The Metaverse: When ideas outpace hardware

5

October

2024

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Recently, the news that Meta, the company behind the Metaverse and many VR devices is about to launch a new version of their flagship VR headset first leaked through FCC filings and then later got announced at Meta Connect 2024. As this announcement comes before the first birthday of their previous flagship device, the Quest 3, this left many puzzled on how this fits into the firm’s strategy.

Does the past predict the future?

“Study the past if you want to divine the future” – Confucious

When Mark Zuckerberg famously invented the predecessor to Facebook in 2003 out of his dorm room at Harvard, he came up with an idea that would really only find the level of success that it did after years of technological advancements and progress. The initial way users could interact with the website was through large and practically immovable desktops and thick, heavy laptops (the era-appropriate ThinkPad was 2.22kg, equipped with exactly 1 CPU core).

The way that users could even take a photo of their face to make a post, would involve first buying a digital camera, that took blurry, low-resolution photos and navigating the process to upload the photo first to capable machine. After all that, the user would have to find an opportune moment when nobody is taking a call on their landline phone, so that they could use their dial-up modem to connect to the internet and finally post the picture at a blazing 56 kbps (the chance of Windows XP not displaying the infamous blue screen of death notwithstanding).

So why did Facebook become such a massive success? In part, because in the late 2000s smartphones and surrounding technologies such as DSL internet connections and WiFi became prolific. Posting would no longer involve jumping through numerous hoops and silently hoping that nothing breaks that can’t be fixed by the user. It was a simple matter of opening the camera roll, being connected to the home WiFi network and pressing “post”.

Ahead of schedule

“In firing, at an object in motion, the instructor should explain that the best way is to aim in the usual
way, and then, without dwelling an instant on the aim, move the rifle laterally in the direction and to
the extent required […]” – Manual for Rifle Practice by General George Wingate, 1874

Facebook found success not by just being one of the most capable social media platforms on the early internet. A core factor in Facebook’s success was that it rode a wave of technology that came after its inception. If you wanted to develop a competing website in 2010, when the enabling technologies were well-established, you were going up against a giant made up of 1700 employees with 500 million active users.

This is a common theme with many internet companies, Google began as a research project in 1996, when only 18% of U.S. households had access to the internet to even have the problem of not knowing what website to go to (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). This figure would jump to 26% in the next 2 years, and by 2001 over half the households surveyed had access to the internet within the comfort of their own homes.

What did these companies do? They observed fast-moving frontier developments in technology, and decided to base their firms around a service that enables that technology to do new and valuable things for the customer. By the time any competitors could arise, they were well-established and in customers’ minds, which enabled them to dominate the market for the coming decades. They anticipated where a technology would be in a few years and built their products for that level of advancement, not what was currently the norm.

Betting the house on it

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein

When in 2014 Facebook acquired Oculus, the company behind the trailblazing VR headsets “Oculus Rift” and “Oculus Rift S”, Mark Zuckerberg must have had a sense of déjà vu; He saw a fresh technology that is currently clunky, burdensome to use and developing fast. Anticipating the same momentum he saw with smartphones, he had an ambitious vision; What if he could replicate the success of Facebook, not by connecting people through screens and keyboards, but through the natural medium of speech, movement and body language?

After acquiring the firm, VR technology went through important transformations from a usability perspective. With the release of Oculus Go in 2018, if you wanted to jump into VR, you no longer needed to drill holes in your wall to set up base stations to track your controllers, there was no need to buy a gaming PC that would process the frames sent to the display, and you wouldn’t entangle yourself if the display cable as you whipped around observing your digital surroundings.

The company went through a quick transformation, now rebranded to “Meta”, 1 Hacker Way became the physical home to the prospective Metaverse, a VR accessible way of connecting with friends, colleagues and strangers on the internet.

Foreclosure

“3.6 roentgen, not great, not terrible.” – Chernobyl (HBO)

However, Mark Zuckerberg’s vision was not to follow the timeline he might have imagined. The transformation of Facebook to Meta was a financially brutal affair. The Reality Labs division (mostly made up of former Oculus employees) posted a whopping $13.7 billion loss after a year of the company’s rebranding (Meta, 2023).

In order to “pursue greater efficiency and to realign [Meta’s] business and strategic priorities”, the company underwent a major restructuring effort that resulted in ballooning R&D budgets and a layoff of around 20,000 employees (Kerr, 2023).

In the face of these increasing costs, there was little promise of income from this change. The news cycle quickly filled with stories around how empty the current Metaverse is. In 2022 it was reported that only 9% of worlds created by users were visited by at least 50 people (TND Newsdesk, 2022). Additionally, news kept cropping up around the percieved absurdity of investing into projects in the metaverse, such as the infamous EU sponsored party that cost €387,000 and drew an attendance of 5 people (Fiedler, 2022).

Present day

“If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again” – Zen Cho

However, Meta adamantly refuses to give up pursuing its vision of the Metaverse. The company actively engages in a strategy of trying to advance the hardware customers can use to access the digital space. Even though the VR headset market advances very quickly, and therefore traditionally cornering it through a high marketshare is less feasible, Meta currently services 75% of the market (Armstrong, 2023). This suggests that the firm is pouring more money into the research and development of this technology than it would make sense if it only engaged in the market for short-term monetary gain.

The news of the Quest 3S, announced on September 25th, seems to be the latest bid from the firm to get more users online. From a hardware standpoint, the Quest 3S makes no business sense. It is overall on par with the recently released Quest 3, for three quarters of the price of the previous device, with what seems to be a full-feature (~€30) game thrown in with every purchase.

Ignoring the context, this would be a textbook case of competing with your own product, however, I view it as a perfect step to see through the vision of the Metaverse by lowering the barrier to entry for prospective users.

References:

Armstrong, M. (2023, February 28). Meta leads the way in VR headsets. Statista Daily Data. https://www.statista.com/chart/29398/vr-headset-kpis/

Fiedler, T. (2022, November 30). EU throws party in €387K metaverse — and hardly anyone turns up. POLITICO. https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-threw-e387k-meta-gala-nobody-came-big-tech/

Kerr, C. (2023, October 8). Meta plans for another 10,000 layoffs just months after cutting 11,000 jobs. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/meta-plans-for-another-10-000-layoffs-just-months-after-cutting-11-000-jobs

Meta. (2023, February 1). Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Results. https://investor.fb.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2023/Meta-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2022-Results/default.aspx

TND Newsdesk. (2022, October 17). https://www.technewsday.com/2022/10/17/metaverse-faces-low-usage-as-users-complaints-mount/

U.S. Census Bureau. (2005). P23-208 Computer and Internet Use. In U.S. Census Bureau Library (No. P23-208). https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2005/demo/p23-208.pdf

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Tapping into the Metaverse: How Refreshing is a Digital Heineken?

18

September

2024

5/5 (2)

The metaverse, a network of virtual 3D spaces that connects people globally via immersive VR technology, has become a hot topic in recent years. After Facebook’s rebranding to ‘Meta’ and announcement of its investments in making the metaverse a reality, many companies jumped on the bandwagon, expressing their intentions to explore this novel virtual platform. Among them was Heineken, the Dutch beer brewing giant, which seized this opportunity to promote its newest innovative drink; Heineken Silver. Can a virtual Heineken be enjoyed as much as one in the real world?

Heineken’s big launch took place in June 2022, in partnership with the metaverse platform Decentraland. They built a virtual brewery and invited metaverse users, live streamers, and colleagues to join in on the celebration. The event featured a DJ, a virtual buffet, and, of course, a virtual bar. The launch of their beer was filled with tongue-in-cheek comments and slogans, asking attendees to “taste” the virtual beer and share their thoughts (Heineken N.V., 2022).

Heineken never intended to successfully launch a virtual product line. Instead, their marketing team aimed to generate brand awareness for their newest innovation, by using the trending concepts of virtual assets and the metaverse. The campaign was ultimately designed to persuade metaverse users to go out and enjoy the real world with a real beer (De Seta, 2022).

Despite Heineken not being entirely convinced that virtual consumables are the future, there remains a market for digital consumption. Decentraland’s online store, to this day, sells digital clothing, furniture, and much more (Decentraland, 2024). Further proving that the metaverse and digital assets are still relevant topics is the recent acquisition of London-based company LandVault, which specializes in building and delivering digital twins and immersive experiences in the metaverse (Symcox, 2024). The firm Infinite Reality acquired it for an extraordinary £350 million (Ibid). This acquisition underscores the ongoing interest and investment in the metaverse.

Heineken boasts their vision of “brewing the joy of true togetherness.” Although those who attended the launch of the virtual Heineken were still left quite thirsty in reality afterward, the entire stunt did bring people together to share in virtually brewed togetherness via a digital medium.

In my opinion, the importance of physical versus digital assets diminishes if our true goal is to be together and create memories. Whether a beer is virtual or a fresh, cold one doesn’t really matter—as long as you’re not thirsty and looking to quench it with something.

Here I am Partying with the Heineken Silver DJ and the dancefloor NPC’s

References

De Seta, D. 2022 The virtual Heineken Silver case study, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVud38Ea6GY

Decentraland, 2024, Welcome to Decentraland Available at: https://decentraland.org/.

Heineken N.V., 2022, https://www.heineken.com/nl/nl/decentraland Available at: https://www.heineken.com/nl/nl/decentraland.

Symcox, J., 2024 £350m swoop for London metaverse firm Landvault. BusinessCloud. Available at: https://businesscloud.co.uk/news/350m-swoop-for-london-metaverse-firm-landvault/.

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Is the Metaverse just a grown-up version of The Sims?

17

September

2024

5/5 (1)

The Metaverse is a famous topic nowadays, it’s a virtual space where people can live, work, play, and interact with others. After the videos we had to watch for the lecture I realized it reminded me of the game The Sims.  If you ever played The Sims, the Metaverse might remind you of that game, it’s a game where you control characters, build homes, go to work, and socialize. The Metaverse offers a similar experience but on a larger scale. Is the Metaverse just The Sims for adults or is it something more?

How the Metaverse is similar to The Sims

In The Sims, there are virtual characters that you control and guide through their daily life. You make them work,  buy clothes, meet people and even build their homes. The Metaverse is similar, you create an avatar, which is like your character in The Sims. However in the Metaverse, that avatar is you.

You can walk around virtual worlds, attend events, talk to other people and even shop for digital clothes. Both The Sims and the Metaverse are about living a life in a virtual world. The difference between the two is that the Metaverse aims to be a huge, infinite virtual world that makes a connection with real life, while The Sims is just a game.

How the Metaverse is more than just a game

The Metaverse is not just for fun, it is already being used in many serious ways: 

  • Virtual workspaces
    • In The Sims, your character might have a job or run a business (Pittman, 2023). In the Metaverse, companies like Meta and Microsoft are creating virtual offices, where people can meet as avatars in a virtual room instead of video calls, making remote work feel more interactive (Moates, 2024). 
  • Digital shopping
    • Just like you can buy clothes and furniture for your The Sims character, this is also possible in the Metaverse, brands like Gucci and Nike are selling virtual clothes for avatars in the Metaverse. Some people are even buying virtual land, which is becoming valuable. For the brands, it gives them the space to try new and bold designs without the actual traditional manufacturing process. It opens infinite possibilities for self-expression and creativity (Haqshanas, 2024). 
  • Entertainment
    • In The Sims it is possible to join different activities and social interactions. The Metaverse takes this a step further with virtual events like concerts. For example, Travis Scott performed a virtual concert on Fortnite in 2020, at least 12 million people attended this virtual concert, all together in the same virtual world. Other artists announced they are planning to do the same (White, 2021).

The Metaverse might look like an adult version of The Sims, but it has more potential than just a game. It can change the way we work, shop and socialize. While this can be exiting and fun, there are still questions about security and privacy regarding the Metaverse.

What do you think about the Metaverse? Do you see it as an addition of games like The Sims or will it be a big part of our daily lives? Share your thoughts!

References

Moates, C. (2024, June 25). Virtual offices: Are they the future? Retrieved September 17, 2024, from Landvault: https://landvault.io/blog/virtual-offices-are-they-the-future

Pittman, T. (2023, August 22). The Sims 4: How to Go to Work. Retrieved September 17, 2024, from Gamerant: https://gamerant.com/the-sims-4-how-go-to-work/

Haqshanas, R. (2024, June 11). From Gucci to Nike: How Top Brands are Redefining Fashion in the Metaverse. Retrieved September 17, 2024, from Cryptonews: https://cryptonews.com/news/from-gucci-to-nike-how-top-brands-are-redefining-fashion-in-the-metaverse/

White, M. J. (2021, November 23). What is the metaverse? A deep dive into the ‘future of the internet’. Retrieved September 17, 2024, from Digital Trends: https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/what-is-the-metaverse-the-future-of-the-internet-explained/#dt-heading-the-future-of-the-metaverse

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Wales Enters the Metaverse: A New Frontier for Tourism and Digital Strategy

16

September

2024

5/5 (1)

In 2014, Denmark made headlines when its government let the entire country be recreated in Minecraft for educational purposes, aiming to help students understand Denmark’s landscape and geography in an interactive and engaging way (BBC News, 2014). This pioneering project set a precedent for how virtual worlds could be used for educational and cultural exploration. Now, Wales has taken this concept further by entering the metaverse and becoming the first European nation to launch a dedicated tourism initiative within a virtual realm (Welsh Government services and information, 2024).

The Welsh metaverse, hosted on Spatial, offers virtual visitors an immersive experience of the country’s landmarks and cultural treasures without ever setting foot in Wales. The platform showcases iconic sites, such as castles and cable cars, while allowing users to complete mini quests like discovering hidden dragons. As part of a strategic effort led by Visit Wales and iCreate, the initiative aims to inspire real-world tourism by offering a digital taste of the nation that is accessible from anywhere.

The metaverse and other emerging technologies like AR, VR, and NFTs offer organizations innovative ways to reach global audiences and create value​. As noted by Shi et al. (2022), the metaverse overcomes geographic and temporal limitations, allowing organizations to transcend the boundaries of physical interaction​. Wales is reshaping the traditional tourism models and opening new opportunities for global engagement, by bridging physical and virtual spaces.

While the virtual platform promises global exposure, I think the challenge for Wales lies in converting the virtual engagement into real-world tourism. However, by being an early adopter of the metaverse for tourism, Wales positions itself as an innovator in the digital space. This move could serve as a model for other regions looking to blend cultural promotion with technological advancement. Do you think this virtual experience in the metaverse could actually inspire global tourists to visit Wales in person, or will it remain more of a digital curiosity?

References:

BBC News. (2014, April 25). Minecraft: All of Denmark virtually recreated. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27155859

Shi, F., Ning, H., Zhang, X., Li, R., Tian, Q., Zhang, S., Zheng, Y., Guo, Y., & Daneshmand, M. (2023). A new technology perspective of the Metaverse: Its essence, framework and challenges. Digital Communications and Networks. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcan.2023.02.017

Welsh Government services and information. (2024, May 13). Croeso i Gymru! Wales becomes first UK nation to launch metaverse experience. GOV.WALES. https://www.gov.wales/croeso-i-gymru-wales-becomes-first-uk-nation-launch-metaverse-experience

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No, the Metaverse Will Never Happen

9

September

2024

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The title of this blog was inspired by me googling about the Metaverse (after watching Zuckerberg’s video about his vision on this matter) and coming across an article in Harvard Business Review with the title “Yes, the Metaverse is still happening” [1]. I do not believe that the Metaverse will ever be a thing. Sure, the article mentions the concept of a Digital Twin, which is a digital copy of a real object [2], and that enterprises are adopting Digital Twins. But I think there is a big gap between companies leveraging Digital Twins for their products or processes, and consumers spending their time in a Metaverse.

Source: Facebook/Mark Zuckerberg in Horizon Worlds

At the moment, it is just not impressive at all. Just look at Meta’s “Horizon Worlds” [3], the graphics quality is from like a videogame in the Playstation 2 era. If these companies really want people to spend their time in a virtual world, I believe it has to look and feel almost like real-life. I expect that it will take a very long time before we have the computational power that is affordable, capable of handling billions of people in a virtual world and make it not look like it was made in 2006.

Moving aside from if the Metaverse will be possible hardware wise, I have not even mentioned the usability and privacy of the Metaverse. Do we really want to sit for hours with a display mounted on our head? Surely it must get tiring. And what about our privacy? Are we willing to let companies track where and with whom we interact? Can we really trust Meta with that stuff looking at their past behavior? As you can read, there are a lot of ifs and buts about the Metaverse and I believe it will take a while before we see something like the movie ‘Ready Player One’.

References:

[1] Piscione, D. P., Drean, J.: Yes the metaverse is still happening. Harvard Business Review. (2023)

[2] Ray, P., Surianarayanan, C.: Chapter Twelve – Digital twin: The industry use cases. Advances in Computers. vol. 117. pp. 285-320. (2020)

[3] https://horizon.meta.com/

Featured image created with Bing Image Creator

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The Metaverse’s Disruptive Impact on Cultural Experience: The Aquarium of Paris and its Jellyfish NFT Collection (2/2)

18

October

2023

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In the last post, I talked about the aquarium de Paris and their jellyfish NFT collection. In this post the focus will be more on the interaction between the creator and the consumer, and I will share my thoughts on how I think emerging technologies can help cultural experiences reach more people and increase engagement.

As mentioned in the last post, people can buy the jellyfish NFT’s. By owning these NFTs they can be more educated on jellyfish as the NFTs are scientific replicas of the real jellyfish project (Aquarium de Paris – Metaseum, n.d.). Additionally, the NFTs also have perks to them such as unlimited and free access to the aquarium and in-store discounts. Additionally they are invited to VIP events and earn access and invitation to events such as the arrival of the polyps of the purchased species or to the establishments night club (Desk, 2022). All of these initiatives makes it possible to create a web3 community for people interested in the marine world, web3, and art enthusiasts. This way, the aquarium is able to interact more with their visitors and create a strong community. They even take this to a next level by opening their doors in the near future in the metaverse (Desk, 2022). In here, there will be even more possibilities to let people interact with the aquarium and make the cultural experience more widely accessible (Gursoy et al., 2022).. In this metaverse aquarium there are no limits and visitors can swim in an aquarium, run through the corridors, or even interact with artwork (Desk, 2022).  

Personally, I think that the metaverse, NFTs and other emerging technologies are a great way to stimulate people to experience culture. A new community is created which is more widely accessible for people. Additionally, I think that people will be more motivated to learn about culture when there is more interaction present, as it has been proven that interaction is a great way of learning (Dahan et al., 2022). This can be done through the extra perks of NFTs, the limitless online world, but also through the learn to earn principle, where visitors will learn to earn crypto currency, which is reusable in the metaverse. However, I am unsure about whether this virtual experience can completely take over the real world experience of experiencing culture. Also, I don’t think the use of emerging technologies should be the goal, instead they should be the means to the goal of offering a wide range of people a cultural experience.

Sources

Aquarium de Paris—Metaseum. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2023, from https://www.metaseum.space/aquarium-de-paris

Dahan, N. A., Al-Razgan, M., Al-Laith, A., Alsoufi, M. A., Al-Asaly, M. S., & Alfakih, T. (2022). Metaverse Framework: A Case Study on E-Learning Environment (ELEM). Electronics, 11(10), 1616. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11101616

Desk, A. P. (2022, December 9). The Aquarium de Paris and Metaseum launch the world’s first scientifically accurate NFT collection. AlexaBlockchain. https://alexablockchain.com/the-aquarium-de-paris-metaseum-launch-worlds-first-scientifically-accurate-nft-collection/

Gursoy, D., Malodia, S., & Dhir, A. (2022). The metaverse in the hospitality and tourism industry: An overview of current trends and future research directions. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 31(5), 527–534. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2022.2072504

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VR Dating: More or Less Superficial?

13

October

2022

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Bored of swiping and wanting more interesting dates? Perhaps a virtual reality (VR) dating experience in the Metaverse might be for you! 

One of the dating applications available on this platform is called “Nevermet” where users can have a dating experience entirely in the Metaverse. Nevermet’s CEO claims to want to change the online dating market, where physical attraction is not the only factor that matters (Harrison, 2022). With this, Nevermet users can only use a virtual image of them (with any customization such as tattoos, piercing, skin colour etc.) for their profile. After a user is matched with their partner, they can decide to go on dates at an imaginary location on Metaverse’s VR world. These imaginary locations are facilitated by the Planet Theta platform, which operates as a social virtual reality where Nevermet users in matches can pick and visit any location on their date (Tolcheva, 2022), such as an apocalyptic wasteland or a restaurant underneath the sea. 

The CEO also believes that more online relationships will be created and become successful in the future as VR technology becomes more immersive in the future (Harrison, 2022). It is also interesting to point out that a lot of things we do nowadays are becoming more and more immersive in the online world. Among the developments and growing popularity in Web 3.0, some of our possessions such as NFTs and Cryptocurrency, or our online persona that we spent time and effort to craft only exist on the internet. Some new dating apps on Metaverse even focuses on these digital possessions, such as “MetaMatch”, where under a similar objective of making online dating less superficial, users with similar psychographs based on their NFT possessions would be matched up (Buckler, 2022). 

Some may see this as allowing users to connect beyond physical attractions, but we could also see this as a move from one superficial focus in dating to another. For example, would a date matching based on the type of cars users own or the shirts that users like sound as equally superficial as common NFT possessions? Also, looking at Nevermet, would not the virtual profile images still allow users to superficially judge each other based on how attractive they are online?

Afterall, we are still at an early stage of Metaverse development, some of these applications are not fully available yet. If the VR world truly becomes more immersive, a lot more aspects of our personality could be integrated online, and superficiality could be combatted in the future. Only time will tell, and the choice to either match up with someone by natural circumstances in the physical world, or by our online persona, is up to us.

References:

Buckler, N., 2022. Metaverse Dating: Can You Find Love Based on What NFTs You Hold?. [online]         BeInCrypto. Available at: <https://beincrypto.com/metaverse-dating-find-love-based-nfts-you-        hold/> [Accessed 13 October 2022].

Harrison, M., 2022. People Are Going on Dates in the Metaverse and It Sounds Very Strange. [online]      Futurism. Available at: <https://futurism.com/the-byte/dating-metaverse> [Accessed 13 October 2022].

Tolcheva, S., 2022. Metaverse Dating: What Is It and How Does It Work?. [online] MUO. Available at:    <https://www.makeuseof.com/metaverse-dating-explained/> [Accessed 13 October 2022].

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Diving into an Infinite Workplace

10

October

2022

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How VR will shift our work routine

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a widespread shift in work routines from physical spaces to digital remote spaces. While this undoubtedly mitigated the spread of the virus, it also unexpectedly increased employee productivity, according to research (Natalia Emanuel & Emma Harrington, 2020). This effect came mostly from employees turning physical commuting time into fruitful working time at home. Now that the pandemic-mitigation measures have been (nearly) ultimately lifted, organizations are carefully evaluating their next steps ˗ stay fully online, implement a hybrid working model or completely return to the physical workplace. While the positive effects on productivity might suggest that staying online is the way to go, organizations fear that the current digital tools that facilitate such an approach do not provide the employee with an authentic connection to their workmates. However, the rapid development of Virtual Reality (VR) might be a solution to this dilemma.

The past few years have been the bottom line for an explosion in mainstream adoption of VR technology, which has been boosted by the recent hype that the Metaverse has caused. Accordingly, organizations look upon the developments of VR favourably. In essence, the implementation of VR technology as an enabler of remote communication would allow the creation of digital immersive workspaces, replicating the physical office in the virtual world. This could make employees feel as if they were in the same location as their teammates and grasp the workplace experience, while still enjoying all the features of digital collaboration (Murray, 2022). Such a space would work as a creation and collaboration platform where the possibilities are infinite from deeply interactive group meetings to real-time product prototyping and co-edition. Additionally, the immersive nature of VR would make workers perceptually ‘leave’ their homes and ‘enter’ the workplace without factually leaving their houses.
As this possibility gains momentum, several tech organizations have taken the first steps by developing promising virtual workspace VR platforms. Meta seems to be the one leading the race with the development of Infinite Office, a digital collaboration platform meant to replicate the physical office in the Metaverse. This space allows the employee to define the boundaries of their virtual office through a complete customization and availability of a wide range of tools that can improve their output and productivity (Chakraborty, 2022).

The implementation of such technology within the workplace is still relatively far considering several potential drawbacks that developers and organizations must carefully evaluate. Substantially, business data privacy continues to be a great concern for organizations, which must ensure the digitalization of their operations does not compromise their confidentiality. Additionally, employee mental health is a delicate issue to be assessed in this regard. A fundamental replacement of physical connections between the workforce might undermine the value obtained from real-world interactions between employees (Giusino & Toscano, 2021). But if this new virtual world is to arrive, organizations will have to cautiously adapt to this revolution and try to create a win-win situation between them and their employees.

References

Chakraborty, K. (2022, August 23). The Future of Remote Work: 7 Technologies to Watch. Techopedia.com. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.techopedia.com/the-future-of-remote-work-7-technologies-to-watch/2/34559

Giusino, D., Bowman, N., & Toscano, F. (2021, July 28). Work From Home (WFH) During COVID-19: Is Virtual Reality (VR) a New Solution to New Problems? Journal of Occupational &Amp; Environmental Medicine, 63(10), e755–e756. https://doi.org/10.1097/jom.0000000000002339

Murray, A. (2022, April 4). Inside an “infinite” workspace: What it’s like to do your job completely in VR. ZDNET. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.zdnet.com/article/inside-an-infinite-workspace-what-its-like-to-do-your-job-completely-in-vr/

Natalia Emanuel & Emma Harrington. (2020b, November 16). “Working” Remotely? Selection, Treatment, And the Market Provision of Remote Work. Harvard University. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/eharrington/files/harrington_jmp_working_remotely.pdf

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Why and how should Metaverse ethics be established promptly?

9

October

2022

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Even though we do not have the Metaverse yet, the ethical rules which accompany its implementation should be created and set as standard as soon as possible. Shaping the ethics of the Metaverse is especially vital since we will not encounter 1 single platform, but rather many of them, each of them having a different vision for designing our virtual reality. Based on early experiments with digital environments, we can expect a significant number of bullying/ harassing incidents, if no regulation is implemented as to the Metaverse ethics.

What should be prevented, is the self-regulation in form of internal ethical boards which was applied in the case of AI technology. In my opinion, we can not expect that companies that create “independent” ethical boards within the company truly have the public interest in mind. Rather, they likely won’t address issues (such as enforcing racial biases through AI) in ways that would harm their financial condition, with Facebook as an example of a company that could substantially limit the abuses on the platform with AI, but will not do so, since it would mean decreased user engagement on the platform. Thus, we can not trust that the companies themselves will address an ethical implementation of Metaverse since it is likely to collide with their financial profit.

The issue of ethics in the Metaverse should be addressed by an independent, worldwide board, which would introduce an effective oversight, taking into account the security and privacy of the Metaverse users’. In contrast to the AI being mostly governed by soft law (ethical guidelines, which don’t legally bind organizations), Metaverse should, in my opinion, be governed by hard law, as it is even more threatening to users’ privacy and safety (Jobin et al., 2019). The question, however, remains: would countries agree to adopt the hard law? And wouldn’t it limit the development of Metaverse?

Sources:

Jobin, A., Ienca, M. and Vayena, E., 2019. The global landscape of AI ethics guidelines. Nature Machine Intelligence, 1(9).

Entsminger, J., 2022. Who will establish Metaverse ethics?. Project Syndicate. Available at: https://bit.ly/3Mhnnlk  (Accessed: 9th October 2022).

TechDesk, 2022.  8 things you can’t do in the metaverse: A look into this new virtual world. TheIndianEpress.Available at: https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/crypto/8-things-you-cant-do-in-the-metaverse-a-look-into-this-new-virtual-world-8156570/ (Accessed: 8th October 2022).

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