Metaverse: Unicorn Escape From Real World?
Now I’m pretty sure almost all high school-ers know about online games such as “The Sims”, “Second Life”, “Roblox”, and “Fortnite”. What if I were to tell you that these games are actually a step closer towards the development of Metaverse. In case you are not familiar with the term, Metaverse is a concept coined by writer Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel, “Snow Crash”. This concept is based around a digital simulation of the real world which exists far beyond the one-dimensional one we live in.
In a Metaverse, your digital avatar would be able to do practically everything which you can in reality. Shopping, reading, gaming, chatting, walking- you can do it all! Coming back to the games listed above, The Sims and Second Life were early iterations of a metaverse which were launched in 2000 and 2003 respectively. Roblox and Fortnite, on the other hand, are the more recent gaming platforms that have out-shined several others and become sensational for teens across the globe. These games have focused on presenting avatars to players in a virtual world.
On October 28th, quite unsurprisingly, Facebook in its exercise of rebranding has changed its name to ‘Meta’. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will be transitioning into a virtual reality with a stronger emphasis on combining the strengths of virtual and augmented reality. This has actually proven to be rather frightening for many avid minds who are keen on grasping novel concepts in this field.
The Metaverse is a sign of technological advancement along with social regression. At first, it would most certainly be an interesting, enjoyable and amusing experience for all users. However, there are several risks concerning recreation of reality in Metaverse, such as players’ mental health, social isolation, privacy and security, overstimulation of senses, addiction and deepening of divides.
Social isolation is an enormous factor which comes into play when we talk about digitising the world. If we talk about everyone using VR headsets to communicate with other avatars, we do realise that this is all going to happen at the expense of socialising physically.
Again, it may all seem extremely fun in the beginning, but soon this too could get monotonous and mundane. Everyone would eventually begin to miss the physical touch of life. We would remain connected to a flawless, virtual world and stay disconnected from reality. If mankind remains socially isolated for too long, we would be giving up on the close-knit bonds of society. Therefore, maintaining an equilibrium between the virtual and real-world is thereby of utmost importance for us to continue living in a sane manner.
The thing is that after a certain point of time, the players’ mental health begins to get strongly affected by addictive platforms. Several gamers have already revealed that they have suffered from clinical depression, anxiety, stress and immense trauma due to platforms. The causes for the same can be subjective to each person. Common ones are trolling, cyberbullying, pessimism, the growing and pressing need of being unrealistically happy on social media and also addiction.
Quite abysmally, in the long run, a concept like this would eventually foment an atmosphere of desolation, dilapidation, sequestration and overall melancholy. Another salient factor is that one would eventually experience nuances of frustration, remorse, clinical depression with hardly a tinge of delight.
According to a study conducted with a total of 2734 participants, using the Scale for the Assessment of Internet and Computer game Addiction, it was revealed that although 83 per cent of the participants showed no signs of problematic video game use, 17 per cent of them showed signs of potentially problematic video game use. Researches and studies conducted have not shown a completely direct relation between video games and depression. However, several of the very same researches also claimed that we are on the verge of finding depression, anxiety and stress to be correlated to video games.
Equally relevant to these issues is the question of privacy and security of the users’ data. There have been a noticeable amount of reported cases of data breaches. We live in the 21st century, where every post, live stream and Tweet is scrupulously scrutinized by many. In Metaverse, users would technically be exposing their photos, videos, likings, personal information etc. out into the real (well actually virtual) world and they never know whose hands this sensitive data can get into. There have been a total of 1291 major data breaches so far in 2021. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that such sensitive data does not fall into the wrong hands and ensuring the same is actually quite a complex process that can be slightly expensive too.
We now arrive at possibly the most dangerous concern- addiction. Statistically speaking, there are over 2.5 billion video gamers globally. 72 per cent of gamers are 18 or older, and according to yet another set of statistics, young adults aged 18-24 are at high risk of gaming addiction. Isn’t this data striking? The fact that the majority percentile of gamers is also the very same age group at the highest risk of addiction shows that if more addictive media of living are introduced, then it would be rather strenuous to revert this situation. The Metaverse may prove to be such a platform that can lead to serious addiction amongst users.
Considering the previous point mentioned, overstimulation is also not favourable. French philosopher and socialist Jean Baudrillard coined the term, ‘Hyperreality’, which by definition is a state of the inability of one’s consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality, especially in technologically advanced and progressive societies. Gamers may begin to experience hallucinations from the virtual world and feel that these things are actually happening at present in their lives, as a result of hyperreality.
I would like to emphasise that bringing Metaverse into the system would only deepen digital divides amongst people. We live in a world that is already filled with discrimination. Racial discrimination, gender discrimination, we’ve been through it all. Just imagine how adverse it would be for those who cannot access the high-quality VR Sets and high-speed internet which is crucial for Metaverse. Developers of such platforms themselves have said it may be expensive for many to afford. 59% of U.S. parents abysmally claimed that their children may face difficulties with online learning during the pandemic due to the unavailability of computers and laptops. So, are we not at risk of creating a new global divide of accessibility amongst people? Of course, we are! Therefore, levelling the infrastructural access to the metaverse is almost exigent for the peaceful co-existence of both the virtual and real world.
Sometimes, I also can’t help but wonder if the Metaverse is just another distraction from real-world dilemmas for luminaries. Kevin Roose, technology columnist for the New York Times himself summarised the whole matter by saying that the Metaverse is an ‘escape hatch’ for Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. If this is actually true, then is it really necessary? Is an alternative escape really what we need right now? Is it ethical to run away from real-life problems? Is it alright to forget everything in the present and remain fixated on a reality that is not even a reality? I do not think so, neither does Frances Huagen, neither do several other journalists who are far more well-versed with this topic.
I would strongly urge developers to re-strategize, redefine and re-assess all concepts related to Metaverse and come to another reasonable consensus because, at the moment, the negatives most certainly outweigh the positives. We live in a real-world with real people and real problems. Recreating it in a mixture of augmented and virtual reality may not necessarily be the solution to the problems faced by people all over the world.
