There is a new piece of information revealed by the AR systems that estimates something very solemn about the future. It states that the metaverse can soon change the reality that has been normal to us.
Louis Rosenberg, a computer scientist and developer of the first functional AR system at the Air Force Research Laboratory, gave an op-ed in Big Think this weekend. This stated that the metaverse that is an immersive VR and AR world that is being worked upon by The company formerly known as Facebook has the potential of making a real-life cyberpunk dystopia.
“I am concerned about the legitimate uses of AR by the powerful platform providers that will control the infrastructure,” Rosenberg wrote in the essay.
However, there is a reservation that the third parties could “paid filter layers” that will enable particular users to see specific tags over real-life people. These tags will hover over people’s heads and reveal some basic information about them.
“And they use that layer to tag individuals with bold flashing words like ‘Alcoholic’ or ‘Immigrant’ or ‘Atheist’ or ‘Racist’ or even less charged words like ‘Democrat’ or ‘Republican,’” he said. “The virtual overlays could easily be designed to amplify political division, ostracize certain groups, even drive hatred and mistrust.”
There is another issue that the metaverse will “make reality disappear” by forging a system in which people will not be able to get distant from digital spaces to have real, physical interactions. It has the potential to take over real lives and entangle people in the digital fabric.
Ethan Zuckerman, the director of the Initiative for Digital Infrastructure at the University of Massachusetts, also wrote an op-ed in The Atlantic recently commenting on metaverse’s ambition. Zuckerman made a very basic version of the metaverse in 1994 and believes that the metaverse is will end up doing more harm than good.
“Facebook’s promised metaverse is about distracting us from the world it’s helped break,” Zuckerman said.