The metaverse promised through Big Tech’s hype and centuries of science fiction has yet to materialize. The masses haven’t embraced it, most people still aren’t conducting business meetings there, and there’s nothing out there even remotely close to the Ready Player One experience. A team of scientists in Italy, however, recently published research that could help humanity get there.
Their paper, titled “Metaverse & Human Digital Twin: Digital Identity, Biometrics, and Privacy in the Future Virtual Worlds,” describes how interoperability and data ownership will become key foundations for a digital analog of the real world.
Digital twins
Everything people do on the internet creates a trail of data that, when associated with their identity, paints a surprisingly clear picture of who they are as a person. In the years since the advent of the internet, this data has been used for everything from targeting advertisements to conducting emotional manipulation experiments.
In the metaverse, there are even more opportunities to capture data. Depending on the hardware and sensor capabilities, the data generated by metaverse users can include countless details about what, precisely, they’re spending their attention on and complex representations of their health and physical condition.
In a scenario where, for example, a hospital network has built a virtual world where patients can connect with caregivers to discuss concerns and schedule appointments, having the ability to pull up a patient’s vital signs on the fly via data gathered in the metaverse could be revolutionary.
In order to get the most out of their metaverse experiences, users will need a digital twin that both accurately represents them and ensures the data generated by it is private and secure.
Per the team’s paper:
“The boundary between the physical world and the digital one is becoming increasingly blurred. […] Access to the Metaverse should be secured through biometric authentication methods, while decentralized digital identity…..
