Metaverse is coming: Will we go crazy?

In my column last week, I tried to demonstrate that the metaverse could turn your body into a data collection tool.

I outlined that if we’re not careful, the arrival of the metaverse could be way worse for data privacy than traditional social media already is, thanks to the tracking power of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology. The concerns may be (mostly) manageable… but only if governments update laws, platforms stay transparent, and users push for features that obscure data collection, especially on physical reactions like eye movements.

In immersive worlds, new technologies will siphon up data at an increasingly granular level—a person’s way to move, eye movements, emotions and more—putting far greater strain on existing safeguards

In its current form, the internet relies on data collection that some critics liken to mass surveillance. Technology companies and researchers are beginning to wonder whether the metaverse will be any different.

Metaverse Prospects Produce

Real Optimism for Investors

Apple Inc. hasn’t disclosed its plan for the virtual world, but many are betting the company will introduce extended-reality devices. Apple may not have triggered the current buzz about the metaverse, but the company is reaping the benefit.

Excitement about how the iPhone maker could gain from a broad embrace of digital alternate realities has been a central facet of the rise in its share price in recent months, according to investors and analysts.

Microsoft agreed to buy Activision Blizzard, the video game maker behind hits like Call of Duty and Candy Crush, for $68.7 billion in cash. The deal will position Microsoft for the next generation of the internet – Web3.

Metaverse, the name for the virtual worlds many companies are putting money into, is more of a buzzword than a big business for now. But the Activision deal could give Microsoft a significant boost against Facebook, which is considered the leader in the metaverse.

But let’s also look at the downside:  The metaverse and your mental health.

At this point, the metaverse seems all but inevitable. Now, psychologists, professors, and tech ethicists are considering all the ways that a purely virtual world can rewire our brains. Pros and cons abound, but what may truly matter most is that we grapple with those questions today, as opposed to when social media snuck up on society over a decade ago.

Vitamin or villain?

Five tech-and-mental-health experts commented on the effects of the coming metaverse:

•the metaverse may create a disconnect between imperfect reality and the perfect, idealized world of virtual worlds;

•the metaverse could be beneficial in growing interpersonal connections — as long as the tech is developed with those concerns in mind;

•the metaverse won’t change people’s habits... if someone is using tech to further distance themselves from healthy real-world habits, things will only get worse;

•since young people will be first adopters of the metaverse, it needs to be designed with their development in mind (unlike so many other tech innovations);

•the biggest risk is people preferring virtual life over real life — an issue that would only worsen someone’s real-world anxiety.

All we know for sure is that the technology is coming one way or another. Allowing the public to have a say in how it is developed, as well as preparing for its ramifications, is the healthiest thing we can do right now.

One of my friends in Cebu read my previous article on metaverse and commented: “I understand there is a risk…hence it is important that we have a working knowledge on it to lessen our fears.”

And talking about virtual life and real life, I am super excited about the success of implanting the heart of a pig in a human. And the US man is recovering after the ‘breakthrough’ pig heart transplant. Scientists hope pig organs will help alleviate shortages of donor organs.

Wow – what’s next? We are living in exciting times!!! Feedback is more than welcome; contact me at [email protected]