Meta , the name of Facebook ’s recent rebrand , is put billions of dollar into a project that hope to see the foundation of the “ Metaverse , ” an immersive virtual reality environment in which people can interact with users and the unreal world around them . If you think that this sounds like an idea straight out of theBlack Mirrorwriters ' room , you ’re not alone — a number of striking voices have expressed their concern with the estimate .
One of these phonation isDr David Reid , a Professor of AI and Spatial Computing at Liverpool Hope University . While he believes the metaverse may potentially bring some exciting possibilities to humankind , it launch the risk of drastically deepening the existing problems with societal media and the internet , such as data concealment concern and cyberbullying .
“ The metaverse has huge implications - it get along with marvellous advantages and terrific danger . And we need a extremely full-bodied system in place to patrol the metaverse , “ Dr Reid said in astatement .
“ People are worried about the influence that Twitter can have on political sympathies powerful now , “ add Reid . “But in a completely immersive environment , how much more influence can you have on someone , when you may transport someone to a war geographical zone and show them precisely what ’s going on ? ”
“ Likewise , how much more life-threatening might social media cumulus - ons , or online bullying , become in the metaverse ? I ’d indicate it has the potential to be far , far more extreme . The intuitive experience of immersion can be exceptionally affectional , " he explain .
More worryingly still , he argues that this technology ontogenesis will blur the line between the practical and world . Whoever becomes the master of this realness will have access to an unprecedented amount of data — and an inordinate amount of power .
“ The market for that is mammoth . Whoever controls it , will essentially have control over your integral reality , ” Dr Reid go on .
“ Many current MR [ sundry - reality ] epitome system have aspect , eye , consistence , and hand trailing tech . Most have sophisticated cameras . Some even incorporate Electroencephalogram ( EEG ) engineering so as to pick up brainwave patterns . In other words , everything you say , manipulate , look at , or even think about can be monitor in MR . The information this will generate will be vast … . and exceedingly valuable , ” he stressed .
“ And that ’s why we ask a system in place to patrol it . No unmarried society should ever exert control - it ’s just too crucial for that to happen . ”
Reid is not alone in his business . Another prominent critic of the metaverse is Roger McNamee , an former investor in Facebook who has since become vituperative of the company ’s counselling in late geezerhood . Speaking at the Web Summit in Lisbon this workweek , McNameereportedlysaid that he believes the metaverse task was rushed out by Facebook in an endeavor to deflect from the bad mechanical press being mother by whistleblowerFrances Haugen ’s testimony .
" Facebook should not be allow to make a dystopian metaverse , " McNamee recount theBBC
" Facebook should have recede the right to make its own choices . A regulator should be there giving pre - approval for everything they do . The amount of harm they ’ve done is incalculable , ” he added .
