Lhe metaverse still only exists as a project, and yet it already occupies a considerable place in the media sphere. It is praised in official speeches, television reports, newspaper columns. Other voices warn against its perils, even if it means quoting critical works to give themselves a subversive veneer. But we debate the device as if it were already there, without ever posing the problem of its existence.
To justify their enthusiasm, supporters of the metaverse promise us more intense communications, a stronger social bond, simulations allowing playful learning, unlimited creativity, etc. The Internet already allows telecommuting and videoconferencing; video games, a virtual change of scenery. The metaverse proposes to combine the two. Within the simulacrum, the most boring of meetings will take on the air of a game.
Fantasy will reign supreme
Thanks to virtual reality, the participant will be immersed in a total video game. Thanks to augmented reality, this video game will overflow the screen, contaminate our perception of reality to the point of becoming one with it. Their association will seem to realize the promises of the imagination.
The fantasy will reign supreme, as will the miracle, since, in virtual reality, any contradiction with reality can be suspended; and in augmented reality, the slightest gesture can acquire a magical significance, be embellished and enlarged by the simulacrum.
But this imaginary is not as free as it seems, insofar as it is objectified. It is no longer the product of a dreaming consciousness, it is a computer fantasy that involves a procedure to be followed in order for it to be enjoyed. It is here that the exchange, specific to video games, of a simulated freedom against a real enslavement is found on a completely different scale.
The fusion of the interface and reality will make it possible to extend the quantification of our acts, and with it the rationalization of behavior. Grafted to our sight, the program will restore the data of our slightest actions. The participant will be in constant self-assessment, locked in feedback loops. He will adjust his behavior to raise or lower the stat that his life has become. Access to marvelous information technology will therefore be paid for: it will involve aligning all human activities with a process of economic valuation.
Nature devastation
This process, already well underway with smartphones and their applications, has a bright future ahead of it. It is ultimately a certain interpretation of the world – that of commodity fetishism. – appearing all the more objective as it will seem to emanate from reality itself, which will replace the world.
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