The Ethics of Virtual and Augmented Reality: Building Worlds PDF
Preview The Ethics of Virtual and Augmented Reality: Building Worlds
The Ethics of Virtual and Augmented Reality Thisbookoffersnewwaysofthinkingaboutandassessingtheimpactofvirtual realityonitsusers.Itargues thatwemustgobeyondtraditionalpsychological concepts of VR “presence” to better understand the many varieties of virtual experiences. TheauthorprovidescompellingevidencethatVRsimulationsarecapableof producing“virtuallyreal”experiencesinpeople.Healsoprovidesaframework forunderstandingwhenandhowsimulationsinducevirtuallyrealexperiences. Fromtheseinsights,thebookshowsthatvirtuallyrealexperiencesarerespon- siblefor severalunaddressedethical issuesinVRresearchand design.Experi- mentalphilosophers,moralpsychologists,andinstitutionalreviewboardsmust become sensitive to the ethical issues involved between designing “realistic” virtualdilemmas,forgooddatacollection,andavoidingvirtuallyrealtrauma. Ethicists and game designers must do more to ensure that their simulations don’t inculcate harmful character traits. Virtually real experiences, the author claims, can make virtual relationships meaningful, productive, and conducive towelfarebuttheycanalsobeusedtosystematicallymisleadandmanipulate usersaboutthenatureoftheirexperiences. The Ethics of Virtual and Augmented Reality will appeal to philosophers working in applied ethics, philosophy of technology, and aesthetics, as well as researchers and students interested in game studies and game design. Erick Jose Ramirez is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Santa Clara University, USA. Routledge Research in Applied Ethics The Ethics of Eating Animals Usually Bad, Sometimes Wrong, Often Permissible Bob Fischer Self-Defense, Necessity, and Punishment A Philosophical Analysis Uwe Steinhoff Ethics and Error in Medicine Edited by Fritz Allhoff and Sandra L. Borden Care Ethics and the Refugee Crisis Emotions, Contestations, and Agency Marcia Morgan Corporate Responsibility and Political Philosophy Exploring the Social Liberal Corporation Kristian Høyer Toft The Ethics of War and the Force of Law A Modern Just War Theory Uwe Steinhoff Sexual Ethics in a Secular Age Is There Still a Virtue of Chastity? Edited by Eric J. Silverman The Ethics of Virutal and Augmented Reality Building Worlds Erick Jose Ramirez For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge. com/Routledge-Research-in-Applied-Ethics/book-series/RRAES The Ethics of Virtual and Augmented Reality Building Worlds Erick Jose Ramirez Firstpublished2022 byRoutledge 605ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10158 andbyRoutledge 2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninforma business ©2022Taylor&Francis TherightofErickJoseRamireztobeidentifiedasauthorofthiswork hasbeenassertedinaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright, DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproduced orutilizedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans, nowknownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording, orinanyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissionin writingfromthepublishers. Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor registeredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationand explanationwithoutintenttoinfringe. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Names:Ramirez,ErickJose,author. Title:Theethicsofvirtualandaugmentedreality:buildingworlds/Erick JoseRamirez. Description:NewYork,NY:Routledge,2022.| Series:Routledgeresearchinappliedethics|Includesbibliographical referencesandindex. Identifiers:LCCN2021038403(print)|LCCN2021038404(ebook)| ISBN9780367486266(hardback)|ISBN9781003042228(ebook) Subjects:LCSH:Virtualreality--Moralandethicalaspects.| Augmentedreality--Moralandethicalaspects.| Virtualreality--Philosophy.|Reality--Philosophy. Classification:LCCQA76.9.V5R352022(print)| LCCQA76.9.V5(ebook)|DDC006.8--dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2021038403 LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2021038404 ISBN:978-0-367-48626-6(hbk) ISBN:978-1-032-18147-9(pbk) ISBN:978-1-003-04222-8(ebk) DOI:10.4324/9781003042228 TypesetinSabon byTaylor&FrancisBooks Contents List of illustrations vi Acknowledgements vii 1 Exploring Strange New Worlds 1 2 Imagination and the Limits of Empathy 14 3 When Being There Is Not Enough 44 4 Virtual Experience, Real Harm 70 5 Why It’s Unethical to Use VR and AR as “Empathy” Machines 99 6 Putting It All Together: A Code of Ethics for VR/AR 133 7 AR and the Future of Selves 162 Index 202 Illustrations Figures 2.1 Varieties of empathy 23 3.1 Virtually Real Experiences (VREs) 65 7.1 The XR spectrum 166 Table 6.1 A code of ethics for VR/AR 141 Acknowledgements This book is the product of many conversations with incredible people. It, quite literally, would not exist without them. If there are especially interesting sections in this book, it’s almost certainly because of ideas exchanged with others. If there are sections of the book where arguments are less than good, that’s probably a topic I should have spoken more with others about. I want to thank my colleagues at Santa Clara University, especially Scott LaBarge and Larry Nelson, both of whom I’ve co-authored work with. Thanks also to Meilin Chinn for several wonderful conversations about action and perception. They too made their way into this book. I was extraordinarily lucky to have had Shannon Vallor (now at the Edinburgh Futures Institute)asamentor whenwe wereboth atSanta ClaraUniversity. Thank you, Shannon, for being an excellent role model. I’ve also co- authored some work with my friend Per Milam. It was a stroke of amazing luck that Per and I ended up at UCSD for graduate school and I’m positive I’m getting the better of our partnership. I've had the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with people whose work I distinctly admire and would like to acknowledge here. Andrew Kissel arranged a fantastic panel session at the virtual 2021 Pacific Meeting of the APA that included myself, Kathryn Francis, and Melissa McDonald centered on VR, where I was exposed to a lot of useful ideas (and a new collaborator). Javiera Perez-Gomez, Jordan Wallace-Wolf, and Nick Harri- son have all given me helpful feedback on my VR and AR work at various conferences. Javiera in particular has also co-organized the Latinx Philoso- phy Conference where I’ve shared my work on several occasions. I thank audiences there and elsewhere for engaging with the ideas in this book. Allof the VR simulationscoming out of our experimentalphilosophyVR lab were created in collaboration with students at Santa Clara University including Miles Elliott, Carl Maggio, Mohit Gandhi, Lia Petronio, Dorian Clay, Kendall Moore, and Shelby Jennett. I’m consistently humbled by their ingenuity, talent, and philosophical acumen. Miles, Lia, Mohit, and I, in collaboration with Jocelyn Tan (another SCU alumna) have also fruitfully collaborated on written work, and I hope to continue working with them. viii Acknowledgements Funding andsupportforthisprojecthascomefromseveralsources.Brian Green, Irina Raicu, and the rest of the folks at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics have lent me intellectual and financial help throughout my career. Thanks to them for encouraging me to continue working on VR and ARethicsandfortheirfriendship.MyearlyworkonVRwouldalsonothave beenpossiblewithoutgrantsfromOculus EducationandtheAmerican Philo- sophicalAssociation.It’sbeenapleasureworkingwithAndrewWeckenmann andAllieSimmonsatRoutledgeonthisproject. Last, and most importantly, I want to thank my partner Maggie Levan- tovskaya and my parents Luis Ramirez and Leslie Delagneau for their love and support. Los quiero muchísimo. 1 Exploring Strange New Worlds It’sawarm,not-too-hot,summerday.Aslightbreezewaftsthroughtheair, hitting my face. I’m writing this paragraph while lying on a chic outdoor sofa on the terrace of a mid-century home in the Hollywood Hills. Los Angelessprawlsbelow.Fromhere,theviewsareperfect.IfIlooktomyleft, I see downtown, with all of its construction cranes. To my right, I see Century City. Even Santa Monica and the Pacific Ocean are visible, a pretty raresightreally consideringthehazeofthe summer.Takingmyeyesoffthis view for a second, I tap on a menu to move the 55-inch monitor I’m writing this paragraph on so that it floats more conveniently above my head. I shift my attention back to my work and write a few emails while listening to music. Then I feel something touch my feet. It’s the very specific bump that I’ve come to associate with my dog, Woody, poking my foot with his nose. He probablywantsattention,ormorefood,ortobeletout.Ilooktomyfeetand, foramoment,amsurprisedwhenIdon’tseethebodyIexpectedtosee.Idon’t see any body, actually. I don’t have any feet to be poked. Strangely, Woody isn’tthereeither.Wrappedupinthehillsideviewsandtheflowofwriting,I’d forgotten thatI’m not really lying ona sofaina multi-million dollarhome in Los Angeles. I’m hours away in my decidedly more modest apartment in San Jose. It’salsonot themiddleofa sunnyday,it’s 11:00pm.Thesun sethours ago. I’m suddenly struck by the fact that I’ve been wearing what’s become a heavyHTCVivevirtualrealityheadsetandthatmaybeIshouldleavemyvir- tualLosAngelesterraceandgetreadyforbed!1 Forthoseofuswhohavehadanexperiencelikethis,theimmersivepowerof virtualrealityworldscanseemfantastical.It’suncannyhowvirtualworldscan soeasily,sonaturally,andsoquicklytrickusintofeelinglikewe’resomewhere wereallyaren’t.MyLosAngelesexperiencewasmadepossiblebecauseIwas using a VR application called Bigscreen. Using Bigscreen, and other applica- tionslikeit,I’vebeenabletoexperiencethingsthat,even15yearsago,Iwould havethoughtwereforeveroutsidemyreach. To name just a few of the things I’ve done recently: I’ve had a whale encounter on a shipwreck on the ocean floor. I’ve explored the Martian surface and heard the real sounds of the Martian summer wind. I’ve been a DOI: 10.4324/9781003042228-1
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