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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1522076
Other companies have also recently released head-worn devices such as the Ray-Ban Meta, the Apple Vision Pro, or the Meta Quest 3. A device known as the Galea project is a kind of helmet that can be attached to XR headsets to capture data from facial muscles, the brain, eyes, the skin and heart. This is clearly more invasive than a smart ring or smart glasses. It allows researchers to explore how future digital services might look if computers could access a range of data from the human body. This data would go far beyond what they can currently access – such as what we do on our smartphones. In general, body data from wearables could fundamentally change how we interact with computers and the internet. In 2007, the audience at an Apple product launch was held in awe as Steve Jobs scrolled on an iPhone for the first time, introducing an intuitive interaction that the entire world would eventually take for granted. Similarly, replacing smartphones with wearables and headsets would free up our hands and require new kinds of interaction with technology. Current prototypes propose using the gaze of our eyes to point and hand gestures in mid-air to click. However, this implies that these systems must continuously collect data on the user’s body. Digital sovereignty Large datasets based on responses from the human body could unlock the design of digital tools that weave seamlessly into our daily lives with capabilities that are highly personalised. This includes the smart bed and the intelligent kitchen that can suggest a tailored diet. The next wave of the internet is being designed around data decentralisation – where users can potentially have greater control over how their data is used. This could prevent the misuse of personal information. For example, the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners Lee, has been working on something called Solid. This open source initiative lets people handle their data in personal web servers and choose which organisations can access it. Instead of making people create an account for each service they want to use, Solid would provide a protocol to build what the project refers to as personal online data stores. This would be a way to let users host their personal data on their own computer or, alternatively, choose a trusted provider to host it based on their reputation and physical location. However, to really cement these initiatives, proactive legislation towards digital sovereignty – a person’s right to control their own digital data – would be required. This would guarantee an internet that truly takes privacy seriously. In the era of wearables and powerful AI systems, a decentralised approach to the internet would be vital for letting citizens enjoy the benefits of these technological advances while continuing to own their data. This would move us towards the ability of citizens to make active decisions on where their data is stored, who can access it, and for what purposes.