So a month ago so I started playing the latest installment of the Elder Scrolls series Skyrim. The game is pretty amazing. One byproduct of such technology is that I have determined that I am ready to engage in virtual reality whenever it becomes available and life-like. Let me tell you why you will be too.
In my personal opinion, based on what I have observed, even at an exponential growth rate I think that it is fair to say that it will be a good while before we have to worry about the ethical issues revolving around the biological integration of virtual reality. I think that we are much more likely to see ethics surrounding artificial intelligence (A.I.’s) in my lifetime.
That being said with the advent of modern video game technology – I think we will get closer and closer to the virtual realm in non-biological ways in our lifetime that still raise a slew of ethical questions.
As I see it, social media is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to community-generated issues emerging from online technology. If you want to see some of the issues that virtual reality might create in the future, hit up Netflix and watch the Sci-Fy series Caprica. It won’t take you long to derive a healthy list of questions, concerns and “how awesome would that be” type scenarios.
Personally, I am looking forward to these “other world” experiences. And while I think that many will advocate the advancement of these technologies for the wrong reasons, I also think that plenty of people will share that anticipation with me for the right reasons. Here are few points why:
*Virtual Reality will be Beautiful.
Skyrim is a perfect example of this. Skyrim is one giant piece of technological art.
*Virtual Reality will be Never Ending.
If you can imagine it, it can exist in virtual reality.
*Virtual Reality will allow people to explore parts of themselves that they have not had the opportunity to in their current reality.
Yes, this could be problematic but it also could be very liberating. Maybe you would like the experience of skydiving without the threat of dying. You might be a thrill-seeker and not know it. In the virtual world you could find out.
*Open Source Virtual Reality will drastically change how persons will be educated and will drastically reduce the high-cost of education over time.
Imagine room and board costs eliminated? No more textbook costs.
*Virtual Reality will be good for the economy.
It will create millions of jobs in both this world and virtual ones.
*Virtual Reality will be the poor-person’s vacation.
Once the technology become affordable, people will be able to go places virtually at very low costs.
*Virtual Reality will further eliminate the physical boundaries of this world.
Social media is just the beginning of human beings’ ability to be interconnected beyond physical restrictions. Virtual reality will take this interaction to a whole new level.
*At some point in time Virtual Reality will seem (and be?) as real as our current reality.
Actually, philosophically it is impossible to prove that our current reality isn’t already Virtual.
Obviously, this isn’t an exhaustive list of the benefits of Virtual Reality but it does have implications as to how such technology will benefit us in the future. So the question is: Are you looking forward to these advancements? I would encourage you to think about this issue ahead of time because, sooner than you think, much of what persons know of reality will be interconnected with virtual ways of life.
Some forms of what you describe already exist in things like Second Life (http://secondlife.com/) and other similar environments I have tried.
I agree Brian – Second Life is good example of some of these things. It is also probably the subject of a later post that will deal with VR ethics and morality.