As is the case with all new technology, it is easy to lose oneself in the excitement of the most recent developments and fascination of the possibilities when looking at VR/AR. However, it is important to also address parts that might prove to have a negative impact, be it in terms of emotional and physiological responses, environmental concerns, data safety or something else.
So, for this blog post, I decided to look into safety concerns that come with the usage of VR hard- and software and possible dangers connected to it, as a fitting wrap-up to my previous ventures.
Since it is a relatively new sector, augmented reality is rather vulnerable to cyber attacks like spoofing, data manipulation or snooping.1
VR-headsets are basically variations of a computer, and VR-experiences are essentially software applications, which means that a VR system is just as susceptible to issues of cyber criminality as phones or computers. A VR headset could be just as easily falling victim to a cyber attack as every other computer, possibly resulting in data breaches that can leak personal information, lead to identity theft or cause damage to the hard- and software, amongst other things. One fact that stood out to me in particular was how severely personal information might be endangered when we are talking about virtual reality: VR-systems need to track the user’s movements in order to even work properly. What most people don’t know, however, is the fact that a person’s movement is just as individual as their fingerprints, thus possibly enabling companies to always identify a person based on their movement data and without their consent.2
Due to a person’s unique movement pattern, it is almost impossible to anonymize VR- and AR-tracking data. Scientists already managed to identify users very precisely, which would be a real issue if a VR-system were to be hacked.3
VR-applications collect a lot more data than conventional technologies, as they can listen to all of the users conversation via the live mic, collect biometric data and even record eye-tracking data, thus determining what the user might look at.4
So, one of the most imminent dangers of using augmented reality technologies is the fact that the applications and hardware collect a lot of information about who the user is and what they are doing. With this, questions such as „what do AR-companies use the acquired user data for“ or „Does the company share the data with third parties“ arise.3
Generally, when big brands offer certain technologies, the public has a much higher level of trust for these applications or devices without really addressing concerns about them or questioning the product. Over-trusting is a real issue, as it is important for users and designers of VR-products to concern themselves with topics like the previously mentioned dangers of hacking, impact of user age on their experience, or the response of a user to unexpected issues such as hurting oneself while using a VR-appliance.5
Sources
1. Thetechrobot. “What are the Security and Privacy Risks of VR and AR” medium.com. Published September 21, 2023. https://medium.com/@thetechrobot609/what-are-the-security-and-privacy-risks-of-vr-and-ar-264896d290f3
2. IEEE. “Virtual Reality Security” IEEE Digital Reality. 2022. https://digitalreality.ieee.org/publications/virtual-reality-security
3. Kaspersky. “VR und AR: Risiken für die Sicherheit und Privatsphäre” Kaspersky. n.d. https://www.kaspersky.de/resource-center/threats/security-and-privacy-risks-of-ar-and-vr
4. Awais, Maham. “What are the potential risks of virtual reality?” Educative.io. n.d. https://www.educative.io/answers/what-are-the-potential-risks-of-virtual-reality
5. Kenwright, Ben. “Virtual Reality: Ethical Challenges and Dangers. Physiological and Social Impacts” IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, vol. 37, no. 4, p. 20-25, Dec. 2018, doi: 10.1109/MTS.2018.2876104.
