Elections are on everybody’s mind this year, with roughly two-thirds of the world going to the polls in 2024. In that context, the impact of emerging technologies has been widely discussed and fretted about.
It is clear that the use of generative AI, for example, has the potential to negatively impact democratic processes and undermine trust in democratic systems. Virtual worlds have not yet permeated society—but it is worth looking ahead and imagining a world in which people spend more time using immersive technologies. Issues such as online disinformation will pose even greater risks in virtual worlds with detrimental effects on democracies around the globe.
Immersive disinformation
Immersive technologies will enable a more deceptive kind of disinformation. The brain struggles to differentiate between virtual and real experiences. As a consequence of more embodied and immersive technology, the potential for psychological and emotional manipulation is immense.
Users will communicate not just with words but with body language and nonverbal signals like gestures and facial expressions, primarily perceived subconsciously. A series of experiments run by a group of Stanford researchers showed that avatars programmed to mimic a user’s behaviour and features are perceived as trustworthy and credible. This finding was applied in a series of five follow-up studies in which participants from a random sample received images of politicians that were subtly manipulated to resemble the respective participant’s features. None of the participants detected the changes. Yet, the manipulation led to a twenty per cent shift in favour of the politician as compared to the control group that received a non-manipulated image of the same politician.
At scale, this kind of digital manipulation has the potential to swing elections and lead to further polarisation, potentially wreaking havoc during election periods. This example illustrates the challenges we will face navigating virtual worlds.
Potential policy solutions
Immersive technologies are still in their infancy, which provides an opportunity to anticipate and act to prevent novel challenges. Getting a better picture of the psychological impact of immersive technologies should be the first step. For instance, research shows that emotions are heightened, and users struggle to differentiate between experiences that happened in the virtual world or the physical world. Consequently, they are more susceptible to disinformation as the latter feels more realistic, which can have dangerous consequences. Conspiracy theories and disinformation deliberately evoke strong feelings like fear or anger, leading people to change their behaviour or take action. The storming of the U.S. Capitol in 2021 is an example of how online disinformation can have severe, real-world consequences. Thus, policies and guidelines for the further development and deployment of immersive technologies should be grounded in scientific evidence.
Additionally—and ideally in parallel—we should closely observe user behaviour and note all the techniques deployed by malicious actors in virtual worlds to get a sense of the range of emotional manipulation attempts and the context in which they take place. Doing this will help set rules and shape and future-proof legislation in a space where content moderation will become even trickier than on social media platforms.
Digital literacy
Lastly, the need for robust digital literacy skills—“the ability to access, manage, understand, integrate, communicate, evaluate and create information safely and appropriately through digital technologies,”—will only increase. Of course, private companies who create virtual worlds should ensure the safety and integrity of their services by putting appropriate measures and policies in place.
Yet, relying on platforms and service providers alone is not enough. Users need to learn how to stay safe when navigating online and virtual spaces, especially when it comes to protecting themselves from disinformation. For instance, every user should know how to quickly verify information or spot manipulated images or videos. This requires constant learning to keep up with the latest “trends” in disinformation. While it takes time to implement and see tangible results, digital literacy is a sustainable measure worth pursuing. It can have a substantial positive impact on the safety of users online. Thus, digital literacy interventions, including their funding, should be an integral part of any guidelines, toolboxes and regulations to fight disinformation.
Putting these guardrails in place before immersive technology has been widely adopted will help prevent further erosion of trust and safeguard democratic processes.
EU Metaverse policy
European Commission
- The Joint Research Centre published its second report on Shaping the Next Generation of Virtual Worlds. It summarises a conference that shed light on the role of anticipatory research, the need for a common European approach, and EU actions to support businesses in this space.
Council of the EU
- As part of its strategy on virtual worlds, the EU asked its members to nominate representatives for an expert group on “the transition to Web 4.0 and Virtual worlds”. The group held its first meeting in March—minutes here 📝. The national experts will next meet on 20 June.
- The Council validated the European Commission’s proposal for a European Partnership on Virtual Worlds—“one more step taken towards its future implementation”, according to the European Commission’s Anne Bajart.
Elsewhere
- The International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (IATBA) published a comprehensive response to the Commission’s consultation on competition in Generative AI & Virtual Worlds. Among IATBA’s suggestions: “Promoting data access and transparency through regulatory interventions via data portability requirements or algorithmic transparency obligations can help enhance competition and facilitate antitrust enforcement in the digital sector.”
- The Metaverse European Research Network held its seventh webinar, “Final Fantasy: A Roadmap for Virtual Property in the Metaverse.”
- As part of its series of Deep Dive Discussions, XR4Europe, an industry association, interviewed University of Bologna XR researcher Emmie Hine.
- Visegrad Insight, an analysis and media platform focused on Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), released a report, “CEE Voices on the Metaverse”. It cites the region’s advantages, for example, in the gaming sector (the highest-rated VR game, Beat Saber, was created by a team of Slovaks and released by a Czech gaming studio). The report calls on CEE policymakers to build awareness of the metaverse and create cohesive national strategies, and “while [EU-level] overregulation is a looming danger, the metaverse could use some common standards”.
- The Europeana Foundation provided an update on its Twin it! campaign, a collaboration with the European Commission that invites EU members’ culture ministries to submit at least one heritage asset to be digitalised. So far, 22 have. More about the Twin it! campaign below.
Business
🇬🇷 The MASTER project, which uses XR technology to train robots, published an open call for developers. It closes 31 May.
🇫🇮 Basemark, an augmented reality company that builds displays onto car windshields, raised over €18 million more in its latest funding round, which included investments from Business Finland and the European Innovation Council.
Global Corner
Policy
🇬🇧 The UK government released a report, “IP and Metaverse(s)”, which explores the meaning of the Metaverse, the importance of intellectual property and lamenting “an obvious gap in the literature especially considering that IP law and regulation are fundamental to the constitution of the Metaverse.”
🇺🇸 The XR Association, a prominent DC-based association, published its response to the European Commission’s consultation on Generative AI and Virtual Worlds. The response leans heavily on the principle of “openness” and calls on the Commission to create a competitive environment for EU business by supporting R&D and facilitating a predictable regulatory environment.
📚 IEEE opened a call for papers on Technology Management in Metaverse Technology and Applications. Submissions can range from 500-10,000 words and cover topics ranging from governance to machine-learning solutions to human-centric design. The call ends on 20 June.
📄 The World Economic Forum published two new reports on the metaverse: Metaverse Identity: Defining the Self in a Blended Reality, to which Metaverse EU 🙋contributed, and Navigating the Industrial Metaverse: A Blueprint for Future Innovations.
🔒 Researchers at the University of Chicago published a study revealing potential significant security vulnerabilities in Meta’s virtual reality headsets, claiming they figured out how to hack into them.
UK-based with experience using social VR? Take a minuteto fill in Immersive Wire’s survey into rates of harassment in VR.
Business
🥽 Meta announced it’s opening up its Horizon OS software to third-party headsets, as part of its strategy to build an open ecosystem. Meta was also the latest company to join the AR Alliance for Augmented Reality Wearable Devices (a program of the IEEE).
⚽ Premier League sides such as Arsenal and Chelsea are working with LocalGlobe, a tech investor, and Improbable, a virtual worlds builder, to create a ‘virtual league’: a platform to host events of up to 30,000 fans to interact with matches in real-time in virtual stadiums. Investor Saul Klein described the league as the “third wave of football” after live broadcasts and social media.
- Arsenal, who are looking to celebrate their 20th year without winning the Premier League, will be hoping to simulate success in the virtual world.
🌍 Nvidia announced its climate digital twin platform, which simulates and visualises weather and climate to reduce economic losses due to extreme weather.
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