The metaverse created by Musk might be used to build himself and become a real Iron Man?

Nearly 30 years ago, American science fiction writer Neal Stephenson first proposed the concept of the metaverse in his work Snow Crash. Since then, the term metaverse has been pursued by the capital market, and almost every year there are voices saying that "the metaverse is the next hot spot."

But after so many years, capital has stirred up a turbulent wave of the metaverse, and only VR glasses have ended up in a mess. At the end of this year, Facebook founder Zuckerberg announced that the company would be renamed Meta (metaverse), which once again attracted people's attention to the metaverse.

Musk is still the one who will develop the metaverse

People have long been numb to the concept of the Metaverse. In the public's perception, they just want to use the Metaverse to sell VR glasses. The Metaverse that people want is to achieve virtual reality without the help of bulky tools like VR glasses.

To achieve this kind of technology, only the "brain-computer" that Musk boasted about a few years ago can be realized.

Everyone knows that Musk owns Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX, but only a few people know that he also owns a scientific research company called Neuralink that is dedicated to the research of brain-computer interfaces. The company hopes to develop a brain-computer interface device called "Link" that can be implanted in the human brain, allowing humans to control electronic devices through thoughts and even enter the constructed virtual world.

Around August last year, Neuralink demonstrated the preliminary research results of the Link brain-computer device. After the device was implanted in the experimental subject "pig", it was able to work normally. In April this year, a more complete Link chip was implanted in a primate "macaque" similar to humans.

Under the training of Neuralink medical engineers, macaques are able to control computers with their thoughts through the Link chip and complete simple computer games such as table tennis.

Brain-computer interface will change the way people live

It is no exaggeration to say that technologically mature brain-computer interfaces will change the current way of human life.

Recently, Musk was asked about Neuralink's research progress when he attended a summit event of the Wall Street Journal. Musk said that Neuralink is ready to implant Link in the human body and hopes to start human trials in 2022.

"Neuralink's animal experiments are progressing very smoothly, are safe and reliable, and most importantly, can be safely removed."

"Hopefully, next year we'll be able to use this technology on paralyzed humans with severe spinal cord injuries, and we're waiting for FDA approval."

Musk expressed great confidence in Neuralink's brain-computer interface research. He believes that current brain-computer interfaces already have the technology to work with electronic devices to restore full body functions of paralyzed humans.

If Neuralink can really be proven safe and effective in human experiments, brain-computer interfaces will quickly enter the commercial stage. It will not only be a boon to paralyzed patients, but will also enter thousands of households and become an assistant for people to control smart devices. It will even shine in the virtual world, completely realizing the classic scenes in the movie "Ready Player One". There will be many humans making a living in the virtual world, entering the real metaverse stage.

Musk's goal is not just the metaverse

Musk developed the brain-computer interface in order to achieve human-computer interaction and human-computer integration. Human-computer interaction is easy to understand, which means to easily control the machine through thinking, and it is relatively easy to achieve. Human-computer integration is even more powerful. This technical level requires that people can use machines to continue their lives, and humans and machines will be indistinguishable from each other.

What does this mean? Musk believes that the human brain can be placed in a mechanical body with mature enough technology by using brain-computer interface technology. The brain-computer interface can complete the control of the mechanical body by the brain. Under the condition of ensuring that the human brain is safe enough, the mechanical body that will not get sick or have cancer will help greatly improve human life.

The reason for this goal is related to Musk's sense of crisis. When he surpassed his old rival Bezos again to become the world's richest man this year, Musk once said that he hoped that the wealth he had would give him more time.

There is no doubt that Musk is an idealistic "adventurer". He hopes to develop humans into more planetary species and build a city on Mars, but this ideal will take at least 50 years for humans today, and at most 200 to 300 years.

Now 50 years old, Musk can't wait for the day when technology is realized. The only thing he can do is to constantly supervise the progress of SpaceX's rocket development and ensure his physical health.

Over the years, Musk has spent a lot of money on his body. He has tried common hair transplants, nutrition customization, intermittent fasting guidance, etc. After breaking up with him, his ex-girlfriend Grimes broke the news to the media that they tried some new achievements in life sciences during their relationship. Life sciences are aimed at studying technologies such as molecular genetics to serve the purpose of prolonging human life.

As an alternative and advanced scientific entrepreneur, Musk has been in a highly stressful working state, with unimaginable pressure. In an interview with The New York Times, Musk rarely showed his true and vulnerable side to the media, tearfully recalling the tremendous pressure he faced in the past and the impact of work on his personal physical condition.

He mentioned that his ideal sleep time is 6-6.5 hours. He usually goes to bed at 1 am and wakes up at 7 am. He said: "When I don't get enough sleep, I find that I become very irritable - I can also sleep less, but then my mental acuity will be affected."

Therefore, we are sure that Musk will use modern technology to try to prolong his life. If existing technology cannot prevent the aging of his body, perhaps brain-computer interface technology will ensure that he can witness the day of "Mars immigration" in another form in the future.

The movie "Iron Man" was created based on him. In the future, he may become a real "Iron Man".

"I'm definitely not saying we can definitely do it, but I believe it's possible." Even a powerful figure like Musk cannot predict the development of brain-computer technology, but he is still confident. However, the development of brain-computer interface technology has far exceeded human imagination. Human-computer integration is too far away, but human-computer interaction and the virtual world are still worth looking forward to.