Amid the rapid development of the virtual environment, members of the World Economic Forum (WEF) have expressed concerns about the anonymity and safety of children in the metaverse.
CEO of WPP advertising holding Wunderman Thompson and WEF partner in initiatives to protect children from the risks of the virtual environment Mark Read (Mark Read) declaredthat although the metaverses are being promoted as an alternative world for all age groups, a significant share of the tools for interacting with virtual reality is occupied by gaming applications.
Reed believes that gaming products are most in demand among children and teens, so these age groups will be the first to be exposed to the experience of interacting with the metaverse.
“Children spend a huge amount of time playing games on a variety of devices. If parents do not adequately control the content that children use, then young people become witnesses to a wide variety of behavior, including violence and abuse. Therefore, the control of children in the metaverse falls on the shoulders of companies engaged in this market,” Reid said.
According to the WPP Wunderman Thompson report, 72% of parents familiar with the metaverse are concerned about the privacy of their children, and another 66% are concerned about their safety. Based on the results of this survey, WEF participants prepared recommendations for monitoring youth interactions with the metaverses.
The recommendations presented state that companies specializing in the metaverse must learn to develop better algorithms and business models, as well as effectively intervene in potentially dangerous situations that traumatize children’s psyches. WEF members note that anticipating new youth behavior should be part of the metaverse development strategy:
“The Metaverse provides immersive 3D digital experiences and activities never seen before. In addition, we are seeing a new set of behaviors, some of which are worrying.”
Some companies have already begun creating protected metaverses specifically for children. So, in April, one of the largest developers of computer games, Epic Games, and the manufacturer of children’s construction sets Lego announced the joint development of a metaverse for children.
Source: Bits
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