O brave new metaworld!

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What will a person gain and what will he lose in augmented and virtual reality

The increasing immersion of people in the Internet has given impetus to the emergence of a new digital infrastructure that will change the usual ideas about consumption, communication, health care, travel, business and work. Experts from the Scientific and Technical Center of the Main Radio Frequency Center (STC GRFC) compared the opportunities and risks of the metaverses.

MORE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE

In 2020, about a hundred VR technology specialists left Microsoft, writes Wall Street Journal. Employees were lured away by competitors to develop augmented and virtual reality products that will become the basis for creating the metaverse, the newspaper notes. About the rapid growth of interest in this topic testifies a rapidly growing number of search queries. At the brokerage company Bernstein predict emergence in the near future of new markets with a turnover of trillions of dollars.

But the main thing is that people are already ready to plunge into the new space. By data agency Wunderman Thompson,

• 93% of consumers agree that technology is our future;
• 76% say that daily life depends on their development;
• 61% associate their earnings with them, and 52% - happiness.

The scale and speed with which corporations, cities and countries have rushed into the meta race is impressive. For example, Epic Games closed a $1 billion funding round for its project in this area in 2021. In China, the new version of the Global Network has been declared a priority for technological development, and in South Korea will appear Seoul Metaverse. Shanghai, Vienna and Istanbul have also announced similar plans.

Perhaps the furthest went the head of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, announced last October to change the company's name to Meta to be associated with a new product, the Metaverse.


CONSUMPTION, HEALTH, SEX

Working and communicating online are pushing users to virtualize their habits, and a bot based on artificial intelligence is becoming a person’s best friend. In such conditions, the smartphone is no longer just a device, but a place to live, the report notes. research STC GRCHTS.

“Consumers are investing in digital property, creating a wave of products and possessions. Therefore, interactive features acquire functional value,” the review emphasizes. For example, The Fabricant creates the idea that the existence of clothes is not limited to the physical world. Back in 2019, a digital dress from this manufacturer was sold for $9.5 thousand. Last year, the American brand Ralph Lauren released a similar collection of 50 items, and the automaker Rolls-Royce introduced the first virtual car for the Tencent QQ Speed mobile game.

Experts predict the emergence of new business models for the promotion of physical products, because

By releasing virtual things, corporations will be able to assess the demand for them and predict the production of real goods.​

Medicine using game technologies will receive great opportunities in the metauniverses. The first steps towards spreading this practice have already been taken. For example, in 2020 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved video game EndeavorRx from the developer Akili for the treatment of attention deficit disorder in children. American startup Revery raised $2 million last August to launch an app that combines cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia with mobile entertainment concepts.

It is assumed that its use has a positive effect on the memory of the elderly, lowers blood pressure, and eliminates eating disorders.

Proponents of this approach believe that

Game content has enormous healing potential, can increase emotional resilience and improve overall human health​

It is entertainment that becomes the key areas for communication and gives rise to a new social experience. For example, the game Sky: Children of the Light invites you to participate in random good deeds - send gifts to other users, increase their abilities and give hugs.

Companies even claim that they can improve relationships in couples. So developer Raspberry Dream Labs is reimagining the experience of cybersex to form serious bonds. He uses extended reality (Extended Reality, XR), with which you can feel tactile impulses that simulate touch. Such technologies bring people together, creating close friendships and intimate relationships in the virtual world. “As the metaverse evolves, emotional elements will be the main drivers for interaction,” the researchers emphasize.

In addition to communication, games are becoming full-fledged marketing platforms, especially for young audiences. Between 2020 and 2024, online advertising is projected to grow by $11 billion as brands create gaming know-how and incorporate it into their product promotion strategies. For example, Balenciaga released the fall 2021 collection with the debut video game Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow from developer Streamline Media Group. In it, users navigate through a futuristic world, passing by other characters dressed in Balenciaga brand items.

MASK, WHO ARE YOU?

The ever-increasing number of Internet users and the increase in daily screen time lead to an intertwining of realities. Reflection of physical identity in augmented and virtual space becomes easier and more realistic. So, MetaHuman Creator from Epic Games Unreal Engine can reproduce complex details of facial features: skin color, fine wrinkles and scars. As noted in the review, this is due to the fact that 88% of people consider it necessary to have a complete coincidence of personality, values and ethics in an alternative reality.

With all the pluses, the metaverses carry many risks due to the heterogeneity of the security policy in services using the new technology.

Experts point out that

The desire of users to transfer their values, ethics and real identity into the created universe will have an impact on the physical world and have negative consequences.​

“This can become the basis for manipulation and disinformation, creating echo chambers in which a person will lock himself with his like-minded people and provoke the emergence of previously unknown types of threats,” the GRFC analysts emphasize.

The transformation of perception will inevitably have an impact on society, and due to the use of avatars, one can expect a decrease in the importance of morality and ethics. Similar risks can manifest themselves in relation to the most vulnerable group - children. It must be remembered that

The digital nature of action in the metaverse translates into personal, biometric, financial, and even emotional data.​

The problem of identifying avatars also makes identity and personal data vulnerable. But it is not yet clear how legislative initiatives and legal jurisdiction will be implemented.

The current tax codes and regulations of various countries do not regulate the sales chains in the Metaverse. Therefore, the use of digital currencies in the virtual world will contribute to the violation of political boundaries, according to a study by the STC GRCHTs.


Image: RSpectr, Adobe Stock

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