Savithri Bartlett’s research while affiliated with Royal College of Art and other places

In response to increasing calls to address “human dignity” in the Metaverse, the Royal College of Art’s MA Fashion Programme utilised Epic’s “Metahuman Creator” software to create multiple digital identities. Human dignity has its etymological root in the Latin ‘dignitas’, and is translated as worth. For the purpose of this study, its meaning is derived from the Charter of the United Nations (1945) which defines the fundamental rights of the humacy3n person, their equality, dignity and worth. Epic’s “Metahuman Creator” is a new type of digital human configurator, based on pre-existing scans of real people where only physically plausible adjustments can be made. As it has a vast range of facial features and skin tones the user can design a variety of digital characters. However, its tools representing trans identities and invisible disabilities have limitations. Here we show the experience of two users, one with a hearing disability and the other undergoing gender-affirming therapy. We found that tools for representing their identity fell short of expressing their inherent human dignity. The foundations of the Metaverse are therefore at risk of replicating inaccessibility and excluding persons with disabilities and gender differences. We anticipate our paper to be the starting point for wider participatory research that involves all user groups in the design of platforms, tools and systems. We foresee the findings of our paper fulfilling the UN Charter on Human rights in the digital space through the shaping of policies and advancing existing standards (ISO).