Hi there! I hope you had a great start to 2023. 👉 Inclusion guidelines for AR/VR creators and policymakers in: “So, what can we do?” section.
⏳ 6 min read
AR/VR technologies enable us to see the world from a wider perspective. When we put a headset on, we are “teleported” to another reality. Immersive journalism, pioneered by Nonny de la Peña, shows how experiences that are far from us can be seen and even felt thanks to AR/VR headsets. Check the immersive piece Project Syria released in 2013. Who said the metaverse was new?
Here, I refer to the metaverse as a vision for the next wave of computing that is ubiquitous, seamless, and immersive—making use of AR and VR.
AR/VR technologies powering the metaverse are great tools for creating empathy. We put ourselves in the shoes of an AR/VR character to experience another reality and expand our vision. What a great opportunity for inclusion and education. Check Justin Beaver, that educates about climate change, pollution, and global warming from the eyes of an animal.
There is not a single point of view. There are thousands.
Here is where inclusion comes in.
Inclusion in the metaverse
Why inclusion? Because there is discrimination given inequalities among humans. That’s obvious. The tech space is a direct reflection of the human space. Inequalities, biases, and power asymmetries are present in tech.
We are in the early stages of democratizing the metaverse. Shaping the space with inclusive practices is key to recognizing our diversity. However, developing inclusive practices remains a challenge given the sophisticated interactions, huge amount of data, and level of immersion of AR/VR technologies.
In the lines below I summarize—in my style—the report: Extended Reality (XR) Ethics and Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility from the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics and Extended Reality by Dylan Fox and Isabel Guenette Thornton.
The inclusion banquet
At the inclusion banquet, there is constant chatter and debate between the great opportunities afforded by AR/VR technologies and the great challenges derived from them. One of these big challenges deserves a special place at our banquet: data.
Metaverse challenges
There are two types of inclusion challenges: accessibility and equity.
Accessibility is about providing access to technology to fully engage in a metaverse experience.
Unfortunately, we are far from full accessibility today. Accessibility features for people with disabilities need to be reinvented for immersive experiences.
👉 Check XR Access, leading the way in developing accessible AR/VR.
Beyond this, accessibility is also about technology access and depends on basic infrastructure elements such as electricity or internet access.
Access to infrastructure will be a main factor in increasing the digital divide between low-income and high-income countries in the years to come. Technological requirements for the metaverse will continuously increase, making the gap more obvious and making metaverse technologies a privilege.
Equity is about the fair treatment of people in metaverse experiences.
Let’s dig a bit more: 🔎 the difference between equality and equity is small but worth mentioning. Equality assumes everybody should be treated the same, while equity considers a person’s unique circumstances, adjusting the treatment so that the result is equal. This means creating experiences that are not discriminatory in nature.
This is tricky. Very tricky.
As metaverse creators, we should aim to reduce inequalities in immersive experiences; however, the reality is that we have our own biases (most of the time, unconscious) while building immersive experiences. Plus, we are also influenced by the culture we live in, the corporate culture we work for, the priorities of the team we are included in, etc.
So, the best antidote for ensuring equity is to have diversity. The more diverse the creators, the more diverse and inclusive the metaverse space will become.
Data is a key player for equity. We are aware that biometric data is collected by advanced headsets (check MDE#02 Metaverse Data Privacy). That, combined with social media data raises concerns for equity. Especially for marginalized populations that have been historically more affected by privacy concerns.
Plus, the metaverse presents a scenario for obfuscating data. “Obfuscation privatizes information by making it inaccessible in practice” according to UNC Associate Professor Tressie McMillan Cottom. Obfuscation is a threat to all potential users, but marginalized groups are more exposed.
And now, let’s check the other side of the coin: the opportunities. ✨
Metaverse opportunities
The metaverse is a land of opportunities to reinvent interaction possibilities for marginalized groups. Sounds cool, right?
It’s true: customization is at the heart of reducing inequalities. By customizing experiences, we allow diverse modes of expression and interaction.
An example is avatar customization. Here is an interesting paper on avatar diversity for people with disabilities in social VR.
The metaverse offers great opportunities to include people with disabilities. My personal take here is the work at the Full-Body Interaction Lab in Barcelona, where I learned to design for children with autism. I understood the great potential of AR/VR technologies for shaping human behavior and helping people with disabilities. This was when I committed to the AR/VR space. 🔥
So, what can we do?
The report from the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics for XR presents simple and accessible guidelines for creators and policymakers.
The full guide is here. Below I provide my 2 cents.
Best practices for AR/VR creators:
Keep this in mind: “Provide comparable experiences for all users.”
How? By giving customization options for diverse users. For example, options to customize the level of detail of the experience (it directly impacts cognitive load), or to customize the speed or time for certain actions. Also adding bypass functions, undo/redo functions, and the option to save progress is an inclusive measure that could help users with cognitive and motor impairments.
Recommendations for policymakers:
Check “Principles and policies to unlock the potential of AR/VR for equity and inclusion” by Ellysse Vittoria Dick from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
👉 Check XRAccessibility Project, by XR Access, the most complete list of accessibility resources that I have seen so far. Worth mentioning are resources classified according to developer platforms and developer communities organized around several topics on AR/VR accessibility such as gaming accessibility.
By being inclusive, we are not only creating a fairer space that avoids social biases and power relations that enlarge inequalities, but also betting on a more equitable future. Take the initiative, embrace diversity and step out of your comfort zone.
Be inclusive, be creative, be courageous. 🔥
Bye for now!
Exciting news to kick off the year! I had the honor of participating in a panel on diversity and inclusion at the Nordic Metaverse Summit, hosted by the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies in my beloved Denmark.
SPIE XR brings me to San Francisco for the first half of February. Let’s connect if you are in the Bay area! Feel free to drop me an email or connect here.
Just click below 👇 to keep updated on the next ones. I am looking forward to having you as part of this expanding community.