Carol Voderman was on Channel 5 again this morning. She (and Jeremy Vine) went into more depth about the Metaverse/VR experience and what it's like to use it. it effectively convinces the brain that it is real life.
It really is immersive, can be enjoyable and can be used to help medical problems- I do hope to get the chance to use it sometime.
It's even possible to have a group chat with friends as if you are all altogether. I think that this will partially replace social media and, in time, will replace chat rooms and forums. Those who are children now will see conversing via typing in words as quaintly old fashioned and are expected to spend ten years of their lives in total in the Metaverse.
Sadly, as ever, trolls, paedophiles and bigots etc spoil the wonderful possibilities that this technology offers.
Carol Voderman said that half of the women researched who had used it had been sexually harassed, groped and abused; she also said that there is a lot of harassment of people of colour. She highlighted an incident where a black man was racially abused and then effectively beaten up (apparently, you are able to physically feel it if someone hits you).
Another incident was where a seven year old girl was approached by a paedophile, so you can guess the rest.
This is why she says that she is campaigning for the Metaverse to be specifically included in the Online Safety Bill. She believes that anything that would be illegal in real life should also be illegal in the Metaverse. She thinks that the mental health problems caused by internet trolls is bad enough, but that this will be much worse as, if you use the analogy of describimg the internet as water, the Metaverse is akin to diving into a swimming pool.
https://www.channel5.com/show/jeremy...022/episode-79