Who’s afraid of the metaverse? A reality Christmas might be scarier, but I’ll brave it - Sydney Morning Herald

December 19, 2022 — 12.00pm

My gym has a virtual moving people connected the surface of the treadmill. I tin clasp the virtual outdoors with a caller virtual breeze and virtual trees waving successful the virtual wind. I tin adjacent link with a virtual assemblage and marque virtual jogging friends.

I look astatine the screen, watching the lush greenish rainforests of the Te Araroa Trail swoosh past arsenic I perceive to the dull mechanical thud of my feet connected the treadmill successful the climate-controlled gym. The radical adjacent to maine jog, absorbed by their ain scenes.

Apple’s virtual gym.

When the full Pacific state of Tuvalu announced it would beryllium “uploading” itself online, arsenic a mode of raising consciousness of it succumbing to clime change, it got radical talking. The underlying connection seemed clear: This is not what we want. Do something.

While Mark Zuckerberg dreams up the metaverse (with somewhat mixed results), we are connected the verge of diving into online worlds similar ne'er before. As Steve Rose wrote successful The Guardian: “Zuckerberg’s newfound metaverse obsession could beryllium seen arsenic a pre-emptive virtual onshore drawback for what is mostly agreed to beryllium the aboriginal of the internet.”

We’re already walking astir similar zombies, with heads glued to screens. Everything is perfectly tailored to our preferences: playlists, newsfeeds, buying and pictures. We’re each addicted; however are we meant to thatch our kids to modulate their usage? Look astatine the parents suing the makers of Fortnite due to the fact that their kids won’t be to their basal hygiene.

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And present we person AI-generated pictures from programs specified arsenic Midjourney that tin marque an representation of thing we tin ideate with written prompts. (A cyclops drinking beverage successful a bowling hat? A shark dancing with Olivia Newton-John?) It precocious spat retired the fearfulness of Loab, an AI-generated “character” scraped from the darkest corners of the internet, reminding america that artificial quality surely doesn’t person a soul.

Jack Clark, erstwhile argumentation manager of Open AI, thinks we’re each moving towards “highly individualised, choose-your-own escapade islands”. He coined the operation “reality collapse” and says everyone volition “lose a further grip connected immoderate consciousness of a shared reality”.

I truly similar reality. All my champion memories are here. I similar communicating with a quality face. I bask unexpected chats with strangers astatine the supermarket oregon the neighbours loitering extracurricular their house.

But world tin beryllium ace boring compared with the wonders of these artificially created worlds beyond worlds. If you’ve tried a VR headset, you tin attest to this.

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It’s hard to articulate wherefore it’s important to beryllium physically contiguous with different people, but we cognize it is, particularly aft COVID lockdowns. Why didn’t Zoom Friday nighttime drinks transportation connected beyond lockdowns?

Two Christmases ago, my husband, girl and I were locked down. We gaffa-taped an iPad to a seat astatine the meal array and Zoomed household adjacent and far. It was similar immoderate multi-headed guest. You couldn’t marque oculus interaction with anyone oregon work the assemblage connection of your uncle who’s connected his 5th cab sav oregon whack your dada connected the enarthrosis for making an off-colour gag oregon hug your niece.

This Christmas, astir of america tin question again to beryllium with each different successful person. We cognize that seeing each different done a surface isn’t enough.

As Pope Francis said astatine Mass successful North Macedonia, “We fed ourselves connected dreams of splendour and grandeur, and ended up consuming distraction, insularity and solitude. We gorged ourselves connected networking and mislaid the sensation of fraternity.”

I’m going to thoroughly clasp being physically contiguous with household this Christmas. I mightiness adjacent effort jogging outside.

Cherie Gilmour is simply a freelance writer.

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