Abstract:

The discussion of the “metaverse” requires to combine its artistic imagination and technological realization, and then to consider its cultural consequences. The current stage of the “metaverse” presents a sharp contrast between artistic imagination and technological realization, for the former is rich while the latter is difficult. The primary stage of the “metaverse” is only the virtual world created by virtual reality technology; the future advanced stage is the combination of “real world” and “virtual world” （including the “mirror world” of the real world and the “simulacra world”, which is created by virtual reality technology and is not based on the real world）.The primary form of the “metaverse” emphasizes the relative independence of cognition from the human body and tries to establish a “unmanned” virtual world with “no body participation”; while the advanced form of the “metaverse” proposes the human physical factor of “physical cognition” that must be fully considered in the seamless connection between the real world and the virtual world. The cognitive mode of the “metaverse” is a complex of “disembodied cognition”, “embodied cognition”, and the combination of these two. The primary stage of the “metaverse” is forming the aesthetic form of “aesthetics of isolation”, but it is opposed to the concept of the “internet of everything” in information technology. With the development of the “metaverse” to the advanced stage, its aesthetic form will also transform to open and compatible emerging “aesthetics of connection”.

Key words: metaverse, development stage, cultural characteristic, world construction, cognitive mode, aesthetic form