This article is part of a series exploring the key themes from the Metaverse Roadmap 2007—a foresight exercise conducted nearly two decades ago by a group of developers, technologists, and futurists from the games industry.
The ideas we explored in the Metaverse Roadmap weren’t just speculation—they were early signals of a transformation that is still unfolding. While some aspects of the vision materialized faster than we expected, others are only now becoming fully realized.
The convergence of:
True digital ownership
AI-driven systems
Immersive digital spaces
User-generated economies
Decentralized infrastructure
…is reshaping economy, governance, and human interaction in ways that are both full of promise and increasingly complex.
A Career Shaped by These Ideas
For me, this has never been a purely academic discussion—it has been the guiding force behind my career.
From the early days of online gaming and MMO economies to my work today in digital asset ownership, sustainable compute infrastructure, and ethical AI governance, every step has been part of an attempt to understand how we build and participate in these systems while ensuring they remain fair, accessible, and beneficial.
My philosophy degree shaped the way I approach these questions, and Greenstone continues to explore them.
The Questions That Still Matter
The same questions that drove me then remain just as relevant today:
How do decentralized systems coordinate?
What does it mean to “own” something in a digital realm?
How do technology, economics, and human behavior intersect?
And at the core of it all, the question that has fascinated me since my earliest studies remains:Can a system we build—whether digital economies, AI models, or even a rudimentary Turing machine—ever truly gain self-awareness?
AI autonomy, decentralized governance, and the evolution of digital economies are not just technological problems—they are deeply human challenges, however the meaning of ‘human’ evolves.
Greenstone: A Name That Took on New Meaning
Greenstone was a name chosen long before these connections became clear—an amalgamation of my wife’s mother’s maiden name and my mother’s maiden name—but I find it to be an increasingly serendipitous choice.
Green for sustainability.
Stone as the foundation.
The intersection of digital economies, AI, and decentralized infrastructure isn’t just about building the next iteration of the internet—it’s about ensuring that the systems we create allow people to thrive commercially, creatively, and socially, without losing sight of ethics and the human condition.
The Next Challenge: Quantum & The Future of Computation
And the next great challenge is already on the horizon.
Quantum computing will once again rewrite the rules of cryptography, AI, and computational power, bringing another wave of uncertainty, opportunity, and unintended consequences.
We don’t yet know exactly how it will reshape the systems we’ve been building, but the same fundamental question will apply - How do we adapt, thrive, and build responsibly in the face of inevitable change?
The Work Ahead
From the projects we are involved with today—decentralized simulation infrastructure, tokenized real-world assets, and governance models that rethink how power is distributed—to the broader trends shaping AI ethics, sustainable compute, and creator-driven economies, the themes of the roadmap continue to define the present and the future.
The vision we mapped out nearly two decades ago is still playing out.And the most important work is still ahead.
May we live long and prosper. 🖖