Silicon Valley's version of the metaverse is starting to feel like yet another dystopia. Critics of Microsoft's Mesh lament the dispiriting virtual office populated by legless humanoid avatars awkwardly trying to conjure meaningful interactions. While critics of Facebook have argued its version of the metaverse will simply reinforce the already damaged relationships we've been building online for years. But in Japan, there's a different type of avatar-run space that's proving to be a conduit for meaningful human interaction. Tokyo-based DAWN, or Diverse Avatar Working Network, is a cafe staffed by robots operated remotely by people with severe physical disabilities like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.