Ecological and ethical issues in virtual reality research: A call for increased scrutiny

Ramirez, Erick Jose

doi:10.1080/09515089.2018.1532073

Cited by 27 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…For those who doubt that VR experiences, even virtually real ones, can be harmful, consider the case of Mel Slater et al's (2006) replication of Stanley Milgram's (1963) obedience studies. Slater's group created a VR simulation that we believe was high in perspectival fidelity and context-realism and thus generated ecologically valid VR experimental conditions (Ramirez 2019). As a result, not only did Slater's group replicate Milgram's original results, the study also seems to have unfortunately generated an ethically troubling degree of trauma in its subjects.…”

Section: Moral Problemsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…At its heart, Bridge asks for a moral judgment: would we push (or not push) a man onto the tracks of a runaway trolley, or, alternatively, how would we judge another person's actions when they acted in either way? Any simulation of choices like these must accurately recreate the choice scenario experimentally or run into problems with ecological validity (Ramirez 2019). That is, a successful simulation of Bridge needs to provide its subject with virtually real experiences of being on a bridge with a runaway trolley threatening others below, it needs to provide the experience of having the idea that pushing the man onto the tracks could realistically save the five down below, and it needs to include a sense of genuine time-sensitivity to the decision (so much so that asking the man to sacrifice himself is not an option given the circumstances).…”

Section: Experimental Problems With Perspectival Fidelity and Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ethical Issues with Simulating the Bridge Problem in VR

Ramirez

Labarge

2020

Sci Eng Ethics

Self Cite

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We aim to generate a dilemma for virtual reality-based research that we motivate through an extended case study of Judith Thomson's (1985) Bridge variant of the trolley problem. Though the problem we generate applies more broadly than the Bridge problem, we believe it makes a good exemplar of the kind of case we believe is problematic. First, we argue that simulations of these thought experiments run into a practicality horn that makes it practically impossible to produce them. These problems revolve around concepts that we call "perspectival fidelity"and "context realism." Moral dilemmas that include features present in the Bridge variant will, as a result, be practically impossible to simulate. We also argue that, should we be wrong about the practical impossibility of creating a VR simulation of Bridge, such a simulation must face an ethical horn which renders these simulations ethically impermissible to develop or use. For these reasons, we argue that it is virtually impossible to simulate the bridge problem (and other thought experiments with similar features) both practically and ethically in VR.

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Section: Moral Problemsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Experimental Problems With Perspectival Fidelity and Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethical Issues with Simulating the Bridge Problem in VR

Ramirez

Labarge

2020

Sci Eng Ethics

Self Cite

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“…Due to their exposure to the virtual world, oftentimes users might experience physical space disorientation and inability of properly coordinate their actions in the real world, which can cause physical harm not only to the users themselves but also to others around them and to their property (Ramirez, 2019). Should these relations be regulated just like the teaching process in the teaching institutions?…”

Section: Entrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Reality: General Issues of Legal Regulation

Дремлюга¹,

Dremliuga²,

Iakovenko³

2020

JPL

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The article focuses on the general issues of legal regulation of relations that emerge in the field of application of VR technologies and presents issues associated with the regulation of development of such technologies. It looks at the features of this technology that create challenges for the development of a system of legal regulation of its application. The article also gives a perspective at major factors that make application of the existing law difficult and offers analysis of the emerging issues of its regulation. The author arrives at a conclusion that this technology is fundamentally different from the other existing technologies as it combines the properties of both physical reality and cyberspace. Among the challenges of the legal regulation of VR are a high realism, complete immersion user experience, and low cyber protection of both hardware and software components. The author evaluates several regulatory approaches, which could be used in the case of virtual reality and finds that all of them have major deficiencies. Contemporary research findings in secure application of VR in the fields of teaching and entertainment get rapidly outdated as they cannot catch up with the technology development, therefore they can only serve as a ground for the development of a system of VR regulation with consideration of this factor.

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“…Usoh et al pointed out that the conclusions obtained when respondents experience the same type of environmental stimulus are questionable in cross-environmental experience comparisons, such as immersive VR compared to real, or desktop display compared to immersive VR [28]. Additionally, some scholars have also noted limitations and disadvantages of VR, e.g., the resolution of the display and the accuracy of body contact [13,29]. Therefore, a comparison between on-site observation and VR observation is necessary.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Virtual Reality to Assess Landscape: A Comparative Study Between On-Site Survey and Virtual Reality of Aesthetic Preference and Landscape Cognition

et al. 2020

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In recent years, research on landscape perception has been generally overoptimistic about the use of virtual reality (VR); however, few have questioned the validity of VR. It is necessary to examine whether on-site stimulation can be substituted by VR. The purpose of this study was to assess the degree of agreement between on-site survey and VR for landscape perception. The sample included 11 representative landscapes from Tsuchiura city and Tsukuba city, Japan. On-site survey data was collected for 17 items related to aesthetic preference and landscape cognition. The same scenes were produced by VR and same survey data as on-site was collected. The agreement of both the overall mean of all landscapes and the ratings of all individuals in each landscape confirmed the high level of concordance of most cognitive attributes between the two stimuli. The findings support immersive VR as a reliable tool for assessing landscape cognition.

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Ecological and ethical issues in virtual reality research: A call for increased scrutiny

Cited by 27 publications

References 24 publications

Ethical Issues with Simulating the Bridge Problem in VR

Ethical Issues with Simulating the Bridge Problem in VR

Virtual Reality: General Issues of Legal Regulation

Using Virtual Reality to Assess Landscape: A Comparative Study Between On-Site Survey and Virtual Reality of Aesthetic Preference and Landscape Cognition

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