Arr! Thar be tales o' AI spyin' on landlubbers through their AR and VR antics, says them studies!
2023-08-11
Avast ye mateys! Them fancy scholars from U.C. Berkeley be sayin' that them landlubbers in augmented and virtual realities be spillin' more secrets than we thought, through their fancy motion data studies, arrr!
People who engage in augmented and virtual realities may unknowingly disclose more information than previously thought through their motion data, according to researchers at U.C. Berkeley. The studies conducted by the university revealed that users can be identified based on just minutes of their head and hand movements. This data can be used to infer various characteristics such as age and disability status. The lead author of the studies, Vivek Nair, emphasized that users are sharing this information not only with the device or application, but also with other users, making it a significant privacy concern.The research was conducted at U.C. Berkeley's Center for Responsible, Decentralized Intelligence as part of the center's Metaverse security and privacy research effort. One study utilized a dataset that was over 100 times larger than previous studies, analyzing data from more than 50,000 Beat Saber virtual reality gamers. The researchers found that body movements could serve as a unique identifier, similar to fingerprints.
In another paper, the researchers developed an adversarial virtual reality game to collect data from 50 participants in a lab setting. They were able to accurately identify or infer over 25 characteristics, including location and age. While the study did not explore personal indicators like sexual or political preference, the researchers believe that such inferences may be possible.
Vivek Nair plans to further investigate defensive technologies to protect users' privacy. The potential risks to privacy and security are particularly relevant to gamers, as the number of virtual reality headset purchases continues to rise. Nearly half of the participants in the studies used Meta Platforms Inc.'s Quest 2, along with other headsets. The researchers highlight the need to address these privacy risks in order to protect users from identity theft and information exposure. Meta Platforms Inc. did not provide an immediate response for comment on the matter.