Facebook’s parent company Meta has recently been granted a range of new patents in the US which reveal new details about its plans for building out technologies for the metaverse.
Pupil movements, body poses, and nose scrunching are among the human expressions that the company plans to build on as it develops its own metaverse, or virtual world with human-like avatars, the Financial Times reported.
The report was based on what the newspaper called “an analysis of dozens of patents” recently granted to Meta. Per the analysis, Meta has patented multiple technologies that could make use of a person’s biometric data to power digital avatars in a virtual world, and ensure the avatars are animated in a realistic way.
The patents include eye and face tracking technology via wearable sensors.
Moreover, the patents also reveal some information about how Meta plans to generate revenue from its new Metaverse push, the report said, noting that this includes “hyper-targeted advertising and sponsored content.” It added that there are also proposals for a virtual store where users can buy digital goods which may be sponsored by real-world brands.
The article stressed that the patents do not necessarily mean that Meta will build these technologies, although they do offer an indication of what the company’s plans are.
In a comment, Noelle Martin, who has researched Meta’s new plans for the University of Western Australia, told the newspaper that “the objective is to create 3D replicas of people, places and things, so hyper-realistic and tactile that they’re indistinguishable from what’s real.”
Martin added that the company will then go on to “intermediate any range of services […] in truth, they’re undertaking a global human-cloning program.”
___
Learn more:
– Metaverse Trends in 2022: Prepare for More Gaming and New Virtual Experiences with NFTs
– Metaverse Offers Future Full of Potential – for Terrorists and Extremists, too
– I’m a Black Woman and the Metaverse Scares Me
– Exec Wants Meta to Look to NFT, DAO and Blockchain Expansion Next Year – Report
– Should We Let Facebook/Meta Rule The Metaverse Too?
– We Know Better Than to Allow Facebook to Control the Metaverse
