| Title |
The Ethics of Virtual Reality Technology: Social Hazards and Public Policy Recommendations
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Science and Engineering Ethics, September 2017
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s11948-017-9979-y |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
James S. Spiegel |
| Abstract |
This article explores four major areas of moral concern regarding virtual reality (VR) technologies. First, VR poses potential mental health risks, including Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder. Second, VR technology raises serious concerns related to personal neglect of users' own actual bodies and real physical environments. Third, VR technologies may be used to record personal data which could be deployed in ways that threaten personal privacy and present a danger related to manipulation of users' beliefs, emotions, and behaviors. Finally, there are other moral and social risks associated with the way VR blurs the distinction between the real and illusory. These concerns regarding VR naturally raise questions about public policy. The article makes several recommendations for legal regulations of VR that together address each of the above concerns. It is argued that these regulations would not seriously threaten personal liberty but rather would protect and enhance the autonomy of VR consumers. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 7 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | 14% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 14% |
| Unknown | 5 | 71% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 6 | 86% |
| Scientists | 1 | 14% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 238 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 238 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 31 | 13% |
| Student > Master | 29 | 12% |
| Student > Bachelor | 25 | 11% |
| Researcher | 17 | 7% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 13 | 5% |
| Other | 39 | 16% |
| Unknown | 84 | 35% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Science | 22 | 9% |
| Psychology | 18 | 8% |
| Social Sciences | 17 | 7% |
| Engineering | 13 | 5% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 11 | 5% |
| Other | 60 | 25% |
| Unknown | 97 | 41% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 37. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 June 2023.
All research outputs
#1,006,577
of 24,074,720 outputs
Outputs from Science and Engineering Ethics
#58
of 950 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#21,489
of 322,858 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Science and Engineering Ethics
#4
of 31 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,074,720 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 95th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 950 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 12.3. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 322,858 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 93% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 31 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 90% of its contemporaries.