is the semantic web. We are not against blockchain, but believe the use case for blockchain is limited. The base layer, the data, the virtual world instance are all not hard-coded on to the blockchain. Where relevant and where people choose to build applications on top of this layer, blockchain can be used. Blockchain can provide incentives and trust for decentralized computations. Interledger