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Can the Metaverse Bring Us Closer to Wildlife? | Gautam Shah | TED

Technologist and TED Fellow Gautam Shah invites us to imagine how the metaverse could redefine the relationships between humans and other species. By giving individual wild animals a personal identity (such as Fio, a young orangutan in Borneo, or Mweituria, an elephant living in Kenya) and sharing data on their migration, milestones and habitats, Shah…

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Technologist and TED Fellow Gautam Shah invites us to imagine how the metaverse could redefine the relationships between humans and other species. By giving individual wild animals a personal identity (such as Fio, a young orangutan in Borneo, or Mweituria, an elephant living in Kenya) and sharing data on their migration, milestones and habitats, Shah thinks we could empathize with wildlife in a whole new way. Learn more about how emerging technology could bring us closer to the natural world — and what the connections we build there could mean for the future of the planet.

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51 Comments

51 Comments

  1. Concerned Citizen

    January 4, 2023 at 2:23 pm

    … no

  2. Chazzmatazz

    January 4, 2023 at 2:23 pm

    So is TED totally sold out to these web 3.0 shills?

  3. Perceived Velocity

    January 4, 2023 at 2:23 pm

    TED is a joke nowadays. It’s just one tech bro sales pitch after another. TED has sold out.

  4. 🆃🅺𝓐 〘Pra𝖕a𝖙anKa𝖑i𝖘ar⃝i〙

    January 4, 2023 at 2:30 pm

    🇿🇦👨‍🎓
    “We cannot blame other people for our troubles. We are not victims of the influx of foreign people into South Africa. We must remember that it was mainly due to the aggressive and hostile policies of the apartheid regime that the economic development of our neighbours was undermined.”

    ~ NELSON MANDELA
    speaking at a Rally, Alexandra Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa,19 August 1995
    😇

  5. Dana Thrower

    January 4, 2023 at 2:31 pm

    I am so grateful that I love you

  6. you tou

    January 4, 2023 at 2:42 pm

    no

  7. Julia Henriques

    January 4, 2023 at 2:45 pm

    No.

  8. garcipat

    January 4, 2023 at 2:54 pm

    what are all those metaverse ad videos on TED?

  9. Lod

    January 4, 2023 at 3:02 pm

    No.

  10. paazbra

    January 4, 2023 at 3:12 pm

    No

  11. FreakingRandomName

    January 4, 2023 at 4:02 pm

    I don’t want to be disrespectful, the man’s intentions are good, but this garbage shouldn’t be broadcasted on TED.

  12. Jesse Matthews

    January 4, 2023 at 4:18 pm

    Sadly we dont ever respect each other in digital space what makes you think this will change our flaws this way sorry dont believe there any chance of this working but wish it did

  13. user 15481

    January 4, 2023 at 4:36 pm

    I think this is a commercial for Facebook..

  14. Brownie McFinnigan

    January 4, 2023 at 5:10 pm

    Yeah, this is just a tone-deaf concept, to me. I’ve only really ever seen rich investor types talking about the Metaverse in any positive light. Probably because they really don’t have any time to entertain themselves and see that the social VR world is already far ahead of where they’re thinking. Umm… Have you seen or heard of VRChat? It’s been free on Steam since 2017, it’s far more fully-featured and has a much, much larger user base. You really got Zuckered by Zuckerberg.

    • Ruben

      January 4, 2023 at 5:28 pm

      you mean zuckerberg paid him lots of cash to speak about a fictional part of his Metaverse?
      He can’t even really be serious himself about establishing such a concept for real; if he was he would never allow it to be connected to such a sinking ship as the Metaverse.

  15. Faruk G

    January 4, 2023 at 5:10 pm

    Indian Pep Guardiola?

  16. totalfreedom45

    January 4, 2023 at 5:19 pm

    The metaverse is a joke. 😂💕☮🌎🌌

  17. ghostsnwitches

    January 4, 2023 at 5:36 pm

    All the recent Metaverse and Web3 content is super obnoxious and disappointing, unsubscribing

  18. Lancelot kamaka

    January 4, 2023 at 6:51 pm

    metaverse is a joke.

  19. BangDroid

    January 4, 2023 at 9:43 pm

    Someone tells you to go touch grass, so you put on your Oculus and tell everyone you’re growing it in the mEtAvErSe

  20. Rahul Rao Basava

    January 4, 2023 at 10:06 pm

    Feels like meta ad campaign

  21. The North Woods

    January 4, 2023 at 10:50 pm

    lololololol

  22. Tiavor Kuroma

    January 4, 2023 at 11:08 pm

    seeing nature in a virtual environment is still artificial. walking through a forest at 3am and meeting a deer, boar and other animals in real life is a completely different experience, no matter how exotic or “realistic” the VR environment will be. the best it can be is like going to a zoo.
    and using the “metaverse” for it is just as stupid as the idea it self. you can use any other platform, no need to bind it to facebook.

  23. Rob

    January 4, 2023 at 11:52 pm

    Payed Commercial?

  24. rappingbagel

    January 5, 2023 at 1:03 am

    Yeah coming from a biologist – this is garbage. Everything he’s saying already *exists*. Conservation efforts already ‘humanize’ animals – most programs have allowed you to ‘adopt an animal’ for years. Programs like Global Forest Watch allow yo to observe deforestation for free. What he’s doing is trying to greenwash the metaverse because of pre-existing environmental concerns and no one should fall for this.

    The average NFT transaction produces 48 kilograms (105 pounds) of CO2, which is equivalent to burning 18 liters (4.75 gallons) of diesel. A single Ethereum transaction consumes an average of 60% more energy than 100,000 credit card transactions, while an average Bitcoin transaction consumes 14 times more energy. This whole talk is basically ‘Don’t think of the environmental costs of our profit-generating venture! 🙂 Look at the pretty animals, consumer! Ooh, pretty animals, don’t you want to buy more fake things for your avatar with climate destroying transactions???’

  25. Gaasuba Meskhenet

    January 5, 2023 at 1:16 am

    Yeah! No more off continent animals in IRL zoos!!

  26. mrmendes

    January 5, 2023 at 3:26 am

    No. There, I saved you 6 minutes of your time.

  27. KinG Rouge

    January 5, 2023 at 5:01 am

    I wrote the script

  28. Sahnie1-908E

    January 5, 2023 at 5:26 am

    For those that can’t see
    There’s 400 something likes and 700 something dislikes at the time of commenting this

  29. Sahnie1-908E

    January 5, 2023 at 5:31 am

    I feel like he’s thinking with a slightly narrow mindset that people no longer care to be within nature, animals etc. And hence we will end up having to use metaverse to get them to engage with nature and care about the bad condition our planet is in

    There’s no better way to engage with nature than to actually physically be there
    A metaverse thing to engage with nature sounds so dystopian and not something we should strive towards

    I think we should find ways to encourage people, especially younger generatios, to stay less on the online world and more on the real one.
    And the idea to use metaverse only for that, to create better relationships with animals and planet, like he says here, is just not going to work.

    • Blazing Storm

      January 6, 2023 at 2:38 pm

      I remember the day when me and my family manage to visit a zoo where we get up close and personal with many animals. Let me tell you that watching animals behind a screen than physically contacting is a very different experience.

      I get a chance to feed adult tigers, I get to pet a baby tiger. I had a chance to have a snake place around my shoulder. It feels like an exillerating moment that you would never experience when watching digitally.

      The moment I saw the title, the first thing I said is, “no…”

  30. MrMakeDo

    January 5, 2023 at 9:46 am

    Stop trying to push the failed concept of Facebook’s “Metaverse”. It was dead on arrival.

  31. Krystyna Mikolaj

    January 5, 2023 at 10:44 am

    I’m so happy I made productive decisions about my finances that changed my life forever. I’m a single mother living in Melbourne Australia, bought my second house in September and hoping to retire next year at 50 if things keep going smoothly for me.,,**

    • Krystyna Mikolaj

      January 5, 2023 at 1:50 pm

      INVESTWITHNATHAN💯

    • Jim Homer

      January 5, 2023 at 1:53 pm

      I just withdraw my profit last two days before now. I’m glad I did invest with her still reinvested and the trade is ongoing all thanks to Mrs catherine nathan, God bless you more in whatever you ray your hands….

    • Dzsesszika Maris

      January 5, 2023 at 1:57 pm

      Amazing seeing others who trade with Mrs catherine , I started my investment wit $264,400, a week later, we had grown to $893,080. This lady!! absolute genius*

    • benjamin martinez

      January 5, 2023 at 2:00 pm

      With the consistent weekly profit i ‘m getting investing with CATHERINE. there is no doubt she is the must reliable in the market. such a genius,

    • Shallot Anton

      January 5, 2023 at 2:01 pm

      @Dzsesszika Maris I am surprised that this name is being mentioned here, I stumbled upon one of her clients testimonies on CNBC news last week..

    • Thomas Nimmesgern

      January 9, 2023 at 7:02 am

      These comments are unbelievable. Literally unbelievable.

  32. Mikol Farley

    January 5, 2023 at 12:57 pm

    Ummm Fk NO!! GO TF OUTSIDE & WALK IN THE WOODS

  33. Julius Teske

    January 5, 2023 at 1:16 pm

    It is incomprehensible to me to give this meta advertising space on your renowned platform and to have such a problem presented so wrongly.
    I’m disappointed.

  34. Meh Pluribus Unum

    January 5, 2023 at 3:21 pm

    No. But, it will bring wildlife closer to those who study and work with, and for wildlife.

    This guy is great, but this is primarily a VC elevator pitch.

  35. PhreshJeff

    January 5, 2023 at 5:49 pm

    No

  36. Gerald Merkowitz

    January 5, 2023 at 6:20 pm

    Not more than the avatar movies

  37. John Doe

    January 5, 2023 at 6:59 pm

    How much money are they throwing at ‘Metaverse’ publicity? it’s obviously an expensive flop…

  38. LiveTheLoveYouWant

    January 6, 2023 at 12:38 am

    Gotta be honest , I’m afraid of all this metaverse talk. I’m afraid they’re going to trap me inside all the time.

  39. Amgry

    January 6, 2023 at 3:20 pm

    The answer is no.

  40. Bran Holo

    January 6, 2023 at 10:24 pm

    I wonder how much this guy is getting paid by the Zucc

  41. Invox

    January 7, 2023 at 9:49 am

    What’s this BS!?

  42. Thomas Nimmesgern

    January 9, 2023 at 7:06 am

    TED has sold out. They’ve become a joke.

  43. Vanta Black

    January 9, 2023 at 4:23 pm

    That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard about

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