By Myriam Hammad and Isya Okoué Métogo, MediaLab of Information Measuring the environmental impact of digital services is certainly a complex and evolving science, as highlighted in the ADEME and ARCEP report . However, it seems difficult to imagine that, in an era of unprecedented climate emergency, these thoughts and research are not shared by designers . Other arguments are then put forward to green these new realities. We are invited to look at our uses: by modifying our services, our consumption habits, our practices, the metaverse would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.
Recently, students from ENSAD – the École Nationale Supérieure linkedin data des Arts Décoratifs – took part in the exercise of debate-fiction around the sustainability of metaverses . Through different futuristic scenarios, they explore worlds where real and virtual coexist in metaverses that have shaken up large parts of our society. How can we move away from fiction, and what tangible elements can we rely on to evaluate the effects of this proposed virtual future? The environment, the great absentee from the ideation of the metaverse The metaverse does not yet exist, but its development seems inevitable, driven in particular by investments from tech giants.
In the face of it, global warming is also inevitable. However, technological progress and environmental issues are often opposed, and the tech giants developing the metaverse today do not distinguish themselves by their strong position on the issue. In fact, we see very little thought on the environmental impacts of developing the tools needed for the metaverse. Meta's headset, MetaQuest, cannot be repaired : in an article on Presse Citron, the magazine iFixit presents a new video shared on YouTube where we discover that manual repair of the Quest Pro is almost impossible.