Description

In today's world technology is ubiquitous. COVID-19 has taught us that we can live and operate in a virtual world. We as a society rely on technology more than ever, from doing our jobs to running our homes to education. The future of tomorrow will bring more immersive technologies to everyday use for younger and younger audiences. This talk is meant to spark concerns and curiosity from the technical and non-technical audience about children's safety and well-being in the XR ecosystems aka the Metaverse.

We’ll explore hypothetical scenarios and ask difficult questions to ensure we’re protecting the next generation to the best of our ability. Malicious use of these technologies can lead to psychological, physical, reputational, social, and economic harm and put children at risk. In this session, XRSI founder Kavya Pearlman and advisory board member Kai Frazier explore the potential opportunities and risks in XR systems, understand how to mitigate them and how to better protect children and young people as we move fast into the Metaverse. This session will approach the topic from multiple different directions. An introduction to the Metaverse, and child safety specific challenges, concerns, constraints overlap and the types of threats children experience and may experience in the future. This includes discussion on issues of privacy and trust in the context of child safety and well-being. Finally, framing how the industry can respond to these challenges: what research and development are needed in order to move from research prototypes and early demonstrators to a secure, reliable, and trustworthy Metaverse that can play a more significant role in everyday life.

Speakers

Kai Frazier

Founder & CEO , Curated x Kai

Kavya Pearlman

Founder & CEO , XR Safety Initiative