Introduction to Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2
Facebook has announced the most recent version of its successful standalone virtual reality (VR) headset, the Oculus Quest 2. The recent device packs more computing power and a sharper screen than its predecessor, and can also be US$100 cheaper. The Oculus Quest 2 is a strong wireless VR headset for gaming and, Facebook hopes, far more.
Facebook’s Long-Term Strategy
The Oculus Quest 2 is the most recent step in Facebook’s long-term strategy of constructing VR more accessible and popular. Facebook recently brought all its VR work under the umbrella of Facebook Reality Labs, it has announced recent applications just like the Infinite Office VR workplace, and can even require a Facebook login for future Oculus devices. This compulsory link to Facebook has many consumers concerned, considering the social media giant’s chequered history with privacy and data.
Why Facebook Makes Virtual Reality Headsets
Facebook acquired VR company Oculus in 2014 for an estimated US$2.3 billion. But where Oculus originally geared toward gamers, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg wants VR for social media. At the identical event last yr, Zuckerberg said Facebook sees VR as a pathway to a brand new sort of “social computing platform” using the improved feeling of “presence” that VR affords. For Facebook, the introduction of VR-based computing can be just like the leap from text-based command line interfaces to the graphical user interfaces we use today.
Virtual Reality Collects Real Data
A VR headset collects data concerning the user, but in addition concerning the outside world. This is considered one of the important thing ethical problems with emerging “mixed reality” technologies. As American VR researcher Jeremy Bailenson has written, business VR systems typically track body movements 90 times per second to display the scene appropriately, and high-end systems record 18 forms of movements across the pinnacle and hands. Consequently, spending 20 minutes in a VR simulation leaves slightly below 2 million unique recordings of body language. The way you progress your body might be used to discover you, like a fingerprint, so every part you do in VR might be traced back to your individual identity.
Virtual Reality Leads to Augmented Reality
Facebook wants to gather this data to facilitate its plans for augmented reality (AR). Where VR takes a user to a totally virtual environment, AR combines virtual elements with our real surroundings. Last yr Facebook unveiled the Live Maps application, a vision of an expansive surveillance apparatus presumably powered by AR glasses and data collected from Oculus Insight. Live Maps will provide many minor conveniences for Facebook users, like letting you realize you’ve left your keys on the coffee table.
The Concerns of Data Extraction
People are rightly concerned concerning the ethical implications of this sort of data extraction. Alongside Project Aria, Facebook launched its Responsible Innovation Principles page, they usually’re already quick to stress that faces and license plates can be blurred on this data collection. As we’ve got argued elsewhere, framing questions on VR and AR surveillance by way of individual privacy suits corporations like Facebook thoroughly. That’s because their previous failings are literally within the (un)ethical use of information and their asymmetric platform power.
The Need for Regulation
Groups just like the XR Safety Initiative recognise these emerging issues, and are starting work on standards, guidelines and privacy frameworks to shape VR and AR development. Many emerging technologies encounter what’s often known as the Collingridge problem: it is tough to predict the varied impacts of a technology until it’s extensively developed and widely used, but by then it is sort of unattainable to regulate or change. We see this playing out at once, in efforts to control Google and Facebook’s power over news media.
Conclusion
The Oculus Quest 2 is a strong device that marks a major step in Facebook’s long-term strategy of constructing VR more accessible and popular. However, the compulsory link to Facebook and the potential for data extraction raise significant concerns. As we move forward right into a future where VR and AR are increasingly prevalent, it’s essential that we consider the implications of those technologies and work towards creating regulations that protect users’ privacy and rights. Ultimately, the query we must ask ourselves is whether or not Facebook’s virtual-reality future and others prefer it really want to exist, and if there are alternative routes to realize the identical goals without compromising our privacy and security.
