One significant feature life possesses is the concept of duplicity. You must have heard of the saying “there are two sides to a coin” ; in all ramifications thats a matter of fact. In life there is the good and bad , merit and demerit , fiction and non-fiction; now there is the existence of the universe and the metaverse, mind blowing I must say .
All these mentioned above work together in synchronization. In fact one won’t be able to function without the other existing. A padlock and a key are perfect examples.They both are useless if they aren’t combined together is what I’m saying in essence.
I just can’t get enough of the concept of evolution as it seems to touch every sphere of life. It is nothing but a continuous trend that won’t start being static. Who would have thought, there would be an evolution story of the habitat mankind seems to occupy. Virtual reality has been infused into the real world, isn’t this sorcery? my inner man keeps asking me .
Everything that exists especially all physical matters , including all the stars ,planets and galaxies in the space is referred to as the universe .
The direct opposite as we would by no choice have it now , the metaverse is simply a network of virtual worlds mainly focused on social interactions. The metaverse is an iteration(a new version) of the internet as a
single, universal world powered and engineered by the use of virtual augmented reality headsets. In the metaverse, individual users appear as avatars.
If there is one thing that technology experts , retailers, content creators and investors agree on is the undeniable fact that there’s plenty of money to be made from the metaverse . As different company owners try to elbow past their rivals to gain a strong foothold in the still digital space, some psychology and mental health experts say the race to get monetary benefits or profits is taking attention away from a crucial million dollar question which is if the metaverse will be a safe place especially for kids and teens?
The answer to this question so far has not been too encouraging. Recent research has shown a myriad of negative effects of social media on the psyches and mentality of both children and adolescents. This is birthed from the prevalence of bullying and harassment down to self esteem and body image issues.
Those same pitfalls could be just as prevalent , if not worse (we hope not) in the wide open metaverse , with its series of vast virtual worlds intended for both work and play.
If tech companies can take these pressing concerns seriously from the beginning and build solutions into their metaverse products , they could actually benefit the mental health of children and adolescents experts suggests .
Today’s social media platforms are already dangerous for some kids and teens . Virtual reality’s level of immersion could make these problems even worse experts suggest. In the metaverse, there is the potency about being immersed in a world that is different than observing and interacting through a flat screen monitor . The moment one is embodied in a space even though one cannot be physically touched , will more or less make one exposed to things that take on a level of realism which could be psychologically damaging and assaulting .
The use of 3D digital avatars in the metaverse is another problem too if looked at a deep level rather than the superficial level. The ability to modify one’s likeness to project a version of yourself that differs from the real life can be pretty dangerous and hazardous to adolescents. The idea of being able to fictionalize one’s identity and receive different feedback can really mess with a teenager’s identity and sense of belonging, after all you are what other people think about you especially during the stage adolescence.
This you will agree with me is an aggravation of the problems that we have already started to witness with the advent and effects of social media.
As a matter of fact, Meta launched a virtual reality social platform called the horizon worlds December 2021 . Also last year march Microsoft launched a cloud collaboration service for virtual 3D business meetings. Other companies like Robox and Epic games , are grabbing footholds in the metaverse through popular online games.
A game publisher known as VRChat shows evidence of looming dangers for young users . In December last year, research from the nonprofit Center For Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) made us to know that minors were regularly exposed to graphic sexual content , racist and violent language , bullying and other forms of harassments on VRChat’s platform , which is typically accessed through Meta’s Oculus headsets.
In essence, virtual reality does need a lot of safety built in it from the start, because you can’t search the metaverse for hate or sexual abuse , you just cannot . It happens in an instant and there’s nothing one can do about it. As a result of this , parents will be curious and ask themselves if they actually feel safe knowing that Mark Zuckerberg is the guy in charge of deciding who influences their children, and whether or not their children are safe in the cyberspace?
The irony is that virtual reality and the metaverse has massive promises for improving users’ mental health . Researches have shown the potential for virtual reality treatments to promote empathy in patients and help with issues like psychological trauma and PTSD.
However, the onus is on tech companies to prioritize the safety of their users over their own incentive to turn a profit. Tech companies could employ tools to make sure the metaverse’s safety for young users is ensured , including strict age verification tools to prevent predators from posing as younger users . In my own opinion, I see no reason why there would not be the presence of moderators in spaces where children and adolescents are present. It is also likely too much to ask parents , most of whom have relatively little personal experience with understanding these virtual platform to monitor what their children are exposed to in the metaverse.
In conclusion, technological companies should endeavor to find adequate ways to incentivize these unique brilliant tools to actually improve the society , but at the moment sadly they’re incentivized to make profits. The metaverse is here no doubt and has come to stay. The question now is should we be worried or relaxed?
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