This book offers new ways of thinking about and assessing the impact of virtual reality on its users. It argues that we must go beyond traditional psychological concepts of "presence" when discussing VR/AR experiences to better understand how and why simulated content affects us in different ways.
I argue that VR simulations are capable of producing "virtually real" experiences in people when the right kind of simulation meets the right kind of user. I provide a framework for understanding when and how simulations induce virtually real experiences and argue that virtually real experiences are responsible for several unaddressed ethical issues in VR and AR research and design.
Virtually real experiences can make virtual relationships meaningful, productive, and conducive to welfare but they can also be used to systematically mislead and manipulate users about the nature of their experiences. 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.
I argue that VR simulations are capable of producing "virtually real" experiences in people when the right kind of simulation meets the right kind of user. I provide a framework for understanding when and how simulations induce virtually real experiences and argue that virtually real experiences are responsible for several unaddressed ethical issues in VR and AR research and design.
Virtually real experiences can make virtual relationships meaningful, productive, and conducive to welfare but they can also be used to systematically mislead and manipulate users about the nature of their experiences. 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.
