Zuckerberg, CEO of the company formerly known as Facebook, even renamed it Meta to underscore the significance of the effort. During his late October presentation, he was effused about going to virtual concerts with your friends, fencing with holograms of Olympic athletes, and — best of all — joining mixed-reality business meetings where some participants are physically present while others beam in from the metaverse as cartoony avatars.
But it’s just as easy to imagine dystopian downsides. Suppose the metaverse also enables a vastly larger, yet more personal version of the harassment and hate that Facebook has been slow to deal with on today’s internet? Or ends up with the same big tech companies that have tried to control the current internet serving as gatekeepers to its virtual-reality edition? Or evolves into a vast collection of virtual gated communities where every visitor is constantly monitored, analyzed, and barraged with advertisements? Or foregoes any attempt to curtail user freedom, allowing scammers, human traffickers and cybergangs to commit crimes with impunity?
Picture an online troll campaign — but one in which the barrage of nasty words you might see on social media is instead a group of angry avatars yelling at you, with your only escape being to switch off the machine, said Amie Stepanovich, executive director of Silicon Flatirons at the University of Colorado.
This story is from the 01, January 2022 edition of Techlife News.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the 01, January 2022 edition of Techlife News.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Warren Buffett Has Left the Table. Homeless Charity Asks Investors to Bid on Meal With Software CEO
The California homeless charity that received $53 million over the years from investors who wanted a private lunch with billionaire Warren Buffett has found a new business executive to auction off a meal with.
A Congressman Wanted to Understand AI. So He Went Back to a College Classroom to Learn
Don Beyer's car dealerships were among the first in the U.S. to set up a website. As a representative, the Virginia Democrat leads a bipartisan group focused on promoting fusion energy. He reads books about geometry for fun.
INTERNET PROVIDERS MUST NOW BE MORE TRANSPARENT ABOUT FEES PRICING, FCC SAYS
Much like nutritional labels on food products, “broadband labels” for internet packages will soon tell you just what is going into the pricing of your service, thanks to new rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission this week.
CONTENT CREATION HOLDS APPEAL FOR LAID-OFF WORKERS SEEKING FLEXIBILITY
With a compact mirror in one hand and an eyelash curler in the other, Grace Xu told her roughly 300,000 TikTok followers she was likely about to be laid off.
IN ALEX GARLAND'S POTENT 'CIVIL WAR,' JOURNALISTS ARE AMERICA'S LAST HOPE
The United States is crumbling in Alex Garland’s sharp new film “ Civil War, “ a bellowing and haunting big screen experience.
MARGOT ROBBIE MAKING 'MONOPOLY' MOVIE AND BLUMHOUSE REVIVING 'BLAIR WITCH'
Margot Robbie has her sights on another toy. The “ Barbie “ producer and star is making a Monopoly movie, with Hasbro and Lionsgate behind it, the companies announced Wednesday at the CinemaCon conference in Las Vegas.
SOME STATES ARE SEEKING TO RESTRICT TIKTOK. THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEIR GOVERNORS AREN'T USING IT
POV: You’re on TikTok, and so is your governor — even as your Legislature considers banning the app from state-owned devices and networks.
HERE'S WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT UBER AND LYFT'S PLANNED EXIT FROM MINNEAPOLIS IN MAY
The future of Uber and Lyft in Minneapolis has garnered concern and debate in recent weeks after the City Council voted last month to require that ride-hailing companies pay drivers a higher rate while they are within city limits.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION SETS FIRST-EVER LIMITS ON SO-CALLED 'FOREVER CHEMICALS' IN DRINKING WATER
The Biden administration finalized strict limits on certain so-called “forever chemicals” in drinking water that will require utilities to reduce them to the lowest level they can be reliably measured.
COURT UPHOLDS CALIFORNIA'S AUTHORITY TO SET NATION-LEADING VEHICLE EMISSION RULES
California can continue to set its own nationleading vehicle emissions standards, a federal court ruled this week — two years after the Biden administration restored the state’s authority to do so as part of its efforts to reverse Trump-era environmental rollbacks.