Virtual Reality (18)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Kelly and Yorkie, two women near death in the real world, meet and start a relationship with one another in San Junipero, a virtual reality program which hosts both “visitors” (older living people who spend small increments of time within) and “residents” (humans who have died and have had their consciousness uploaded to the cloud). The program is accessed via a brain-computer interface, which allows the humans to alter their own appearance and the appearance of the town according to their wishes. Once it is revealed that Yorkie plans to pass away and upload her consciousness into San Junipero permanently, Kelly is faced with a hard choice.
- Kinolab
- 2016
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Afterlives and Liberation in Digital Utopias
Kelly and Yorkie, two women near death in the real world, meet and start a relationship with one another in San Junipero, a virtual reality program which hosts both “visitors” (older living people who spend small increments of time within) and “residents” (humans who have died and have had their consciousness uploaded to the cloud). The program is accessed via a brain-computer interface, which allows the humans to alter their own appearance and the appearance of the town according to their wishes. Once it is revealed that Yorkie plans to pass away and upload her consciousness into San Junipero permanently, Kelly is faced with a hard choice.
How do digital worlds and platforms allow people a space for self-exploration and liberation that might not be possible in the real world? What are the positive outcomes of people being able to shape their identity as they please in digital worlds, especially as it relates to marginalized identities such as people in the LGBTQIA+ community? If digital immortality is to become a reality, how should it be presented/regulated? How should its creators avoid it becoming a sort of “trap”? Given the various secular and religious views on the afterlife, how could an agreed vision of a digital afterlife be reached?
Black Mirror: Kelly's House-
- 6 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
In this episode, Matt and Joe Potter, who inhabit the same cabin, tell each other short stories from their lives. Eventually, Joe Potter reveals that he killed his former father in law, and shortly after became responsible for the murdered man’s granddaughter freezing to death in the snow. Once he confesses this crime, it is revealed that Joe Potter is actually a digital consciousness trapped inside a virtual reality manipulated by Matt, designed in order to get his murder confession. Now having given a clear confession, his digital consciousness is sentenced to live inside a virtual reality, existing in nothingness for thousands of years.
- Kinolab
- 2014
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- 6 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Digital Interrogation and Torture Methods
In this episode, Matt and Joe Potter, who inhabit the same cabin, tell each other short stories from their lives. Eventually, Joe Potter reveals that he killed his former father in law, and shortly after became responsible for the murdered man’s granddaughter freezing to death in the snow. Once he confesses this crime, it is revealed that Joe Potter is actually a digital consciousness trapped inside a virtual reality manipulated by Matt, designed in order to get his murder confession. Now having given a clear confession, his digital consciousness is sentenced to live inside a virtual reality, existing in nothingness for thousands of years.
How can virtual reality be abused? If law enforcement come to use virtual reality as an interrogation technique, what should the rules and regulations be? Is it ethical to administer such interrogation or torture techniques unknowingly on any criminal, no matter how egregious their crime?
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- 4 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Wade Watts lives in an imagined future in which the OASIS, a limitless virtual reality world, acts as a constant distraction from the real world for the majority of citizens. In this scene, the virtual avatars of himself and his team search for a McGuffin item in the digitally rendered atmosphere of the film The Shining, with features of the film such as the twin girls making an appearance.
- Kinolab
- 2018
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- 4 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Digitizing the Fictional and Copyright Claims
Wade Watts lives in an imagined future in which the OASIS, a limitless virtual reality world, acts as a constant distraction from the real world for the majority of citizens. In this scene, the virtual avatars of himself and his team search for a McGuffin item in the digitally rendered atmosphere of the film The Shining, with features of the film such as the twin girls making an appearance.
How can pre-existing media, like film, be made “new” through deep fake and VR tech? What are the copyright issues that arise? If digital technology can render fictional settings accessible to everyone, who truly “owns” a space or story? Do narrative artists lose creative power if people can digitally insert themselves into the worlds of a story?
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- 3 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Wade Watts lives in an imagined future in which the OASIS, a limitless virtual reality world, acts as a constant distraction from the real world for the majority of citizens. In this scene, his virtual avatar Parzival visits the Halliday Journals, a complete archive of the memories of James Halliday, the creator of the OASIS. These memories are digitized in their complete abstract form, and seem freely accessible to anyone.
- Kinolab
- 2018
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- 3 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
The Digitization of Memory and its Consequences
Wade Watts lives in an imagined future in which the OASIS, a limitless virtual reality world, acts as a constant distraction from the real world for the majority of citizens. In this scene, his virtual avatar Parzival visits the Halliday Journals, a complete archive of the memories of James Halliday, the creator of the OASIS. These memories are digitized in their complete abstract form, and seem freely accessible to anyone.
How can tech like the “cloud” be used for the storage of abstract data like consciousness and memories? What would be potential impact on human memory if memories were easily able to become fully digital? What are the dangers of intimate memories being potentially accessible to anyone in the digital world?
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- 17 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Wade Watts lives in an imagined future in which the OASIS, a limitless virtual reality world, acts as a constant distraction from the real world for the majority of citizens. Anything constructed in the virtual world, from possessions to relationships, is valued and taken as real by users. When a large corporation headed by Nolan Sorrento attempts to gain sole ownership of the virtual reality network, Wade’s avatar Parzival inspires a revolution among the citizens in the digital world, ultimately winning for himself and his friends the ownership of, and the power to regulate, the OASIS.
- Kinolab
- 2018
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- 17 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Digital Escapism and Online Connections
Wade Watts lives in an imagined future in which the OASIS, a limitless virtual reality world, acts as a constant distraction from the real world for the majority of citizens. Anything constructed in the virtual world, from possessions to relationships, is valued and taken as real by users. When a large corporation headed by Nolan Sorrento attempts to gain sole ownership of the virtual reality network, Wade’s avatar Parzival inspires a revolution among the citizens in the digital world, ultimately winning for himself and his friends the ownership of, and the power to regulate, the OASIS.
What are the pros and cons of developing exciting, immersive communities in virtual reality platforms? Do social networks change the nature of human interaction for better, for worse, or both at once? Can any one social network outpace reality as a means of connection? What is the risk of one corporate entity having centralized control over large social digital spaces? What is “the real world” if VR is convincing enough? Should the digital be heavily regulated if it serves as a legitimate coping mechanism for some?
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2021
Virtual Reality (VR) can cause nausea among many physical ailments whilst immersed in the digital world. This article explores some tactics to combat this nausea and why it might happen.
- Wired
- 2021
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2021
How to Reduce Motion Sickness in Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality (VR) can cause nausea among many physical ailments whilst immersed in the digital world. This article explores some tactics to combat this nausea and why it might happen.
Why is it important to try and mitigate the physical ailments caused by VR?
What might happen if we get too good at mitigating these physical ailments?