Tech oligarchs are encouraging the creation of virtual worlds as a cheap way to avoid problems in the real one.

  • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Eh, we'll see. The reason Facebook is investing so much money into VR in the first place is because of how natural a progression their current behavioral manipulation machinations transfer over to VR. The upcoming headset Facebook has been teasing is slated to included eye tracking, face tracking, and probably even heart rate sensing which will give them a slew of data into their user's behavioral responses. Combine that with all the other data facebook collects folded into their big behavior manipulation platform and we're gonna have quite the boring dystopia.

    • TheCaconym [any]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Perhaps, but personally I don't see VR ever taking off in its current state outside of a few useful industrial/business uses and the like; I tried a recent headset recently (one with the fingers thingy) and it's fun, sure, but as an alternative - even a very limited one - to the real world ? they suck quickly IMO. Perhaps for video games - and I'm not even sure about that - but watching a concert or having a meeting with them ? fuck no.

      • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Give it time, even at an estimated 5 million Facebook Quest units sold, we're still pretty early in the VR tech adoption cycle; Viable consumer VR wasn't even really a thing until about 10 years ago. As the tech improves, becomes lighter, more sensory captivating, AR tech will as well and between the two we'll end up with a considerable segment of the population spending most of their time in a curated echo chamber under control of some major corporation (probably fb/meta).

      • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        lol, yeah. That's my typical disclaimer, which one will get us first? Climate Change or Mixed Reality tech so advanced that the Matrix seems quaint?

        • TheCaconym [any]
          ·
          3 years ago

          Resource exhaustion and ecological collapse due to pollution and modern agricultural practices are also in the running.

    • LoudMuffin [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      The upcoming headset Facebook has been teasing is slated to included eye tracking, face tracking, and probably even heart rate sensing which will give them a slew of data into their user’s behavioral responses. Combine that with all the other data facebook collects folded into their big behavior manipulation platform and we’re gonna have quite the boring dystopia.

      :anprim-pat:

      sometimes I think Ted was right, what the fuck