![\"\"](\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/immersive-web.jpeg\")
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If, today, we are used to surfing the Internet, the tip of a huge iceberg of interconnected data, recent technological developments should soon allow us to immerse ourselves in this bubbling ocean of big data.<\/p>\n
Immersion aims to provide the user with a sense of presence by using sensory capture and restitution technologies: the user feels transported into the digital environment created by digital technologies, to the point that he feels these objects\u00a0. virtual digital as part of its reality<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n For their part,\u00a0digital systems detect and interpret better and better the behaviors and emotions of their interlocutors<\/a>\u00a0, to such an extent that humans have the impression that this system is aware of their presence and interacts voluntarily.<\/p>\n The films\u00a0Matrix<\/em>\u00a0and more recently\u00a0Ready Player One<\/em>\u00a0reflect this idea well: to interpose themselves between the sensory receptors of man and reality in order to create a new world, which is sometimes called the “metaverse”.\u00a0This concept has already been used for several years for aviation or driving simulators, or for leisure parks (\u00a0The Extraordinary Journey<\/em>\u00a0at Futuroscope, for example).<\/p>\n The immersive web follows three generations of the web: from static web 1.0 which resembles a display “showcase”, to participatory web 2.0 which integrates users in the creation of content, and to so-called “semantic” web 3.0\u00a0,<\/a>\u00a0which introduces knowledge engineering to structure data.<\/p>\n This fourth generation, the “web 4.0” or “immersive web”, must be very accessible thanks to\u00a0high-speed 5G networks and the Internet of Things (IoT)<\/a>\u00a0.\u00a0The coupling of the web and 5G has brought us since the beginning of the 2020s into the era of an “ambient”, pervasive and ubiquitous web, where many objects are connected and communicate autonomously.<\/p>\n Immersive virtual, augmented or mixed reality<\/a>\u00a0technologies\u00a0are considered by several players to be the fourth digital revolution (after personal computers, laptops and smartphones).\u00a0They should allow a major metamorphosis of the practice of the Web, whose functionalities are likely to evolve more or less quickly according to the level of adoption of the technology, the device used, but also according to the evolution of the regulations relating to the protection of data.<\/p>\n Haptic feedback gloves capture tactile sensations and provide them to the user. In particular, they provide training in the handling of dangerous equipment. XR expo, Unplash , CC BY<\/p><\/div>\n Virtual chatbots (like ChatGPT) respond naturally and\u00a0accurately to user queries<\/a>\u00a0.\u00a0In the context of a search engine, queries no longer need to consist of keywords, but become natural discussions.<\/p>\n This type of conversation, which is more natural for humans, could have other applications: a prototype of\u00a0group therapy in the school environment,<\/a>\u00a0for example, was tested by 134 students at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan in 2021. Similar systems are tested for\u00a0job interviews<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0industrial assistants<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n Search engine responses could be virtual 3D objects transferred to the user, or tours of virtual environments.\u00a0Immersive technologies are even considered a disruptive technology that is\u00a0revolutionizing tourism management and marketing<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n Furthermore, social networks, chats and forums are being transformed into metaverses (\u00a0second life<\/em>\u00a0,\u00a0Meta Horizon worlds<\/em>\u00a0).\u00a0Videoconferencing can evolve into\u00a0“holoportation”<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0: a system developed in 2016 by Microsoft, which allows high-quality, real-time 3D reconstructions of an entire space, including the people, furniture and objects it contains , using a set of new depth cameras.\u00a0This technology has also been tested in the field of education through\u00a0a few prototypes<\/a>\u00a0, and has made it possible to highlight the important role of presence (and tele-presence) in higher education.<\/p>\n Lighter<\/a>\u00a0and more powerful standalone mixed reality headsets\u00a0could allow the adoption of this technology on a large scale, with for example the\u00a0Meta Quest 3<\/a>\u00a0headset presented by Mark Zuckerberg on June 1, 2023.<\/p>\n On the health side, surgery has seen many\u00a0technological advances<\/a>\u00a0, since the first telesurgery in 2001. Surgeons can work remotely with a three-dimensional screen, via high-definition binoculars \u2013 but the average latency, around 700 milliseconds, favors\u00a0training and planning<\/a>\u00a0uses\u00a0.\u00a0The world’s\u00a0first collaborative shoulder surgery<\/a>\u00a0using mixed reality was performed in 2017 at Avicenne AP-HP Hospital in France.\u00a0Haptic feedback<\/a>\u00a0enables\u00a0the transmission of tactile information to surgeons, allowing the consistency of tissue and tension in sutures to be felt.<\/p>\n Today, several prototypes of medical care using haptic devices and connected body sensors also make it possible to consider\u00a0remote diagnosis and care<\/a>\u00a0.\u00a0Recently, NASA even\u00a0sent doctors to the ISS virtually to help astronauts stay in shape<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n E-commerce could also benefit from immersive technologies: 3D cameras and connected sensors would make it possible to transmit the exact measurements of customers and to try (virtually) their choices in virtual fitting rooms\u00a0without<\/a>\u00a0moving.<\/p>\n It is also envisaged that GPS navigation will become \u201cVPS\u201d navigation (for\u00a0Visual positioning system<\/a><\/em>\u00a0): with navigation glasses based on augmented reality, as well as sound and haptic feedback, it would become more intuitive.\u00a0Such a\u00a0prototype<\/a>\u00a0targeting the elderly was developed in 2018 at Telecom ParisTech in France.<\/p>\n Finally, and although it is in its infancy,\u00a0research in the field of “augmented flavor”<\/a>\u00a0aims to develop\u00a0olfactory devices<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0smelling perfumes or tasting dishes from a distance<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n All the senses are the subject of recent scientific and technological progress: vision, touch, hearing, smell, taste, but also the senses of movement, balance, heat, for example.\u00a0In this sense, a flexible, miniaturized and wireless\u00a0olfactory interface<\/a>\u00a0was thus developed for virtual reality at the University of Hong Kong in 2023.<\/p>\n In the visual modality, devices vary in level of immersion: from low-immersion smartphone screens, to semi-immersive devices like curved screens and mixed reality headsets, to immersive devices like VR (virtual reality)\u00a0headsets<\/em>\u00a0. .\u00a0The more these headsets become economically affordable, lightweight and self-contained, the more\u00a0the adoption of this technology increases<\/a>\u00a0.\u00a0The community anticipates that the next-generation\u00a0Apple Vision Pro<\/a>\u00a0mixed reality headset announced on June 5, 2023 at the\u00a0Apple Worldwide Developers Conference<\/em>\u00a0will be a major step towards mainstream adoption of immersive technology, as 2G in 2007 for the adoption of smartphones.<\/p>\n The sound modality often accompanies its visual immersion devices through\u00a03D spatialized<\/a>\u00a0sound (traditional stereo sound is broadcast in just two channels, left and right).\u00a0Spatial sound adds an extra dimension by introducing vertical, horizontal and depth sound localization information.\u00a0This technology is now\u00a0well mastered<\/a>\u00a0and widely used in the field of video games.<\/p>\n For touch, there are so-called \u201cintrusive\u201d devices (because they are bulky) such as\u00a0haptic gloves<\/a>\u00a0and body suits;\u00a0and other less invasive\u00a0ultra-thin<\/a>\u00a0devices as well as\u00a0connected artificial skins<\/a>\u00a0are in development.<\/p>\n Other more playful devices such as\u00a0connected artificial mouths<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0connected sex toys<\/a>\u00a0foreshadow the future development of the \u201cadult\u201d industry on the Internet of tomorrow.<\/p>\n Today, immersive technologies already pose significant ethical challenges<\/a>\u00a0, with potential risks to mental health, including depersonalization\/derealization disorder.\u00a0They are also subject to serious concerns related to personal neglect of users’ (real) bodies, and real physical environments.\u00a0They can also be used to record personal data which could be deployed in a way that threatens privacy and presents a danger related to the manipulation of beliefs, emotions and behaviors of users.<\/p>\n These challenges will be accentuated with the immersive web.\u00a0Even if\u00a0initiatives exist to ethically frame the use of virtual reality<\/a>\u00a0, the addictive aspect of the web and the intrusive aspect of the IoT pose new challenges and require more effort for the protection of users.<\/p>\n Insecurity, invasion of privacy, social isolation, pornographic crimes, virtual crimes, headaches, physical injuries or addiction, all these dangers will be accentuated and will have to attract attention both designers and user representatives for safer and more ethical use.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/XRuser.jpg\")
What will the Internet look like with the immersive web?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
What can we virtualize?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
The risks of the immersive web<\/strong><\/h4>\n