Following the announcement that Facebook'due south parent company would exist rebranding in a shift towards the Metaverse, many projects have started like initiatives entering the virtual space, from buying holding to testing the limits of what this universe has to offer.

Digital cities: Santa Monica and Seoul

The downtown Santa Monica District, west of Los Angeles, was one of the first real-world areas to allow users to have access to the metaverse through the FlickPlay app. Branded as a metaverse tool, walking around the commune seems to exist more of a limited augmented reality experience rather than a virtual 1, with people collecting digital tokens in the way of Pokémon GO.

In contrast, Seoul's entry into the Metaverse is expected to be a 100% virtual surround in one case launched in early on 2023. In November, the local government announced it would be starting its own platform, Metaverse Seoul, slowly integrating services related to the economy, culture, education and ceremonious complaints. In addition, the Korean capital planned to create virtual versions of its major tourist attractions and concord festivals in the Metaverse.

Seoul, South korea. Source: writer

Does Meta take a 'women problem'?

Following the launch of Horizon Worlds, the virtual reality game and online community platform released by Meta — formerly Facebook — at to the lowest degree i user reported that the virtual environment allowed sexual harassment. In a Thursday report from MIT Engineering Review, ane of Horizon's beta testers said a stranger had groped her avatar. Though in that location is a characteristic capable of encasing an avatar in a protective chimera to seemingly stop such an attack, the user was either unable to activate it in time or was otherwise unaware of it.

"At the stop of the twenty-four hours, the nature of virtual-reality spaces is such that it is designed to play tricks the user into thinking they are physically in a sure space, that their every bodily action is occurring in a 3D environment," said Katherine Cross, an online harassment researcher at the University of Washington. "It'south role of the reason why emotional reactions can be stronger in that space, and why VR triggers the same internal nervous system and psychological responses."

In Nov, another woman reported her metaverse persona nether attack, this time without the use of avatars and with seemingly more real-earth effects on her concern. When Facebook rebranded to Meta, Australian artist Thea-Mai Baumann reported being locked out of her Instagram business relationship. Her handle? "Metaverse."

Source: Thea-Mai Baumann's Instagram account, "metaverse"

Considering Meta owns Instagram and Baumann's account was relatively modest — fewer than one,000 followers at the time — many on social media suspected the company would simply seize her account rather than buy it. She ended up beingness locked out for more than a month without being able to verify her identity before Instagram restored access.

"This account is a decade of my life and piece of work. I didn't want my contribution to the metaverse to be wiped from the net," said Baumann. "That happens to women in tech, to women of color in tech, all the time."

Companies going meta

On Dec. x, Chinese cyberspace giant Baidu announced plans to launch its ain metaverse production, chosen XiRang, a universe capable of handling input from 100,000 users where it too plans to host an AI developer conference. The Baidu Create conference is expected to be held on Dec. 27.

A city in Baidu's metaverse. Source: Baidu

Sports footwear and apparel manufacturer Nike's products are officially going virtual post-obit the acquisition of virtual sneakers and collectibles make RTFKT this calendar week. RTFKT, which describes itself as "fully formed in the metaverse," will likely help Nike advance its own plans to "just do it."

Facebook whistleblower issues metaverse alarm

One-time Facebook employee Frances Haugen, who turned over thousands of documents that implied that the company was not doing what information technology claimed in regard to removing hate oral communication and posts encouraging violence, voiced her concerns nearly the metaverse. In a Thursday newsletter released by Time mag, Haugen said she was "super scared" about the potential risks of the virtual world for surveillance, socializing and more:

"When y'all get into the metaverse, your avatar is a little more handsome or pretty than yourself. You have better dress than we have in reality. The apartment is more stylish, more calm. And you take your headset off and you go to brush your teeth at the finish of the nighttime. And perhaps you just don't similar yourself in the mirror as much. That wheel... I'm super worried that people are going to wait at their flat, which isn't as overnice, and look at their face or their body, which isn't as nice, and say: 'I would rather have my headset on.'"