Virtual Reality Is the Rich White Ableist Kid of Technology

[kestrell]

Wired just published an article titled
Virtual Reality Is the Rich White Kid of Technology
https://www.wired.com/story/virtual-reality-rich-white-kid-of-technology/
and, coincidentally, this occurs at about the same time that I've come to the conclusion that , no matter what XRAccess.org keeps promising visually impaired tech users, media companies aren't really interested in developing accessible XR for visually impaired people.

Could it have anything to do with the fact that it's more difficult to sneak in advertising to visually impaired users than it is to, say, Facebook users
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2021/07/04/facebook-just-gave-1-million-oculus-users-a-reason-to-leave/?ss=cybersecurity&sh=396c7bfa76f5
wearing Oculus headsets?

Comments

[capri0mni]

Wait, capitalists are sneaking advertising into VR headset displays?

That's (how shall I say?) utterly terrifying.

I haven't wanted one. And now, I really don't.

[kestrell]

I'm not sure if it can be said that they are actually "sneaking" advertising in but, from what I got out of the older Facebook and Oculus article I linked to, Fb and Oculus seem to be issuing confusing statements regarding advertising, including whether consumers have any control over opting out of advertising, and how they are being tracked.

[capri0mni]

Yeah. Well. That's still terrifying.

[kestrell]

Agreed that it is way too similar to a dystopian science fiction movie.

[capri0mni]

And I was also thinking that another reason I'd never want a VR headset is that, although I'm a sightie, my cerebral palsy means I don't have total control over my posture, and if I start to lose balance, it takes a lot of effort to right myself, again (and in order to right myself, I have to grab hold of something solid in the real world, which VR hides from me).

And the idea of the imaginary world swinging around me when I don't have total control of my body is unappealing. The imaginary worlds of my daydreams have a much better gyroscopic feature, You Know?

Why would I want to spend hundreds of dollars for something that makes me motion sick?

That's a great article!

[jesse_the_k]

What if, instead of space travel and virtual worlds, our tech billionaires had been raised on exciting stories of a future with fast, efficient mass transit or a living wage for all workers? What would it be like if other social goals were afforded the same leeway and endless hype cycles we give to VR?