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Chinese Intelligent Warfare is Accelerating and Advancing

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中國智能化戰爭正在加速推進

中國軍網 國防部網. 2022年3月17日 星期四

現代英語：

With the widespread application of artificial intelligence in the military field, intelligent warfare has gradually become a hot topic. History has repeatedly proved that the evolution of war forms will lead to profound changes in the winning mechanism. In today’s era when information warfare is developing in depth and intelligent warfare is beginning to emerge, the armies of major countries in the world have made great efforts to promote military intelligence, and many of these trends are worthy of attention.

Strengthen top-level design

Outlining a “roadmap” for intelligent warfare

Driven by a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial revolution, intelligent military transformation is developing in depth. The United States, Russia, Japan and other countries have regarded artificial intelligence as a disruptive technology that “changes the rules of the war game” and have made early arrangements, strengthened top-level design and planning guidance, and explored the direction of military application of artificial intelligence.

The U.S. military has detailed the current status and development plan of artificial intelligence in documents such as “Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence”, “National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan”, “Artificial Intelligence and National Security”, “Integrated Roadmap for Unmanned Systems, Fiscal Year 2017-2042”, and “American Artificial Intelligence Initiative: First Annual Report”, and has elevated the development of artificial intelligence to the national strategic level. In 2021, the U.S. military pointed out in its “U.S. Department of Defense Artificial Intelligence Posture: Assessment and Improvement Recommendations” that the U.S. military should consider three guiding questions in developing artificial intelligence: what is the current state of artificial intelligence related to the U.S. military; what is the current situation of the U.S. military in artificial intelligence; and what internal actions and potential legislative or regulatory actions may enhance the U.S. military’s artificial intelligence advantage.

Russia has invested a lot of resources to maintain a balance with the United States in the competition for the application of artificial intelligence in the military field. In 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at the first Defense Ministry meeting of the year that artificial intelligence will greatly promote changes in the military field, and the Russian Federation Armed Forces must accelerate the research and development of artificial intelligence application technologies such as robots, intelligent individual systems, and intelligent weapon modules, so as to form core technical capabilities and battlefield competitive advantages as soon as possible. Documents such as “Special Outline for the Research and Development of Future Military Robot Technology and Equipment before 2025”, “Future Russian Military Robot Application Concept”, and “The Development Status and Application Prospects of Artificial Intelligence in the Military Field” have established a series of mechanisms at the national level for the Russian military to promote the military application of artificial intelligence.

The Japanese government has also issued an “Artificial Intelligence Strategy” to lead the research and development of artificial intelligence technology and industrial development. In the “Robotics and Artificial Intelligence” strategic plan formulated by the United Kingdom, the application of artificial intelligence in battlefield construction is emphasized. In January 2021, the Australian Department of Defense released “Fighting the Artificial Intelligence War: Operational Concepts for Future Intelligent Warfare”, which explores how to apply artificial intelligence to land, sea and air combat.

Innovative combat concepts

Promoting the “Thinking First” Approach to Intelligent Warfare

The innovation of operational concepts has an ideological driving effect on the development of military science and technology and the evolution of war forms. In the past, people’s understanding and grasp of war mainly came from the summary of practical experience, and operational concepts were empirical concepts. In the future era of intelligent warfare, operational concepts are not only empirical concepts, but also the conception, design and foresight of operations.

The U.S. Army has proposed the concept of “multi-domain warfare”, which requires deep integration and close coordination of combat capabilities in various domains such as land, sea, air, space, electromagnetic, and network. To this end, the U.S. Army has successively issued white papers such as “Multi-Domain Warfare: The Development of Synthetic Arms in the 21st Century (2025-2040)”, “U.S. Army Multi-Domain Warfare (2028)”, and “Using Robotics and Autonomous Technologies to Support Multi-Domain Warfare”. In March 2021, the U.S. Department of the Army issued the document “Army Multi-Domain Transformation: Preparing to Win in Competition and Conflict”, indicating that “multi-domain warfare” has become a “flag” leading the transformation and development of the U.S. Army. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency proposed the concept of “mosaic warfare”, which aims to create a highly decentralized and highly adaptable “kill net” composed of different combat functional units, based on advanced computer technology and network technology. The U.S. Department of Defense strongly supports the concept of “joint all-domain operations”. In March 2020, the U.S. Air Force took the lead in writing “joint all-domain operations” into the doctrine to explore how the Air Force can play a role in “joint all-domain operations”.

The Russian military proposed the concept of “charge disintegration”. “Disintegration” is one of the most important operational concepts in Russia at present. The Russian electronic warfare forces set the goal of making the enemy’s information, charge, electronic warfare and robot systems ineffective, and believe that this goal will “determine the fate of all military operations”. Disrupting the command and control of enemy forces and weapon systems and reducing the efficiency of enemy reconnaissance and use of weapons are the primary tasks of electronic warfare. At present, the Russian military is considering forming 12 types of electronic warfare forces. The Russian military also proposed the concept of “non-nuclear containment system”, the core of which is to use non-nuclear offensive strategic weapons to contain opponents. The non-nuclear offensive strategic weapons it defines include all ballistic missiles equipped with non-nuclear warheads, as well as strategic bombers and long-range air-based and sea-based cruise missiles. In addition, the Russian military also proposed the concept of “hybrid warfare”, hoping to use artificial intelligence systems to seek battlefield information advantages.

The British Ministry of Defense has proposed the concept of “multi-domain integration” and will develop a new command and control system with intelligent capabilities to achieve comprehensive, persistent, accurate and rapid battlefield perception and force coordination.

Focus on technology research and development

Shaping the Intelligent Warfare Operational Model

The key to the effectiveness of artificial intelligence is the combination with other technologies, which is also described as the “AI stack”. Various technologies interact to produce a combined effect, thereby enhancing the capabilities and effects of each technology. In the intelligent warfare supported by artificial intelligence technology, the collaborative combat mode of “man-machine integration, cloud brain control”, the cluster combat mode of “mixed formation, group intelligence”, and the cognitive combat mode of “intelligence-led, attacking with intelligence first” will constantly update people’s understanding of war.

Focus on the research and development of innovative projects. The US military is vigorously promoting the application of artificial intelligence chips in existing weapons and equipment systems, adding “intelligent brains” to weapons to enable them to have human-like thinking and autonomous interaction capabilities. In October 2021, the US Navy launched the “Beyond Plan”, which is regarded as the “current highest priority”. It aims to accelerate the delivery of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools by building a military Internet of Things for maritime operations, integrating manned and unmanned joint formations, supporting a new intelligent naval architecture, enhancing large-scale firepower killing, and realizing intelligent distributed operations of the navy. In addition, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has also carried out cognitive electronic warfare projects such as “Adaptive Electronic Warfare Behavior Learning”, “Adaptive Radar Countermeasures”, and “Communications under Extreme Radio Frequency Spectrum Conditions”, and developed a prototype of a cognitive radar electronic warfare system. The Russian Ministry of Defense’s Intelligent Technology and Equipment Research and Experimental Center cooperated with the Institute of Control Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences to develop and test autonomous intelligent algorithms including drone swarm command and control, and also jointly developed an object automatic recognition software system based on neural network principles with the National Aviation System Research Institute.

Establish innovative R&D institutions. The continuous emergence of new technologies is an inexhaustible driving force for the vigorous development of military intelligence. High-level military intelligence construction cannot be separated from the technical research and development of professional institutions. Some countries and militaries have established R&D centers, focusing on innovative development from a technical level. The U.S. Department of Defense has established a joint artificial intelligence center, which is planned to be built into a national key laboratory to lead the promotion of hundreds of artificial intelligence-related projects and ensure the efficient use of artificial intelligence-related data and information to maintain the United States’ technological advantage in this field. Russia has established an artificial intelligence and big data alliance, a national artificial intelligence center, and a robotics technology research and experimental center under the Ministry of Defense, mainly conducting theoretical and applied research in the fields of artificial intelligence and information technology. France has established an innovative defense laboratory, the United Kingdom has set up an artificial intelligence laboratory, and India has established an artificial intelligence task force to explore related technologies.

Strengthen equipment research and development and deployment. In recent years, many countries have attached great importance to the research and development of intelligent weapons and equipment, and unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned combat vehicles, unmanned ships, unmanned submarines, etc. have continued to emerge. At present, the US Air Force has begun to practice the combat concept of “man-machine collaboration, man in the loop” on the F-35 fighter. The US XQ-58A “Valkyrie” stealth drone previously mainly carried out man-machine collaborative operations with F-35 and F-22 fighters. In April 2021, the stealth drone successfully launched the ALTIUS-600 small drone system, further enhancing its manned and unmanned collaborative combat capabilities. Russia is focusing on reconnaissance and surveillance, command and decision-making, firepower strikes, combat support and other fields, and is developing and deploying intelligent equipment. It plans to increase the proportion of unmanned combat systems in weapons and equipment to more than 30% by 2025. Russia’s ground unmanned combat weapons, represented by the “Uranus” series and “Platform-M” and “Argo” models, are developing rapidly. Among them, the Nerekhta unmanned combat vehicle can be equipped with remote-controlled machine guns and rocket launchers. In addition to the combat capabilities of ordinary armored vehicles, it also has transportation and reconnaissance functions. In addition, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces plan to officially deploy an unmanned aerial formation with strong combat capabilities in 2035.

(Author’s unit: National University of Defense Technology)

國語中文：

■賈珍珍 丁 寧 陳方舟

隨著人工智慧在軍事領域的廣泛應用，智慧化戰爭逐漸成為備受矚目的焦點話題。歷史多次證明，戰爭形態的演進將引發致勝機理的深刻改變。在資訊化戰爭向縱深發展、智慧化戰爭初露端倪的當今時代，世界主要國家軍隊紛紛下大力推動軍事智慧化，其中的諸多動向值得關注。

加強頂層設計

勾勒智能化戰爭“路線圖”

在新一輪科技革命與產業革命推動下，智慧化軍事變革正向縱深發展。美國、俄羅斯、日本等國紛紛把人工智慧視為「改變戰爭遊戲規則」的顛覆性技術，並事先佈局，加強頂層設計和規劃引領，探索人工智慧的軍事應用方向。

美軍在《為人工智慧的未來做好準備》《國家人工智慧研究與發展戰略計畫》《人工智慧與國家安全》《2017至2042財年無人係統綜合路線圖》《美國人工智慧計畫》：在首個年度報告》等文件中，詳述了人工智慧的發展現狀和發展規劃，並將人工智慧發展提升至國家戰略層面。 2021年，美軍在發布的《美國防部人工智慧態勢：評估與改進建議》中指出，美軍發展人工智慧應考慮三個指導性問題：與美軍相關的人工智慧現處於何種狀態；美軍目前在人工智慧方面的態勢如何；哪些內部行動以及潛在的立法或監管行動可能會增強美軍的人工智慧優勢。

俄羅斯投入大量資源，以維持與美國在人工智慧軍事領域應用競爭的平衡。 2021年，俄總統普丁在年度首場國防部會議上表示，人工智慧將大幅推動軍事領域變革，俄國聯邦武裝力量要加速機器人、智慧單兵系統和武器智慧化模組等人工智慧應用技術的研發工作，早日形成核心技術能力和戰場競爭優勢。 《2025年前未來軍用機器人技術裝備研發專題綱要》《未來俄軍用機器人應用構想》《人工智慧在軍事領域的發展現狀以及應用前景》等文件，從國家層面為俄軍推動人工智慧軍事應用確立了一系列機制。

日本政府也推出了《人工智慧戰略》，旨在引領人工智慧技術研發和產業發展。在英國制定的《機器人與人工智慧》戰略規劃中，強調了人工智慧在戰場建設中的應用。 2021年1月，澳洲國防部發布《打好人工智慧戰爭：未來智慧化戰爭之作戰構想》，這份文件探討如何將人工智慧應用到陸、海、空作戰領域。

創新作戰概念

推動智慧化戰爭“思想先行”

作戰概念創新對軍事科技發展、戰爭形態演變具有思想牽引作用。過去人們對戰爭的認識與掌握，主要源自於對實踐經驗的歸納總結，作戰概念即經驗概念。未來智慧化戰爭時代，作戰概念不僅是經驗概念，更是對作戰的構想、設計與前瞻。

美陸軍提出「多域戰」概念，要求陸、海、空、天、電磁、網路等各域作戰能力深度整合與密切協同。為此，美陸軍先後發布《多域戰：21世紀合成兵種的發展（2025至2040）》《美國陸軍多域戰（2028）》《運用機器人與自主技術支援多域戰》等白皮書。 2021年3月，美陸軍部發布文件《陸軍多域轉型：準備在競爭和衝突中取勝》，顯示「多域戰」已成為引領美陸軍轉型發展的一面「旗幟」。美國防高級研究計畫局提出「馬賽克戰」概念，旨在打造一種由不同作戰功能單元構成的、以先進電腦技術與網路技術為基礎的、高度分散、具有高度適應性的「殺傷網」。美國防部大力支持「聯合全域作戰」概念。 2020年3月，美空軍率先將「聯合全域作戰」寫入條令，探討空軍如何在「聯合全域作戰」中發揮作用。

俄軍提出「指控瓦解」概念。 「瓦解」是當前俄羅斯最重要的作戰概念之一，俄軍電子戰部隊把使敵人的訊息、指控、電子戰和機器人系統失效作為目標，認為這一目標將「決定所有軍事行動的命運」。擾亂敵方部隊和武器系統的指揮和控制，降低敵方偵察和使用武器的效率，是進行電子戰的首要任務。目前，俄軍正在考慮組建12種類型的電子戰部隊。俄軍也提出「非核武遏制體系」概念，核心是使用非核武進攻性戰略武器來遏制對手。其所定義的非核武攻擊性戰略武器既包括所有裝備非核彈頭的彈道飛彈，也包括戰略轟炸機和遠程空基、海基巡航飛彈。此外，俄軍也提出「混合戰爭」概念，希望利用人工智慧系統謀求戰場資訊優勢。

英國防部提出「多域融合」概念，將發展具備智慧化能力的新型指控系統，以實現全面、持久、準確、快速的戰場感知與力量協同。

注重技術研發

塑造智慧化戰爭作戰模式

人工智慧發揮效用的關鍵是與其他多種技術的組合，這種組合也被描述為「人工智慧堆疊」。各種技術透過互動的方式產生組合效應，進而提升每項技術所產生的能力與效果。在人工智慧技術支援的智慧化戰爭中，「人機一體、雲腦控制」的協同作戰模式，「混搭編組、群體智慧」的集群作戰模式，「智慧主導、攻智為上」的認知作戰模式等，將不斷更新人們對戰爭的認知。

聚焦創新專案研發。美軍正在大力推廣人工智慧晶片在現有武器裝備系統中的應用，為武器加上“智慧大腦”，使之具備類人思考和自主互動能力。 2021年10月，美海軍推出被視為“當前最高優先事項”的“超越計劃”，旨在通過構建海上作戰軍事物聯網，整合有人無人聯合編隊，加速交付人工智能和機器學習工具，支撐全新的智慧化海軍架構，提升大規模火力殺傷、實現海軍智慧化分散式作戰。此外，美國防高級研究計畫局也進行了「自適應電子戰行為學習」「自適應雷達對抗」「極端射頻頻譜條件下的通訊」等認知電子戰項目，研發出認知雷達電子戰系統原型機。俄國防部智慧技術裝備科研試驗中心與俄聯邦科學院控制問題研究所合作，開發測試了包括無人機群指揮控制在內的自主智慧演算法，也與國家航空系統科研所共同開發基於神經網路原理的物體自動辨識軟體系統。

組成創新研發機構。新技術的不斷湧現是軍事智慧化蓬勃發展的不竭動力，高水準的軍事智慧化建設離不開專職機構的技術研發。一些國家和軍隊組成研發中心，注重從技術層面創新發展。美國國防部建立了聯合人工智慧中心，計劃將該中心打造成國家級重點實驗室，用於領導數百個與人工智慧相關的項目，確保對人工智慧相關數據資訊的高效利用，以保持美國在該領域的技術優勢。俄羅斯組成了人工智慧和大數據聯盟、國家人工智慧中心和隸屬國防部的機器人技術科研試驗中心，主要進行人工智慧和資訊科技領域的理論和應用研究。法國成立了創新國防實驗室，英國設立了人工智慧實驗室，印度組成了人工智慧特別工作小組，進行相關技術探索。

加強裝備研發列裝。近年來，多國重視研發智慧武器裝備，無人飛行器、無人戰車、無人艦艇、無人潛航器等不斷湧現。目前，美空軍已開始在F-35戰機上實踐「人機協同，人在迴路」的作戰理念。美XQ-58A「女武神」隱身無人機先前主要與F-35和F-22戰機進行人機協同作戰，2021年4月該隱身無人機成功投放ALTIUS-600小型無人機系統，進一步提升了其有人無人協同作戰能力。俄羅斯正聚焦偵察監視、指揮決策、火力打擊、作戰支援等多個領域，展開智慧裝備研發和列裝工作，計畫到2025年將無人作戰系統在武器裝備中的比例提高到30%以上。以“天王星”系列和“平台-M”“阿爾戈”等型號為代表的俄地面無人作戰武器發展迅速。其中，Nerekhta無人戰車可搭載遙控機槍和火箭發射器，除擁有一般裝甲車的戰鬥力外，還兼具運輸和偵察功能。此外，日本自衛隊計劃在2035年正式部署具有較強作戰能力的無人空中編隊。

（作者單位：國防科技大學）

中國軍事資料來源：https://www.81.cn/jfjbmap/content/2022-03/17/content_311555.htm

China's Informatization - 中國信息化, Chinese Military Characteristics & Development Trends of Cognitive Domain Operations and Warfare, Chinese Military Informatization, Chinese Military Use of Cognitive Confrontation within the Combat Domain, Chinese Military Views - 中國軍事觀, Cognitive Confrontation, Cognitive Domain Warfare, Metaverse, Mosaic Warfare, 元宇宙, 認知戰

China’s Military Unveils the Metaverse

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中國軍隊推出虛擬宇宙

現代英語翻譯:

As if overnight, “metaverse” suddenly became a hot word, and related concepts formed many hot topics.

With the development of technologies such as extended reality, digital twins, 3D rendering, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, high-speed networks, blockchain, and the iteration of terminal equipment, the construction and evolution of the “metaverse” may far exceed people’s expectations, and a new Internet form of multi-dimensional, full-sensory, immersive human-computer interaction will hopefully become a reality.

What is the Metaverse?

“Metaverse” is a term that comes from the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash. In the novel, humans live in a virtual three-dimensional world through “Avatar” (digital virtual avatar), and the author calls this space “Metaverse”.

From science fiction to reality, people have not yet reached an absolute consensus on “what is the metaverse”. Due to the evolution of the times and technological changes, the “metaverse” is still an evolving concept. “There are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people”. Different participants are constantly enriching its definition in their own way, and the possibilities of the characteristics and forms of the “metaverse” are also constantly changing. However, we can explore a little through the existing presentation of the “metaverse”.

At present, “Metaverse” concept products are mainly concentrated in online games, VR/AR, social networking and other fields.

Online games are generally considered by the industry to be the most likely field to realize the “metaverse” because they have virtual scenes and players’ virtual avatars. Today, game functions have gone beyond the game itself, and the boundaries of games are expanding, and they are no longer just games.

A well-known singer held a virtual concert with his virtual image in the game “Fortnite”, which attracted more than 12 million players from all over the world to participate, breaking the boundary between entertainment and games; due to the impact of the epidemic, the University of California, Berkeley and the School of Animation and Digital Studies of Communication University of China coincidentally rebuilt their campuses in the sandbox game “Minecraft”. Students gathered together with virtual avatars to complete the “cloud graduation ceremony”, realizing the integration of virtual games and real social interactions.

The new generation of “VR social (virtual offline social)” has gradually developed and become popular. It is a fusion of offline social (face-to-face in reality) and online social (through social software such as WeChat). Some well-known VR social platforms provide a free community environment, which not only becomes a place for players’ online activities and virtual face-to-face gatherings, but also becomes a social and cultural phenomenon closely related to the current concept of “metaverse”.

The above-mentioned “metaverse slices” are all important explorations into the construction of the “metaverse”, and they explain in a variety of visible and tangible ways how the “metaverse” will change our real life.

In common research, the following consensus has been formed: “Metaverse” is a new type of Internet application and social form that integrates multiple new technologies and integrates virtual and real. It provides immersive experience based on extended reality technology, generates virtual and real scenes based on digital twins and 3D rendering technology, builds basic software and hardware services based on cloud computing, artificial intelligence and high-speed networks, and builds an economic system based on blockchain technology, closely integrating the virtual world with the real world in economic system, social system and identity system. At the same time, it allows each user to produce and edit content, and has complete self-driving and iteration capabilities.

The development direction of the “metaverse”

Today’s mobile Internet is actually still in a flat information interaction state, presented on mobile terminals through text, sound, pictures, and videos. Although news information, e-commerce, social chat, live video, etc. meet people’s needs for using the Internet, it is obviously impossible to achieve the effect of face-to-face communication and full sensory experience in real life through the mobile phone screen. With the development of society, people need more original and rich experience and interaction.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to move their daily lives from offline to online. This forced transformation has led to more thinking, discussion and attention on the “metaverse”. In particular, the core feature of the “metaverse” is the immersive experience, which can turn a plane into a three-dimensional, multi-dimensional, real-time interactive space, greatly enriching and restoring the real physical world and various human relationships. Therefore, people have high hopes for the “metaverse”.

Looking back at the development of information technology and media, humans have continuously changed the way they perceive the world, and later began to consciously transform and reshape the world. From the newspaper era, the radio and television era, to the Internet era, and the mobile Internet era, the tools and platforms under the concept of “metaverse” are becoming increasingly complete, and the path to the “metaverse” is gradually becoming clearer.

Since 2020, Internet giants in various countries have been closely deploying cutting-edge technologies such as extended reality, digital twins, 3D rendering, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, high-speed networks and blockchain, and the door to the ultimate closed-loop ecosystem of the “metaverse” has been opened little by little. Today, when the “bonus” of mobile Internet users has peaked, many experts and scholars have stated that the “metaverse” will be the ultimate form of the next generation of the Internet.

Just as it was difficult to accurately predict the development of the Internet 20 years ago, people cannot accurately predict the future form of the “metaverse”. However, combined with the development trends of related industries today, we can see that: the Internet has changed human life and digitized communication between people, and the “metaverse” will digitize the relationship between people and society; the technologies related to the “metaverse” will show gradual development, single-point technological innovations will continue to appear and merge, and all aspects of the industry will move closer to the ultimate form of the “metaverse”; the “metaverse” will emerge with a large amount of user-generated content, and at the same time, the value of digital assets will be revealed.

In general, the “metaverse” will profoundly change the organization and operation of the existing society through the integration of the virtual and the real, form a new lifestyle with both virtual and real poles, give birth to a new social relationship that integrates online and offline, and give new vitality to the real economy from the virtual dimension.

The future physical “metaverse” will be similar to the scene described in the science fiction movie “Ready Player One”: one day in the future, people can switch identities anytime and anywhere, freely shuttle between the real world and the virtual world, and study, work, make friends, shop, travel, etc. in the “metaverse”. Through immersive experience, the virtual world will be closer to and integrated into the real world.

In this virtual world, there will be self-evolving content and economic systems that will always remain safe and stable to meet the social needs of individuals.

The mediating role of the “metaverse”

“Imagine the ‘metaverse’ as a physical Internet, where you are not just watching content, but you are fully immersed in it.” This is a vivid description. However, as far as the current situation is concerned, the content of these “metaverses” that allow “full immersion” is relatively scarce. It needs more content that can be independently written, self-iterated, and multi-dimensionally attract users to participate in the experience and even participate in the creation.

The “metaverse” is bound to become a brand-new platform for media content production. Content producers can transform the “small universe” into the “big universe” through rich content production. In the short term, the breakthrough of the “metaverse” is immersive content. With the development and penetration of the concept of “metaverse”, the integration of immersive virtual content (such as games, cartoons, etc.) and immersive physical content (such as media, social networking, film and television, etc.) will become higher and higher. In other words, the “metaverse” will play a greater role as a medium.

In September this year, Yu Guoming, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Beijing Normal University, pointed out at the release conference of the “2020-2021 “Metaverse” Development Research Report”: “Today, the role of the media is generally to provide cognitive information, but the role of the media is completing a process from providing cognition to providing experience. The entire media and technology has undergone a huge transformation from cognitive development to experience. Once the goal of “Metaverse” is established, it will play a directional role in communication technology, communication forms, communication methods and even communication effects.” If the “Metaverse” is the ultimate form of the next generation of the Internet, then it is a super media channel that will show the ultimate form of media convergence and provide the best immersive experience.

Theoretically, the best communication experience must be based on real scenes. For example, when watching a football game, the ideal situation is to watch it in person on the field. In the “metaverse”, with the development of display interaction, high-speed communication and computing technology, it will become a reality to construct a communication scene that is infinitely close to reality. Users can become “witnesses” and “on-site observers” of news events in a three-dimensional, multi-sensory reception situation.

Therefore, the “metaverse” media can achieve true “multimedia”, and various human senses such as vision, smell, hearing, taste, touch, etc. can play a role, and even fully unfold and cooperate with each other to achieve “immersive” media applications.

Today’s media content is constantly evolving and innovating, and its development trend seems to be moving closer to the concept of “metaverse”. Media content will no longer be limited to flat presentation methods such as TV, computer, and mobile phone screens. Media content production will consider holographic presentation more, pay attention to creating an on-site environment atmosphere, and make users feel immersive. Social interaction will no longer be limited to text messages and comments. Feelings can be expressed instantly with voice and body movements, and face-to-face communication can be virtualized on the spot.

Imagine if news reports could restore the war scene and create a “battlefield metaverse”, making people feel as if they were there and feel in real time the tremendous trauma that war has caused to human civilization. This shock would further stimulate human society’s desire and yearning for peace, and media content would have a stronger influence and dissemination power.

現代國語:

彷彿在一夜之間，「元宇宙」突然成為熱詞，相關概念形成許多熱門話題。

隨著擴展現實、數位孿生、3D渲染、雲端運算、人工智慧、高速網路、區塊鏈等技術的發展及終端設備的迭代，「元宇宙」建設和演變可能遠超人們的預期，多維度、全感官、沉浸式的人機互動新網路形態，將有望成為現實。

何為“元宇宙”

“元宇宙”，英文為“Metaverse”。此字出自1992年的科幻小說《雪崩》。小說中，人類透過“Avatar”（數位虛擬化身），在一個虛擬三維世界中生活，作者稱這個空間為“Metaverse”，即“元宇宙”。

從科幻走進現實，人們對「元宇宙是什麼」還未能達成一個絕對標準的共識。因為時代的演變、技術的變革，“元宇宙”仍是一個不斷發展的概念，“一千個人眼中就有一千個哈姆雷特”，不同參與者以自己的方式不斷豐富著它的定義，“元宇宙」特徵和形態的可能性也在不斷變化。不過，我們可透過「元宇宙」現有的呈現形態來探討一二。

目前，「元宇宙」概念產品主要集中在網路遊戲、VR/AR、社交等領域。

網路遊戲被業界普遍認為是最有可能實現「元宇宙」的領域，因為它本身就具有虛擬場景和玩家的虛擬化身。如今，遊戲功能已超越遊戲本身，遊戲邊界正在擴展，甚至不只是遊戲了。

知名歌手在遊戲《要塞英雄》中，以虛擬形象舉辦一場虛擬演唱會，吸引了全球超過1200萬玩家參與其中，打破了娛樂與遊戲的邊界；因為疫情影響，美國加州大學柏克萊分校、中國傳媒大學動畫與數位學院不約而同地在沙盤遊戲《我的世界》裡重建校園，學生們以虛擬化身齊聚一堂，完成“雲畢業典禮”，實現了虛擬遊戲和現實社交的融合。

新一代「VR社交（虛擬線下社交）」已在逐漸發展和流行。它是線下社交（現實面對面）、線上社交（透過微信等社群軟體）的融合產物。一些知名VR社交平台，提供自由的社區環境，不僅成為玩家線上活動與虛擬面對面聚會的場所，也成了一種與目前「元宇宙」概念密切相關的社會文化現象。

以上這些“元宇宙切片”，都是對建構“元宇宙”的重要探索，用多種看得見、摸得著的方式，詮釋了“元宇宙”將會如何改變我們的現實生活。

在通常研究中，一般形成了這樣的共識：「元宇宙」是整合多種新技術而產生的新型虛實融合的網路應用和社會形態。它基於擴展現實技術提供沉浸式體驗，基於數位孿生和3D渲染技術生成虛實場景，基於雲端運算、人工智慧和高速網路建立基礎軟體硬體服務，基於區塊鏈技術建立經濟體系，將虛擬世界與現實世界在經濟系統、社交系統、身分系統上密切融合。同時，允許每個使用者進行內容生產和編輯，具備完整的自我驅動和迭代能力。

「元宇宙」發展走向

現今的行動互聯網，其實仍是平面資訊互動狀態，透過文字、聲音、圖片、視訊方式在行動終端進行呈現。新聞資訊、電子商務、社群聊天、視訊直播等型態，雖然滿足了人們使用網路的需求，但隔著手機螢幕，顯然無法達到現實生活中面對面交流、全感官體驗所能達到的效果。隨著社會發展，人們需要更原生、更豐富的體驗與互動。

新冠疫情讓人們生活場景從線下更多地移到線上。這種被迫的轉變，讓大家對「元宇宙」有了更多思考、討論和關注。特別是「元宇宙」最核心的特徵，在於沉浸式體驗，它可將一個平面變成一個立體、多維、即時的互動空間，極大地豐富、還原真實物理世界和人類各種關係。因此，「元宇宙」被人們寄予厚望。

縱觀過往資訊科技和媒介的發展歷程，人類不斷改變認知世界的方法，乃至於後來開始有意識地改造和重塑世界。從報業時代、廣播電視時代，到網路時代、行動網路時代，「元宇宙」概念下的工具和平台日益完備，通往「元宇宙」的路徑逐漸清晰。

自2020年以來，各國網路大廠圍繞著擴展實境、數位孿生、3D渲染、雲端運算、人工智慧、高速網路和區塊鏈等前沿科技，展開緊密佈局，通往「元宇宙」終極閉環生態的大門被一點點打開。在行動網路用戶「紅利」已經見頂的今天，不少專家學者表示，「元宇宙」將是下一代網路的終極形態。

如同20年前難以精準預測網路的發展一樣，人們也無法精準預判未來「元宇宙」的形態。但是，結合當今相關產業發展趨勢可以看到：互聯網改變人類生活，將人與人交流數位化，而「元宇宙」將把人與社會關係數位化；「元宇宙」相關技術將呈現漸進式發展，單點技術創新將不斷出現與融合，從產業各方面向「元宇宙」終極形態靠近；「元宇宙」將湧現海量用戶創作內容，同時顯現數位資產價值問題。

概括地說，「元宇宙」將以虛實融合的方式，深刻改變現有社會的組織與運作，形成虛、實兩極的新型生活方式，催生線上、線下一體的新型社會關係，並從虛擬維度賦予實體經濟新的活力。

未來實體化的“元宇宙”，將類似於科幻電影《頭號玩家》裡描述的場景：在未來的某一天，人們可隨時隨地切換身份，自由穿梭於現實世界和虛擬世界，在“元宇宙”中學習、工作、交友、購物、旅遊等。透過沉浸式體驗，讓虛擬世界進一步接近並融入現實世界。

在這個虛擬世界裡，將有自我不斷發展的內容和經濟系統，並且始終保持安全穩定運行，滿足個體的社會需求。

「元宇宙」的媒介作用

「把『元宇宙』想像為一個實體互聯網，你在那裡不只是觀看內容，整個人都身在其中。」這是一個圖像描述。可就現狀而言，這些能讓“整個人都身在其中”的“元宇宙”，內容是相對匱乏的。它需要更多可以獨立成篇、自我迭代、多維立體地吸引使用者參與體驗甚至參與創作的內容。

「元宇宙」勢必成為媒體內容生產的嶄新平台。內容生產者透過豐富的內容生產，可將「小宇宙」演變成「大宇宙」。短期內，「元宇宙」的突破口是沉浸式內容。隨著「元宇宙」概念的發展與滲透，沉浸式虛擬內容（如遊戲、卡通等）與沉浸式實體內容（如媒體、社交、影視等）的融合程度將會越來越高。換句話說，「元宇宙」將發揮更大的媒介作用。

今年9月，北京師範大學新聞與傳播學院教授喻國明在《2020-2021年「元宇宙」發展研究報告》發布會議上指出：「如今媒介所扮演的角色大體上都是認知方面的訊息給予，但媒介的角色正在完成一個從給予認知到給予體驗的過程。甚至傳播效果，都能起到一個定向作用。體驗。

從理論上講，最好的傳播體驗必然是基於真實場景。如看球賽，理想情形是在球場上親身觀看。在「元宇宙」裡，隨著顯示互動、高速通訊和運算技術的發展，建構無限逼近真實的傳播場景將成為現實，使用者能在立體化、多感官接收情境中，成為新聞事件的「目擊者」和「實地觀察者」。

因而，“元宇宙”媒體可實現真正的“多媒體化”，人類的各種感官如視覺、嗅覺、聽覺、味覺、觸覺等，都能發揮作用，甚至完全展開、相互配合，實現“沉浸式”的媒體應用。

當今媒體內容不斷進化和創​​新，其發展趨勢也似乎正在向「元宇宙」概念靠攏。媒體內容將不再侷限於電視、電腦、手機螢幕等平面式的呈現方式，媒體內容製作將更考慮全像化呈現，重視營造現場環境氛圍，使用戶有身臨其境之感。社交也將不再侷限於文字留言評論，可即時用語音、肢體動作來抒發感受，現場虛擬化面對面交流。

設想一下，如果新聞報道能還原戰爭現場，打造“戰場元宇宙”，使人如身臨其境，實時感受到戰爭對於人類文明造成的巨大創傷，這份震撼會更能刺激人類社會對於和平的渴望與嚮往，媒體內容將具備更強大的影響力與傳播力。

中國軍事資料來源：https://www.81.cn/jfjbmap/content/2021-11/26/content_303888.htm