US-China rivalry now extended to militarise the metaverse

April 22, 2022

By Priyanka Shetty

The diverse and significant defense applications available in metaverse ranging from training, mission planning and simulation, weapons design and even combat operations has put the US and China on a virtual world collision.

Here is what we know

In an article published last month in the Military Cyber Professionals Association, Josh Baughman from the National Defence University wrote that China views the metaverse as providing a “parallel cognitive space that digitally twins real combat scenarios, where cognitive warfare can be advanced efficiently and enhanced at a fast pace.”

Baughman believes that China views the US as far ahead in metaverse technology but that it views itself as superior from a cultural and substantive viewpoint. He added that an attack on an adversary’s metaverse can “affect the opponent’s thinking, cognition, and action decision making.”

While there are questions about whether metaverses will promote certain morality biases in simulating reality, metaverses can also be designed to reflect national values and ideals.

According to the AsiaTimes report, the future of the metaverse will undoubtedly be shaped by US-China competition, with both countries likely creating and fielding metaverses that reflect their respective views of military operations, political decision-making and core values.

Image: Wikimedia Commons


About the author

Based in Bengaluru, Priyanka Shetty is a freelance writer for the Blockchain Asset Review.

 

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