Making the Metaverse Green

(Based on the Article: Green Video Compression for the Metaverse) By Natalia Mingorance   Millions of people around the world use the Metaverse to play games, watch videos, and communicate with friends. While this new technology is changing how we communicate and consume content, it uses enormous energy to function. This tech isn’t going away anytime soon, so how can we minimize the negative effects?

The obvious solution is developing algorithms dedicated to lighter video compression. Using existing digital infrastructure is unsustainable. Currently, the most efficient methods for video compression are called Motion Estimation (ME) programs, specifically algorithms VP9 and HEVC.

While these algorithms are currently the most efficient ways to compress video, both programs use thousands of computations for just a single video frame. In a world where climate change is already affecting our world, this won’t do. Researchers are looking into ways to tackle these inefficiencies, but they are still far from coming up with workable solutions.

This tech isn’t going away. On the contrary, it’s becoming more popular by the day. New content consumption apps are also popping up, meaning the need for efficient compression and processing techniques is greater than ever before. The future demands cleaner ways to capture, deliver, and consume content.