metaverse

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UK Police Investigate Girl's Virtual Rape

Traumatic VR attack and others like it could spawn new laws prohibiting such behavior

(Newser) - Police in the UK have launched what's believed to be the first investigation of an alleged virtual rape. A girl younger than 16 was using a virtual reality (VR) headset when avatars controlled by adult men attacked her avatar, causing what a senior officer describes as "psychological trauma...

An Obituary for Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse
The Metaverse
Is Dead, and Meta
May Be Next
OPINION
May 9, 2023 4:24 PM CDT

The Metaverse Is Dead, and Meta May Be Next

Ed Zitron at Business Insider writes a scathing indictment of the CEO's leadership

(Newser) - The Metaverse still exists, but Ed Zitron at Business Insider has written an obituary for Mark Zuckerberg's brainchild. Literally: "The Metaverse, the once-buzzy technology that promised to allow users to hang out awkwardly in a disorientating video-game-like world, has died after being abandoned by the business world,"...

Report: Metaverse Rife With Rape, 'Toxic Content'

Researchers urge Meta to weigh the potential harms and protect users

(Newser) - The metaverse is still a work in progress, but it’s already attracting the worst of the internet. Per Business Insider, a researcher's avatar was raped in Meta-owned Horizon Worlds "within an hour after she donned her Oculus virtual-reality headset." It's one of several examples described...

Walmart Is Getting Into an Unlikely New Sector

Retail giant files trademarks suggesting entry into the metaverse, with NFTs and cryptocurrency

(Newser) - Facebook isn't the only corporate behemoth wading into the metaverse . Now, Walmart appears to be dipping its toes in, filing multiple new trademarks at the end of last year that hint at plans to offer NFTs, a cryptocurrency, and virtual goods to consumers, reports CNBC . Although it's not...

Artist: 'Metaverse' Insta Handle Blocked After FB Name Change

Australia's Thea-Mai Baumann used the 'metaverse' handle, then suddenly got blocked

(Newser) - For nearly a decade, Thea-Mai Baumann, once the owner of an augmented-reality company called Metaverse Makeovers, used the Instagram handle "metaverse" to showcase her creative work. Last month, however, the Australian artist says she suddenly wasn't able to access her Insta, and she suspects Facebook's recent rebranding...

Usage of Collins' Word of the Year Jumped 11,000%

Dictionary chooses 'NFT' over 'metaverse'

(Newser) - We've moved on from "lockdown" to the year of the "NFT." Use of the abbreviation for "nonfungible token" jumped more than 11,000% this year, propelling it to the title of Collins Dictionary's word of the year, per the BBC . NFT—defined by Collins...

Behold, Facebook Is Building a 'Metaverse'
Behold, Facebook Is
Building a 'Metaverse'
THE RUNDOWN
Oct 19, 2021 9:20 AM CDT

Behold, Facebook Is Building a 'Metaverse'

Company touts concept of a massive shared virtual world, but critics have some questions

(Newser) - In his 1992 sci-fi novel, Snow Crash , Neal Stephenson mentions a concept called the "Metaverse," a giant, shared virtual world combining augmented reality with virtual reality, where users appear as avatars and access this new world via special goggles. Facebook is now ready to bring that idea to...

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