“What Good (and Bad) is VR” presented by Unknown presenters
Symposium:
Session Title:
- Immersion and VR (short papers)
Presentation Title:
- What Good (and Bad) is VR
Presentation Subtheme:
- Speculative practices
Presenter(s):
Abstract:
This paper discusses ethics around the creation of virtual reality experiences, through a critical examination of the allowances the medium offers to creative practitioners. It suggests that, while virtual reality was initially celebrated as “the ultimate empathy machine”, a robust argument can be made for VR’s capacity to desensitise participants.
Looking at the use of Virtual Reality for journalism, it acknowledges that the novelty of VR has exposed (particularly affluent) audiences to stories of humanitarian crisis, and explores the ethical implications of desensitisation and compassion fatigue of the audience to the subject.
Examples are given of VR for cue/exposure therapy for treatment of phobias and addiction, habituating muscle memory, HR training experiences for effectively firing workers, and drilling activities in simulated high-stress environments such as industrial safety and military applications. Military simulation VR will be explored further in the context of desensitisation and the historical development of military training from Dave Grossman’s book On Killing, arguing that its use allows for training that reduces empathy and the hesitation to kill.
