“That’s not where my office should be!” Early in the morning, Louise Eccles decided to set herself a challenge: it is in the metaverse that the journalist from Times is going to carry out her working day, an experience that she recounts through the menu in this video translated by Courrier international. After creating her avatar, she joins her meeting by videoconference in the morning: it is therefore with the virtual version of herself that her colleague must discuss. So far, nothing too disturbing: the avatar nods, moves its hands, mimics human interactions quite well.
If there are different definitions of metaverse, explain The Times, “it’s basically a virtual world where you can play, socialize and visit exotic places through a virtual reality headset”. The journalist from the British daily borrowed an Oculus Quest 2, a headset developed by Meta – the new name of Facebook’s parent company – to experience the virtual world of the firm.
After a rather successful start, Louise Eccles encountered some difficulties: “After my meeting, I check my emails and read the news, but the experience is much more complicated than with my computer or my laptop”, she explains. His midday sports exercises are on the other hand very conclusive, a real “point fort” of the metaverse according to the journalist: “You can take great bike rides, wield a lightsaber, or take a boxing class and feel like you’re sweating a lot.”
In the afternoon, the Briton explains that she was nauseous because of the virtual movements, which even prompted her to take a pill. Some actions also posed difficulties for him, due to insufficient control of the joysticks: making tea, for example – an all-British activity if ever there was one – proved to be very difficult in the virtual environment.
At the end of the day, Louise Eccles tries her hand at shopping. The metaverse allows users to enter virtual shops and, for example, to have their avatar try on clothes, which are supposed to have realistic proportions. We can also “try a hair dryer on a virtual lock of hair”which is not very useful, concludes the journalist.
Finally, the experience ends with an attempt at socialization, in a “meeting place in the mountains”. Despite the instructions inviting users not to make inappropriate gestures or remarks towards other avatars, the journalist very quickly encounters men with inappropriate behavior. “Many women have complained of sexual harassment in the metaverse,” she specifies, while a complete stranger does not take long to ask her without preamble what are her “favorite porn categories”.
“The dysfunctions remain numerous”concludes the journalist from Timeswho wonders if we are “really ready” to join the metaverse.
“Tech giants claim this is the future of social relationships, but after twenty-four hours of communicating through my headset, I wonder if virtual reality isn’t encouraging anti-social behavior more than human interaction. .”