Disconnected from Reality: Do the core concepts of the metaverse exclude disabled individuals?

2023/03/14 by Mark Quinlan, Quinlan, Mark
Computer Science · Social Sciences · #Ethics and Social Impacts of AI #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Human-Computer Interaction (cs.HC) #Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2303.08222

openalex publication_date 2023/03/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Commercially-driven metaverse development has been driven by philosophical and science fiction concepts. Through translating these concepts into products, the developers may have inadvertently excluded individuals with disabilities from this new expanded reality. This ideologically-driven development is presented in this paper through a brief background of what we see as the most influential of these concepts, and explain how these might affect disabled individuals wishing to engage with said products. It is our hope that these ideas prompt conversation on future inclusivity access from the concept stage of future metaverse development.

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