Wolverton: VR’s father worried about technology’s future

ceratop001

One might think that Jaron Lanier would be elated right now.

More than 30 years after his pioneering work in virtual reality, VR finally appears to be on the verge of becoming a mass-market phenomenon. Major companies are investing in the technology; high-profile products are hitting store shelves; and developers of all sorts are creating VR experiences.

But rather than being excited, Lanier is deeply worried.

He’s disturbed about how both the market for VR and the technology are developing. In particular he’s concerned about how virtual reality technology will put even more power in the hands of a very small number of already powerful companies.

“We can’t keep on pretending that this isn’t a gigantic problem,” Lanier told me in a phone call last week. “We have more power than we can handle.”

I called Lanier to get his thoughts on Daydream, Google’s effort to create a standard for virtual reality on smartphones. Lanier demurred on that topic, noting that he had numerous conflicts of interest. He works for Microsoft, one of Google’s competitors. Google purchased the technology owned by one of his companies. He knows and is friends with many of the people who work on Google’s virtual reality projects as well as those who work for other companies.

“I’m very much not a neutral person,” he said.

While Lanier didn’t want to critique any company’s particular VR effort, he did want to discuss the dangers he sees in how the technology is developing.

“This, more than the (artificial intelligence) stuff, is where we’re going to face the greatest ethical challenge in coming years,” he said.

Part of his fear stems from the amount of data that’s likely to be collected by virtual reality systems. In order to maintain the illusion of virtual reality, such systems have to keep track of what users are doing, what they’re paying attention to and what they’re responding to, Lanier noted. From that kind of data, such systems — or the companies behind them — might be able to glean or infer all kinds of things, such as what we’re attracted to. They may even — by how we move or react — be able to identify medical conditions.

Lanier’s outlook is also informed by how control over the technology is being concentrated into the hands of a relatively small number of companies. Right now, the companies at the forefront of VR are Facebook, with Oculus; Google, with Cardboard and Daydream; Samsung, which is collaborating with both Facebook and Google; Sony; HTC and Steam, which have collaborated on the HTC Vive. You can also add in Microsoft, which is working on augmented reality, a related technology; and Apple, which is reportedly working on both AR and VR projects.

Full Story: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2016/05/24/wolverton-vrs-father-worried-about-technologys-future/

SEANMCAD

he is worried about there not being enough competition in the smartphone...um I mean VR...business?

SpottyGekko

Huh ?

How is new technology NOT always controlled by a handful of large companies with deep pockets ?

It's not like anyone can just start a cottage-industry to make VR headsets, lol

Lanier is a complete idealist, he has some interesting things to say, but sometimes he just comes off as a new-age digital hippie, lol