Advantages and Disadvantages of Virtual Reality

Abstract:

Virtual Reality has made tremendous strides over the past centuries. From an innovative thought that was coined unrealistic in the past, is presently progressively developing and being executed into our lives. The thought behind Virtual Reality or “VR” is to completely immerse an individual into a computer-simulated environment in which they can interact and possess 3D universes or virtual situations. This article will attempt to address the fundamental issues regarding Virtual Reality (VR); (1) significance of VR in advancements by giving us a new, bleeding edge innovation. (2) ethical decision making in its professional practice and public welfare (3) showing the misguided judgments with virtual reality by providing more information and presenting solutions on how we can overcome it.

1. DPC Background:

Virtual Reality (VR) was an idea first established by Jaron Lanier in 1989, when he was illustrating the adversities, he went through with the generation’s up to date technology. Virtual Reality is a substitute world loaded up with computer stimulated images that react to a change in movement dependent on the user present in that situation. It utilizes PC innovation to make a recreated domain that makes the generated environment look, act, sound and feel genuine while having the user inundated and ready to connect with 3D universes.

The majority of individuals argue that when we mention “VR”, we usually refer to the entertainment industry which is video games, but this is simply not the case. In actuality, virtual reality is intended to fill most aspects of our lives by making us more productive, creative and express improved individuality among each other. VR has stepped outside the world of generating video games and has extended to other fields such as: marketing, education, business, healthcare, training, designing, military uses and even scientific visualization. The “need” that virtual reality is intended to fill has wider options of accessibility and convenience in our personal lives as well as our professional career. As a matter of fact, VR gives us a domain that enables us to manipulate behavioral and psychological facet, while giving us an open door for more extensive activities than it is conceivable, all things considered. An example of an intended fill would be Air Force pilots or future surgeons using VR to hone their techniques and help them avoid any accidents that could occur. Architects could use virtual reality to complete projects and assess several designs as well. It has endless possibilities and does not restrain us like the “real” world does, especially when it comes to concerns like materials or training – in virtual reality these concerns have no bounds.

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 As a result, the designs of virtual reality need to take into consideration the user’s behavior, interface and environmental recognition, but who is held accountable for creating or building this technology? The individuals liable would be the programmers, designers and testers as they are the ones that focus on these particular areas and are creating/ building/ inventing a product that will go towards our society. Companies and the management are also to be held responsible as they are the ones contracting the programmers/ designers and they have to ensure that the safety provisions are met and that the product is assessed properly as they are socially responsible for the public’s welfare.

2. Stakeholders:

Virtual Reality has directly positively impacted in many consumers, inventors, developers, business and government agencies, and educational lives. “Medical schools have received this innovation as a method for the up and coming age of surgeons, like robotic surgery” [1]. Establishments can promote their business by attracting individuals to their presentations and incorporates them with a module that their other competitors will not have, leaving the consumer with a unique impression of their establishment than the other as it is different from your standard presentation. As for government agencies, commandants can utilize virtual workbenches which facilitates the framework to enable the military on the region to show their exact area and execute commands or guide them from their exact location as well. Virtually Reality can completely transform the experience for consumers by giving them a distinctive experience such as being transported to a different country or even break cultural barriers. The best part of VR is that it is very flexible and convenient as “a single model which can be utilized on numerous occasions” [1] and VR is accessible no matter where you’re located. Developers and inventors benefit from it as well by receiving positive feedback and spurring them on to push further experimentation towards virtual reality. So far, developers and inventors have only hit the tip of the iceberg with this technology and seeing how it’s implemented into our lives makes them curious to unlock the full potential of VR as they see the limited capabilities they have achieved now has made great strides, while also peaking public interest.

Although virtual reality is innovative and exhilarating with the many uses it has, we also have many hurdles to overcome which raise public concern of its use. The concerns, while disagreeable, are nothing to startling as the consumer wonders if virtual reality has short-term or long-term effects. The question arises as “As of now, there is an absence of data on the short-and long haul physiological effects of VR” [2]. In fact, consumer is unaware of what specific “tests” have been done on this technology, which raises safety issues when they first test it out themselves.  An additional drawback towards VR is that it’s quite expensive as “if there is a chance that we wish to amplify VR and also achieve the majority, we need to burn through billions of dollars” [3]. This is because the cost of this early stage technology is too expensive to appeal for consumers to partake in, and this does not include the values of other additional extensions and games. This is an issue for the stakeholders as they want this product to be available for everyone, but unfortunately this is only going to be accessed by the wealthy as the cost of a product is usually a deal breaker for consumers. In the end, virtual reality does give you a genuine experience, but for the current issues it has, many are opposed to be demonstrated to these virtual encounters.

3. Ethical Analysis:

The ethical theory that I find more useful in dealing with the ethical issues concerns is utilitarianism. This is because developers and engineers do not look at the issues as whole, but rather separately and then decide which ones should take top priority. Designers and programmers for the most part center around explicit regions, yet they could be associated with adding to answers for moral issues, or they could be in charge of contributing moral concerns. Although they are in charge of building or creating this technology, programmers, designers and developers are not committed to comply with ethical limitations. Often, developers must settle on choices dependent on the focal point of their insight and encounters. In any case, the developers’ extent of expertise does not generally include the wide scope of territories that may affect the general population with social, psychological or moral viewpoints. These ethical inquiries emerge into the light due to the fact that virtual reality advances are hard to group and distinguish, and in light of the fact that it is hard to foresee their short-and long-haul impacts as there is a lack of documented information known. “Ethics, basic leadership and reasoning ought to go inseparably all through the improvement procedure” [2]. Improvement needs to incorporate future expectations, gauging sway, assessing and expounding on potential results, and distinguishing any issues with receptiveness and straightforwardness. This is significant as there are no set regulations for virtual reality and corporations anticipate for regulators to propel them toward a more ethical approach to the issues. This frame of mind can cause serious damage to the general population. Living in a world where everything is digital, corporations and developers need to maintain expertise and ethical duties to society as we are constantly reflecting on the devices we make.

The most relevant Code of Ethics for virtual reality would be the code of behavior for the ethical use of it. Users should ought to be clearly educated regarding these issues, as well as risks of motion sickness, desensitization, possible fictional applications in the “real” world and the powerful influence in VR. “In contrast to different types of media, VR can make a circumstance wherein the user’s whole surrounding is dictated by the makers of the virtual world” [3]. This thus presents open doors for new and particularly ground-breaking types of both mental and social control in which we need to look out for. “Designers will likewise need to consider methodologies and solutions for decrease dangers and damage” [2]. They have to guarantee the clients that they are not left exposed or possibly hurt themselves without any sort of guidance. In addition, another code of ethics that would be that engineers will not release private data concerning the user or any technical procedures present when using virtual reality. This is vital when concerning VR, as it has the ability to record every single new sort of user data, such as: mental, behavioral, emotional, and eye development while the user is in the computer stimulated environment. “Guaranteeing that this information is overseen in a mindful manner will be beneficial not only for the VR developers, but for the public too” [4]

4. Social Impact Analysis:

Just like any other product, the knowledge and skills necessary for virtual reality is not just one, but a mixture of many as you need these skills to get work done. Working with VR requires a whole team, so you need to have the basic skills of excellent communication, being cautious, conscientious, accountable, transparent, and open minded. But, in order to deploy virtual reality, you have to have some knowledge in order for it to be successful. To start off, you would need prior knowledge of the use of a three-dimensional engine and have the ability to program in it. Also, you would need to have some background in cinematic virtual reality creation, as it is used to utilize unique cameras to record 360 degrees from the user’s point, photogrammetry, which is used to capture the surrounding “real” area in three dimensions while the user is moving and finally haptics, so that they can understand the technology that helps the user interact with objects accordingly, and not cause an issue like motion sickness or nausea.

Some major interdisciplinary perspectives that could help identify these issues would be being transparent between the consumer and developer or engineers, safety awareness, and better research on the technology they are making and the types of individuals that will be using it. Transparency is a major interdisciplinary skill as consumers are unaware of the “tests” the developers run in the different simulations. “Moreover, disregarded issues ought to be unequivocally expressed as an issue of open and good commitment” [5]. As VR engineers seek unique structure designs, it makes it harder for regulators to keep up with the technology and to also create rules and administrative guidelines for the wellbeing of the public. In addition, there needs to be a great deal of research when it comes to virtual reality. There are many concerns within the public that need to be addressed, such as if it affects mental health or if there are possible side effects that may arise in the long term. This can easily be resolved with more research from developers and testers. Currently, engineers and developers are focused on separate concerns and are not directing their attention to the public. Releasing evidence to the public can ease these concerns and not overlooking the conceivable emotional well-being issues. Including extra examination and investigation in all the testing stages to the advancement of VR can secure general wellness. Also, the tests should concentrate on all aspects like, physical wellbeing, physiological influence, security concerns, and social impacts. We need to tackle the issue before it shows itself, utilizing groundbreaking precaution measures to make a more secure, progressively solid, future-evidence innovation.

Everyone desires favorable results, but this can be influenced by what technology is introduced. From my cultural insight, the countries that are Spanish speaking are not behind in the latest trends, especially when it comes to technology. The various times that I have visited family members in Mexico, I can honestly say that the people there are very aware of the new technology that is coming out, and there is no exception when it comes to virtual reality. Back in 2016, a virtual reality festival was unveiled in the City of Mexico which “sought to bring light to the issue of child trafficking and used VR as a social effect” [6]. This can also be used for the issue of violence that Mexico currently has and show the people the problems they are facing upfront instead of turning a blind eye to it. If this is shown, the people will make more of an effort to get more involvement with the government to resolve this affair, as this is a concern from many individuals in Mexico that I personally know, but shrug it off most of the time as they do not acknowledge it because it does not happen where they are at. Using this technology can also give the people in Mexico an insight of a better future for their children and make strides in order to achieve this. This cutting- edge technology is still developing but will allow for growth as Spanish is the second most spoken language and there is a greater emphasis in the STEM field in the current generation.

5. Conclusion:

As virtual reality continues to develop into different industries, we must take into consideration it’s positive and negative aspects. We are still a long way from perfecting this complex technology, known as VR. The most compelling argument in favor of the deployment of Virtual Reality is that it presents a realistic environment that provides training for individuals. It enhances performance by thinking about assignments at the apprentice level and continuously climbs to the professional one. In addition, it is cost saving and gives improved operation awareness as the workbenches in VR can be used to coordinate plans or create precise designs virtually, which is time and cost efficient. The hinderance that virtual reality has is that currently the perceptions are regularly not realistic and that a possible portion of the introduced generated images will not be as smooth, which can lead to a time lag whenever we try to maneuver ourselves. A further restraint that would cause issues is that “Virtual reality frameworks are costly and tedious to create” [7].

Furthermore, if Virtual Reality continues to grow as it is now, we must start researching and resolve the ethical issues on VR as this is something that can have a real impact on society in the long term. We must ensure a solution for virtual reality so that it can be incorporated in public welfare by choosing the proper techniques to achieve well-defined aspirations.

References:

[1]     FreshUK. “Advantages of Virtual Reality Training.” Virtual Reality Society, 28 July 2019, www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality-education/advantages.html.

[2] Kenwright, Ben. “Virtual Reality: Ethical Challenges and Dangers.” IEEE Technology and Society, 14 Jan. 2019, technologyandsociety.org/virtual-reality-ethical-challenges-and-dangers/.

[3] Bardi, Joe. “What Is Virtual Reality? VR Definition and Examples.” Marxent, https://Www.marxentlabs.com/Wp-Content/Uploads/2018/10/marxLogo397x58.Png, 29 July 2019, www.marxentlabs.com/what-is-virtual-reality/

[4] NSPE, “NSPE Code of Ethics for Professional Engineers,” 28 July 2019. [Online]. Available: http://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics.

[5] Life, VR. “Inhabit Virtual Reality Images Into Reality? That’s Pretty Scary.” VR Life, 25 Sept. 2018, www.vrlife.news/first-vr-code-ethics/.

[6]  Hackl, Cathy. “Mexico Celebrates First VR Festival in Latin America.” VRScout, 21 Sept. 2016, vrscout.com/news/mexico-celebrates-first-vr-festival-latin-america/.

[7] Mott, Elizabeth. “Advantages & Disadvantages of Virtual Reality.” Techwalla, 15 Apr. 2018, www.techwalla.com/articles/advantages-disadvantages-of-virtual-reality.