Digital platform regulators release working paper on immersive technologies

The Digital Platform Regulators Forum (DP-REG) has published a working paper on immersive technologies. Immersive technologies enable users to experience and interact in three dimensions with digital content.

The working paper Examination of technology - Immersive technologies examines immersive, or extended reality (XR), technologies and considers their impact on the regulatory roles of each DP-REG member.

These technologies:

• can offer a range of benefits across various industries such as gaming entertainment and retail, and
• may provide the opportunity to enhance educational resources, improve digital literacy and improve accessibility.

The paper also explores areas of concern within each DP-REG members' remit, and how these technologies may exacerbate risks and harms. This includes the potential for extensive data collection that may include personal and sensitive information. This could lead to individuals experiencing harms in immersive environments that cut across the regulatory responsibilities of DP-REG members.

This paper supports DP-REG's 2024-26 strategic priorities, which include a focus on understanding, assessing and responding to the benefits, risks and harms of technology. It aims to complement and inform broader relevant policy discussions.

The immersive technologies paper is the fourth in a series of papers produced by DP-REG exploring digital platform technologies. Past papers include:

• Examination of technology - Multimodal Foundation Models which examines the benefits and potential harms of multimodal foundation models (MFMs), a type of generative artificial intelligence (AI) that can process and output multiple data types, such as text, images and audio.
• Examination of technology - Large Language Models which provides an overview of large language models (LLMs) and their impact on the regulatory roles of each member.
• Literature summary - Harms and risks of algorithms which considers the harms and risks posed by some commonly used types of algorithms to end-users and society.

DP-REG is made up of the:

• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
• Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
• eSafety Commissioner (eSafety)
• Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Each member contributed to the working paper, reflecting DP-REG's purpose to promote a streamlined and cohesive approach to the regulation of digital platform technologies in Australia.