Like anything else tech related, there is a need to proceed with caution. Here are a few things that you need to think about!
The metaverse, a concept being touted as the future of the internet, that will change the way we react to and see the net forever. A virtual world unlike any other.
But is it really going to be everything they say it is? There are a lot of potential uses and benefits to the metaverse, but just as many criticisms and potential problems.
Digital Safety
Digital safety is something that everyone needs to take very seriously. From thieves who steal your credit card information, to full-on identity theft and fraud, there’s a lot of crime on the internet that can potentially affect a single person.
Given that the company at the forefront of the metaverse currently is Facebook, this could potentially be a huge problem. Facebook is hardly known for its data security, with frequent security breaches, stolen user data, and leaked passwords being only a few problems they’ve faced.
The metaverse will store a lot more than just your passwords and banking details. It’ll store you. Your behaviors, your entire personality can be mimicked and stolen in such a world. The current security strategies and technologies just aren’t there yet, we’d need to seriously step up our game in the department if we want the metaverse to be completely safe for every user.
Mental Health and Addiction
If Ready Player One is anything to go by, the future of the metaverse will be wrought with increasing mental health troubles. Depression, anxiety, worsening conditions all over. An addiction to social media is already incredibly harmful, and current data show that the excessive use of social media by the average person leads to worsening mental health across the board.
With something as immersive and potentially addicting as the metaverse, it’s easy to see why precautions must be taken to protecting not only the safety of the metaverse users, but the state of their mental health as well.
Hardware Limitations
The metaverse will require significant hardware to run according to the vision of Mark Zuckerberg. The current Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality tech are still in their infancy. These are large and bulky appliances, not to mention the prohibitive cost for most people. Not just anyone can go out and purchase a VR headset.
In Conclusion
Like any other new tech on the horizon, the metaverse is facing quite a number of challenges. However, developers are hard at work improving tech and boosting innovation every day. Soon enough, they’ll figure out how to make this dream a reality.
