Insurance claims up 31% thanks to the metaverse
(2022/02/14)
- Reference: 1644846548
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/02/14/vr_insurance_claims/
- Source link:
Despite Facebook – sorry, "Meta" – throwing its weight behind the "metaverse", figures from Brit insurance giant Aviva suggest a virtual-reality headset is far from a necessary purchase if you like having nice things.
The insurer reckons home contents claims involving nerd goggles were up 31 per cent last year, commonly because someone punched their lovely 4K TV or cleared the mantelpiece of ornaments while enthralled by a VR game. Such claims have risen 68 per cent since 2016.
Aviva UK property claims director Kelly Whittington said: "As new games and gadgets become popular, we often see this playing through in the claims made by our customers. In the past we've seen similar trends involving consoles with handsets, fitness games and even the likes of rogue fidget spinners."
[1]
The average payout for accidental damage in 2021 was around £650, the insurer said, and usually due to TVs broken in the height of VR passion. One chap called up Aviva because he hurled a controller at the tube after a zombie jumpscare, but a kid was also said to have smashed two designer figurines on a mantelpiece performing a swiping move in a game.
[2]
[3]
Whittington added: "These devices can be a great source of fun, but we'd encourage people to be mindful of their surroundings and take a look at their home insurance to make sure it suits their needs."
[4]This is going well: Meta adds anti-grope buffer zone around metaverse VR avatars
[5]Grab some tissues: Meta's share price tanks after Facebook emits latest figures
[6]Korea gives a $7.5bn nod to the metaverse and AI projects
[7]Microsoft revenue up by a fifth as world shuffles through the pandemic into the metaverse
Indeed, one does not have to look hard for examples of VR idiocy on the internet, and it is difficult to think of a compelling argument to take part in the technology for anything but a one-time novelty. A cursory tap of "vr accidents" in YouTube turned up the disasterpiece below, among hundreds of others, and the subreddit [8]r/VRtoER allows users to submit their own mishaps.
[9]Youtube Video
Facebook, which owns the Oculus brand of VR headsets, raised eyebrows towards the end of last year by [10]rebranding as Meta , saying it would be [11]investing in building "the metaverse" – kind of a virtual hellscape where users can both work and play. It's become a bit of a tech bandwagon with [12]Nvidia , [13]Microsoft , [14]Qualcomm , [15]Samsung and more expressing interest in developing the concept.
[16]
We've said it before and we'll say it again: call us when it's like Ready Player One , or any number of sci-fi novels where people traverse a digital realm without managing to roundhouse kick the light fixtures.
Then again, this is also the industry that thinks [17]NFTs are a cool idea . ®
Get our [18]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YgqKuFk8curQ1UNHATx5vQAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YgqKuFk8curQ1UNHATx5vQAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[4] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/05/meta_grope_gap/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/03/facebook_q4_2021/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/26/korean_7bn_metaverse_bung/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/26/microsoft_q2_2022/
[8] https://www.reddit.com/r/VRtoER/
[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VXMFBoTJFU
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/29/zuckerberg_meta_facebook/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/18/facebook_metaverse/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/09/nvidia_metaverse/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/02/microsoft_ignite/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/02/meta_qualcomm_metaverse_hardware/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/10/samsung_lpddr5x_dram/
[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YgqKuFk8curQ1UNHATx5vQAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/10/salesforce_nfts/
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The insurer reckons home contents claims involving nerd goggles were up 31 per cent last year, commonly because someone punched their lovely 4K TV or cleared the mantelpiece of ornaments while enthralled by a VR game. Such claims have risen 68 per cent since 2016.
Aviva UK property claims director Kelly Whittington said: "As new games and gadgets become popular, we often see this playing through in the claims made by our customers. In the past we've seen similar trends involving consoles with handsets, fitness games and even the likes of rogue fidget spinners."
[1]
The average payout for accidental damage in 2021 was around £650, the insurer said, and usually due to TVs broken in the height of VR passion. One chap called up Aviva because he hurled a controller at the tube after a zombie jumpscare, but a kid was also said to have smashed two designer figurines on a mantelpiece performing a swiping move in a game.
[2]
[3]
Whittington added: "These devices can be a great source of fun, but we'd encourage people to be mindful of their surroundings and take a look at their home insurance to make sure it suits their needs."
[4]This is going well: Meta adds anti-grope buffer zone around metaverse VR avatars
[5]Grab some tissues: Meta's share price tanks after Facebook emits latest figures
[6]Korea gives a $7.5bn nod to the metaverse and AI projects
[7]Microsoft revenue up by a fifth as world shuffles through the pandemic into the metaverse
Indeed, one does not have to look hard for examples of VR idiocy on the internet, and it is difficult to think of a compelling argument to take part in the technology for anything but a one-time novelty. A cursory tap of "vr accidents" in YouTube turned up the disasterpiece below, among hundreds of others, and the subreddit [8]r/VRtoER allows users to submit their own mishaps.
[9]Youtube Video
Facebook, which owns the Oculus brand of VR headsets, raised eyebrows towards the end of last year by [10]rebranding as Meta , saying it would be [11]investing in building "the metaverse" – kind of a virtual hellscape where users can both work and play. It's become a bit of a tech bandwagon with [12]Nvidia , [13]Microsoft , [14]Qualcomm , [15]Samsung and more expressing interest in developing the concept.
[16]
We've said it before and we'll say it again: call us when it's like Ready Player One , or any number of sci-fi novels where people traverse a digital realm without managing to roundhouse kick the light fixtures.
Then again, this is also the industry that thinks [17]NFTs are a cool idea . ®
Get our [18]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YgqKuFk8curQ1UNHATx5vQAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YgqKuFk8curQ1UNHATx5vQAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YgqKuFk8curQ1UNHATx5vQAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/05/meta_grope_gap/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/03/facebook_q4_2021/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/26/korean_7bn_metaverse_bung/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/26/microsoft_q2_2022/
[8] https://www.reddit.com/r/VRtoER/
[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VXMFBoTJFU
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/29/zuckerberg_meta_facebook/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/18/facebook_metaverse/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/09/nvidia_metaverse/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/02/microsoft_ignite/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/02/meta_qualcomm_metaverse_hardware/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/10/samsung_lpddr5x_dram/
[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YgqKuFk8curQ1UNHATx5vQAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/10/salesforce_nfts/
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: "I'm gaming like a wrecking ball"
b0llchit
These people need to be locked up in a rubber-lined room, the wrecking gamers, that is. There they can not do any harm anymore.
Play fast and break things
ThatOne
> without managing to roundhouse kick the light fixtures
This will only happen when they make so you don't actually need to move at all in the real world. (Remember, the baddie in "Ready Player One" played out of his comfy chair.)
By tapping the player's intention and translating it into in-game action you will be able to a) stuff more players into a given space (room), b) avoid the embarrassing moments of " what is he doing???", c) prevent people from breaking things or hurting themselves. The drawback is that in the real world people will progressively become even more uncoordinated, and probably eventually unlearn moving at all. Promising new business perspectives!
Is there an echo?
AMBxx
Didn't we see similar stories when the Wii was all the rage? Mostly controllers flying across a room or through a window.
It's funny to think that the ideal room for the metaverse...
LDS
... is one with padded walls as those once used in psychiatric hospitals...
Re: It's funny to think that the ideal room for the metaverse...
Arthur the cat
True on so many levels.
Time for more exclusions from policies
Steve Davies 3
If this is going to be more of a thing in the future.
or discounts for not having these things in your home.
Perhaps AVIVA should state that AV headsets can only be used in a padded room.
"I'm gaming like a wrecking ball"
Bravo to the subs on that one.