Understanding the privacy-realisticness dilemma of the metaverse

Metaverse is a form of next-generation human–computer interaction and social networks based on virtual and augmented reality. Both the research and industry community have invested much in this area to develop useful applications and enhance user experience. Meanwhile, the expanded human–computer interface which enables the immersive experience in the Metaverse will also inevitably expand the interface of potential privacy leaks. This dilemma between immersive user experience and higher privacy risks has not been well studied and it is not clear how different users would make decisions when facing such a dilemma. In this research work, we systematically studied this dilemma in different usage scenarios of the Metaverse and performed a study on 177 users to understand the factors that may affect users’ decision making. From the study, we found that user preference on immersive experience and privacy protection can be very different in different usage scenarios and we expect our study results can provide some insights and guidance for the design of privacy protection mechanisms in Metaverse platforms and applications.