I believe these concerns are important and deserve attention however I wouldn't be too worried about the consequences of virtual reality games. The games which allow for killing, stealing, and other unethical acts are supposed to be ways for us to act with completely free will. However, if a friend of mine goes into a virtual game and kills someone, I'm not going to change my view of their ethics and morals. The separation between reality and virtual reality is strong enough that I believe it is not yet a concern for whether people will be able to distinguish the two. Maybe years down the road, as games continue to become more and more realistic and kids are raised with more and more capable technologies this concern may become more important. But I believe the barrier the still very strong between virtual reality and reality.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Will people blur the lines between Virtual Reality and Reality?
One concern that I found most interesting was that of the effects of virtual reality and ethics. Beginning on page 107, Herbert Zettl discusses the implication of virtual reality and how human ethics may be changed. He discusses that our enjoyment of virtual reality is to avoid responsibility and also to act in ways we wouldn't normally act.
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The idea of separating virtual reality from reality is also described in chapter 5. Zettl says that the motion and sound used in virtual reality systems is not the same as things we observe in everyday life. People control the movements of virtual people through limited hand and head movements from a fixed place. Thus, no matter how realistic the graphics are, a person is unlikely to mistake virtual movement for the real thing. The same is true for sound used in virtual reality systems. The sound generated from an electronic system is not the same as sounds we experience in real life.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'm not too concerned about virtual reality translating into real life action for the most part, at least in regards to video games. From what I have observed, virtual reality can be a place to escape to, but I don't think it would be something that could be mistaken, let alone translated bit by bit into real life. At least for now.
ReplyDeleteIn many ways virtual reality can be compared to a movie. Just as Luke said, virtual reality is a way for people to "escape to" a different world or live an exciting life, just as many will go to see a movie to experience the same thing.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with your position, but the ethical questions are more complex. Judging from the previews, I think the new movie The Box reflects some of these issues--what if you could just push a button, and someone somewhere who you don't know will die, and you'll be rewarded in return?
ReplyDeleteOh, and please fix the spelling of Zettl's name.
ReplyDelete