As society continues to progress towards a technologically advanced future, the boundary between the physical and virtual world is becoming more obscure. The dependence on electronic devices is causing people to feel more isolated, distracted, and is now the source of serious health problems. Recently, China has placed restrictions on the usage of certain video games due to over-gaming and addiction and their method of restriction is ironically, a tech-heavy initiative.
The #Virtuality trend (see our #THENOWAGE Forecast 2018-19) focuses on the experience of a parallel of world of which we cannot see, and the opportunities for what to experience are limitless. The manipulative designs of these games target ways to attract and retain a customer; often resulting in addiction which causes social and even physical harm. In China, the internet giant #Tencent has created an innovative way to limit the usage of its popular online game, “Honor of the Kings”, using facial recognition. Tencent is verifying players’ identities and ages by pairing their faces with government records. This virtual innovation can help change the users’ behavior for the better. Digital detoxing isn’t new, but combatting too much virtuality with another form of virtuality is the meta-level of technological advancements. Technology is not going away anytime soon, so looking to ways to shape users’ behavior for the better may be the answer to over-consumption and addiction.
#babatrendmonitor #virtuality #tencent #THENOWAGE
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