Safety within Tricky Metaverse

Today, let’s have a look at how to maintain Safety within Tricky Metaverse. Thisarticle has been written by Sagar Chandola, who believes that metaverse to be explored as a holistic wellness decentralised ‘opportunity’. More on him, at the end of the article.

Safety within Tricky Metaverse

by Sagar Chandola

The buzzword to keep the creativity abuzz in the metaverse is measured actions. Ever thought of being able to surf WTF – Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook and the entire gamut of Social media and Online accounts seamlessly with all information harmoniously streamlined and integrated? Being fed content and be able to create content in line with your Real and Goal-Directed Persona?
Now envision this integration in a 3D/4D and dimensions beyond.

Enter the Metaverse

Nearly 30 years ago author Neal Stephenson coined the term ‘Metaverse’ in his cyberpunk novel Snow Crash to describe an online, Virtual world where the inhabitants of earth could interact and escape the dystopian unpleasantness of meatspace.

The metaverse itself is suddenly a hot topic, even though the underlying technology trends and movies based on concepts such as Parallel universe, have been underway for years. As in the internet’s early days itself, this immersive interoperability innovation likely contains pockets of speculation — especially since a true metaverse, as some refer to it as XR or Extended Reality (a seamless integration of 3D webspaces with Biomedical signals), leading to a hallucination like teleportation as tech visionaries imagine it, is still years away.
A stunningly realistic digital world where every facet of the real world is replicated and your actions in the metaverse even reflected in RL (Real Life, as metaverse enthusiasts like to call the Space &Time earth dimension where we Co-exist corroborated by Einstein).
Being able to create the XR metaverse can also be called the ultimate triumph of advanced technologies. Benefits of the unusual experiences ranging from Therapeutic rehabilitation and relaxation to Learning & Development transgressing the Extended Bloom’s taxonomy for Cognition and Learning, to even Industrial and Military applications.

But all coins have two sides and so does the Metaverse

While Physical replications of your actions in the Metaverse on the Real world, will take a few more years, however the Psychological impacts are very much existent.

Blue whale challenge was just a sneak peek into the vulnerabilities of the human mind to innocuous looking actions in immersive environments like the Metaverse. Instant gratification is the USP of the Metaverse. What might take years to build in RL, can be built in the Metaverse through a click. Creating a neural  pathway opening unforeseen hazards.
Best is to separate the reality from the hype as decision makers oversee its’ growth and evolution. Take an approach of ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

Cloud technology is addressing the processing power and storage to support extended reality and immersive interfaces. Emerging technologies like Block chain further facilitating this growth.

IEEE P1828 an initiative of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Elctronics Engineers) to lay the foundation of the ‘3D Internet for business usage’, calls this space as serious gaming. That should be the thumb rule and guiding light for all policy makers too to ensure the growth does not come unnecessarily on the ‘moral radar’.

• Allow access to only 3+ age category for your young ones.
• Ensure without multi factor authentication no financial transactions are undertaken, with the option to nullify the transaction till a week.
• Disable location tracking and cookies services, till you are comfortable with any application
• Educate your kids as to what would classify as bullying and unwarranted ‘Cyber touch’
• Supervised Parental control and restrict browsing for Under 16 years old to filtered content as feasible
• Encourage them to share their concerns and make them want to protect and be protected.
• Knowledge disseminating is a known Anti-bullying trait, encourage them to become Givers and Knowledge disseminators
• Measured actions being taken, if you observe dramatic shift in their privacy concerns. Test the waters under your supervision before allowing an eventual free hand to your young ones.
• Let your near dear ones create communities to share and resolve peer concerns themselves.
• Anonymity is the driving force on such platforms, learn to draw a line when it come to engaging and being engaged anonymously.

The advancements in Advance technologies will be based around coopetition and open innovation. Metaverse comes with its’ own transitional risks. Regulation takes time, and more so when it needs to apply globally.
Make sure your near and dear ones are upto speed safely and don’t loose out on the revolution.

About the Author

For sever al years, Sagar Chandola aka Sigar, has executed controlled testing of Immersive experiences, analyzed the consumer aspect of new technologies, questioned the prevailing wisdom of policy making in the Tech/Branding/Marketing in Industries ranging from FMCG to Wellness to Education and issued regular industry “alerts” on the findings that enjoy 20000+ followers on Instagram and 1500+ connections on LinkedIn.
Besides being an author of 6 Books and India’s First Million USD NFT listed on the market for his book 100+ Tales Behind the Mask he is the first person from India to be inducted into the IEEE P1828 board, dedicated to laying the foundation of the 3D internet with a focus on mapping industry requirements in the Metaverse.