--- title: "Facebook Locks Down Patents for Full-Body VR Tracking" description: "Facebook's iteration of the metaverse is set to get a lot less glitchy — and have a lot more privacy concerns." date: "2022-01-11" modified: "2022-01-11" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/facebook-metaverse-vr-tracking" categories: - "Future Society" - "Virtual Reality" tags: - "facebook" - "Meta" - "metaverse" - "virtual reality" --- # Facebook Locks Down Patents for Full-Body VR Tracking ![Facebook's iteration of the metaverse is set to get a lot less glitchy — and have a lot more privacy concerns.]() *\Image: Facebook/Futurism\* Facebook's iteration of the metaverse may now be set to get a lot less glitchy — and perhaps accumulate even more privacy concerns. As [*Business Insider* reports](), Facebook — which is [calling itself Meta now]() — has in recent months been granted a bevy of virtual reality patents, including a system that would track a user's entire body in the metaverse, even while experts worry that the company hasn't bothered to integrate privacy protocols into its proposed tech. There's one important caveat: as with all patents, these filings are less indicative of what Facebook will *actually* build out and more about directions the company is exploring on a research and development level. By now, even the most dyed-in-the-wool metaverse stan knows to temper expectations given [how disappointing]() [the reality]() of this new virtual world has been [thus far](). Nevertheless, some of these patents could result in some really cool tech: [gloves that simulate touch](), "acoustic sensing" that makes objects give off sound, and the ability to "feel" togetherness at concerts and other experiences with friends and loved ones who are geographically distant. Some of the other aspects of the patents, *Insider* reports via its close reading of the filings, are less awesome: lots of built-in advertising, but very little about privacy or what will become of the inordinate amount of data that will be collected. "We think these companies have data access now — no," Georgetown Professor Jeanine Turner told *Insider* when Facebooks' metaverse was first announced. "It's mind blowing what they will have." Owen Vaughan, the director of research at the data security firm nChain, noted that because "your data is their product," Facebook's metaverse "opens up a lot more risk in terms of privacy and security." He told the website that the tech giant should be integrating privacy directly into its VR tech while it's in development, because it may be "impossible" to do so later. "It's very concerning that security and privacy \[are\] not there in the patents," Vaughan told *Insider.* Concerning is one word to describe the potential for privacy abuse in the metaverse. "[Terrifying]()" and "[not surprising]()" are three others. **READ MORE:** [Facebook's vision for a hyperrealistic metaverse includes 'body pose tracking,' 'pupil steering,' clothing that wrinkles with movement, and a 'magnetic sensor system' worn around the torso]() \[*Business Insider*\] **More on the metaverse:** [*Experts Say People Will Soon Live Entire Lives in Metaverse*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()