Metaverse is a term used for interacting with each other in a three-dimensional virtual world. This is a far-seen future of the internet that Facebook is seeing for us. Facebook right now is meta, and it is working on forming a metaverse in the near future.
How easy would it be for businesses if they could know what each one of us is looking for? Now with this metaverse, your every move could be tracked to get an idea of what you want. Once it is found, you will be b=seeing that ad everywhere. This new concept does not change any marketing or business models that have previously existed. It has now just a different name with a new logo. It will be similar to Facebook.
So how is meta different than Facebook because Facebook tracks you, too, right? Meta will be using way more features to track you. Their accuracy will be fives times more than Facebook. To understand, think of a headset that you put on your head. This headset will be able to track your moves like your gaze on a billboard while walking down the street of the virtual world of the metaverse.
This would clearly tell them if it is what you desire. This also includes visiting a specific location from time to time or getting a drink from 7eleven before work. All these moves and habits will be tracked to get a picture of your desires and interests. As hard as it is to believe, this is the future of the virtual world.
Mark Skwarek, who is an industry associate professor at the NYU’s School of Engineering, mentioned, “If you are doing an augmented experience or a virtual experience, you could be collecting data on that user simultaneously,” He further added while talking to the Yahoo Finance. “You will be able to guess what people are thinking.”
So How could Meta’s metaverse possibly track you?
We all are now aware of how easily we are tracked through Facebook. Whether it’s a word you mentioned in a daily routine or you walked past someone who told you about the new gear he wanted for his gaming PC, the next thing you see on your Facebook is the tons of ads about it.
Although some people might like it, it is very creepy. It is like having eyes on you and all your moves constantly. There is no privacy.
In the future, there will be technologies to track your gaze at a specific item to tell the level of desirability you have for that item. While passing from a billboard, if you look at it for long, you will see ads popping up about it later. Whether you express desire through speech or your eyes, it will be all recorded and tracked.
Skwarek explained the idea by “It could be a way of drawing your attention to something without you even knowing that it is really happening.”
No effect on metaverse amid controversy
Frances Haugen recently leaked some confidential documents that showed that the company is not very quick to respond to hate speeches and sometimes even ignores such issues along with the apps horrible impacts on society like human trafficking and ruining self esteems and mental health of people. Because of Frances Haugen, the reality and down effects of the metaverse and its corporate came to light.
It was assumed that Facebook is changing its name to separate its name from these controversies. On October 28, Mark Zuckerberg made the name change official, but he did not discuss the ongoing controversies, just the future of metaverse.
He mentioned the Meta’s Cambria prototype headsets would have trackers for the face and gaze of the people. This will track the desires and certain emotions that arise while looking at the products. This would be very useful to businesses but to our privacy? Umm, not so much.
The assistant professor at Syracuse University who advertises Daniela Molta while talking mentioned that “The way I think about it is that these are all new touchpoints which can inform the profiles that they build around all of their users and the accounts today,” he also added, “That’s going to be massive for them because it’s going to create this new unique way that they can essentially target audiences.”
This includes ads anywhere in the metaverse world, either on billboards, stadium screens, or just randomly while taking an everyday walk on the virtual streets of this new metaverse.
A lot will be needed for Meta to make it work.
Mark Zuckerberg only just put forward the idea for now; for this to actually happen and work, it will take years. It will be a long shot. It can not happen quickly overnight. Even if they can do it quickly, they will still need to hold back and go slowly because of the chances of risks. These risk factors could destroy Facebook’s name and value in one strike.
As the recently leaked documents show, Meta hasn’t solved those problems on its own. So before it becomes as much a metaverse giant as it is a social media giant, Congress finally needs to step in and regulate at least some aspect of the company. Or we’ll just end up with Facebook with a new name.
From the recently leaked Facebook documents, we can clearly see how Facebook is working. Meta has still not tried to solve any issues even the Congress has not yet taken any notice of this issue and has not even tried to take a step to end this fool’s play and put some rules and regulations for Facebook to follow. If it does not happen and all this continues, then we might have to live with a 24/7 tracking system and with a new Facebook name.
Also Read: BPEA to Buy the Tricor Group from Permira in $2.8 billion