'Metaverse's Dark Side' and VR bodysuits

[Reality vs Adventure]

With VR allowing gamers to interact on another level and Mark Zuckerberg designing plans to create a body suit to wear that has magnetized points to see movement and to feel pressure applied when gaming to help feel actions in the environment, could allow an exploitation of assault. Even without the suit, there has been an abundance of assault from players groping and all kinds of gestures which makes the gaming pretty offensive especially if you don't know if it's a child on the other end. Meta has the ability to ban members for virtual groping, and I don't know if its just a temporary ban or what. But is that really gonna fix the problem? As the VR grows, this really is going to be a larger issue especially if people are saying offensive comments, racist rhetoric, and acting out offensive movements ganging up on someone or abusing a female, virtually of course, but it's still offensive.  I've used multiplayer VR before and I can see it easily getting out of hand as friends go in there and you can hear their conversations and see their avatar moving. Technology is definitely going to make the meta verse an ugly world. 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/metaverses-dark-side-come-harassment-193600018.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/01/mark-zuckerberg-says-a-new-material-could-support-metaverse-ambitions.html

 

[Reality vs Adventure]

Using Meta VR, a researcher from a nonprofit group SumOfUs who wanted to 'study user's behavior in Meta's social networking platform Horizon World' was virtually raped within an hour. She says that other users invited her to a private party and told her to disable a setting that would prevent others from gettin within 4 feet of her. She said she was a bit disoriented because every time they touched her the controller vibrated and she knew it was only a virtual game and was also gathering research. 

"Horizon Worlds: About an hour into using the platform, a SumOfUs researcher was led into a private room at a party where she was raped by
a user who kept telling her to turn around so he could do it from behind while users outside the window could see – all while another user in the room watched and passed around a vodka bottle. This sexual act was non-consensual, and the researcher described the experience as “disorienting” and confusing. Click here to view a clip." https://drive.google.com/file/d/1558CIk75YtKrfNvJvQWkReG6VmxPpa81/view

Another researcher from SumOfUs says she was gang raped within 60 seconds. Another player in a sports game ECHO VR said a male player was recording her voice so he could jerk off to her cursing. 

A MUST READ:

https://www.sumofus.org/images/Metaverse_report_May_2022.pdf

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/female-researchers-avatar-sexually-assaulted-054939325.html

The above SumOfUs article is a must read to understand what is going on in the Metaverse world as told by researchers. At least we know this problem is being researched so we can have better security in place. But it doesn't stop with sexual harassment because there are also reports of racism and even gun violence. 

[Lens]

That's so disturbing. The Metaverse's dark side is obviously a very serious concern. i found out that the VR bodysuits and haptic feedback can enhance the experience, but they can also increase the risk of harassment and assault.

 

[Button]

On 8/23/2024 at 10:29 AM, Lens said:

That's so disturbing. The Metaverse's dark side is obviously a very serious concern. i found out that the VR bodysuits and haptic feedback can enhance the experience, but they can also increase the risk of harassment and assault.

 

That's absolutely correct . The incidents that was reported by SumOfUs are unacceptable. The VR companies must take responsibility for creating a safe environment. Implementing strict moderation is very neccesary and they should also ensure clear communication channels for users.