Designing and using extended reality to enrich life … or just avoid it?

Quite often, ancient stories convey forewarnings that remain relevant in modern times. For instance, some of the unintended consequences of extended reality (such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality, which we’ll say more about below) have a striking parallel in the Pygmalion myth.

In this tale, a sculptor by the name of Pygmalion carves a statue of a beautiful woman. However, his sculpture ends up looking so lifelike, he falls in love with it, as if it were a real person. Unlike other artwork, Pygmalion’s creation didn’t model or represent something important in his reality. Quite the opposite—this artistic innovation replaced something important in his reality!

To this day, the Pygmalion myth raises a philosophical conundrum about innovation in general. Are out latest creations or inventions truly enriching our lives? Or are they spurring us to avoid problems in life that we just don’t want to face? That is, do they enhance our ability to deal with reality, or do they impel us to escape it altogether? Such questions seem especially apt nowadays for talking about extended reality.

To illustrate, let’s quickly define what we mean by extended reality.

Extended reality: VR, AR, and MR

Extended reality (XR) is an umbrella term for technological innovations that create virtual worlds, such as computer-generated backgrounds and avatars. Common examples of extended reality include virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality.

Virtual reality

Virtual reality (VR) refers to technology that creates an immersive audial and visual experience in a virtual world. This virtual world can represent a practical experience in the real world, such as a flight simulator that can train pilots how to fly airplanes. One popular version of this kind of VR technology is Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Alternatively, a virtual world could simply represent an imaginary experience in a pretend place, as seen in fantasy-like video games.

As each of these examples show, VR is handy for workplace training or home entertainment.

Augmented reality

Augmented reality (AR) refers to technology that creates virtual experiences designed to augment the real world. In other words, AR adds to our experience of the real world by adding computer-generated content to our environment. Like VR, AR has both practical and gaming applications.

Practical applications include cars with heads-up displays, which project vehicle information (speed, mileage, GSP, etc.) right on the windshield.

Gaming applications include mobile apps like Pokemon GO, which can insert virtual images into our surroundings—albeit mediated by a screen on a smart device.

Mixed reality

Mixed Reality (MR) is similar to AR in that it augments reality with a virtual overlay of computer-generated content. However, in addition to adding that content to reality, MR also lets you interact with that content, as if it were part of reality. Hence, you can not only see and hear the computer-generated content added to the real world, but you can also interact with it somehow.

Although fictional, Tony Stark’s workshop is an illustrative example of where MR may take us someday.

Ethical concerns with extended reality

While extended reality technologies are impressive and often useful, they raise ethical concerns. Namely, are professionals designing these technologies—and are people using them—to improve our lives in some way? Or are these innovations distracting us in ways that allow us to avoid coping with life?

Ethical questions about extended reality and its practical value

For instance, when talking about the practical value of extended reality, we should ask a question Neil Postman always asked about new technology:

For what problem is this innovation a solution?

The heads-up displays for cars provide an excellent example of how we might ask that question. Clearly, this technology is attempting to solve the following problem: how to make the driving experience safer.

Therefore, designers should ensure the heads-up displays actually enhance the driving experience—in particular, by giving drivers relevant information that helps them drive safely. Likewise, the displays shouldn’t distract drivers with irrelevant info that breaks their concentration from the road—for example, incoming cellphone calls.

Ethical questions about extended reality and its entertainment value

When it comes to the entertainment value of extended reality, we might ask a different, but related, philosophical question:

Is this new form of entertainment a fun break from reality? Or is it an addictive game that induces people to avoid dealing with their own lives?

To be sure, there’s nothing wrong with taking a break from reality—say, by playing a video game. Sometimes, we need to lose ourselves in some form of fanciful entertainment, thus escaping the real world by immersing ourselves in a virtual one.

However, a problem emerges when that break isn’t a temporary escape but a permanent absconding. Many popular sci-fi stories, like Ready Player One, have warned us about this danger: a dystopian future when so many people feel so addicted to virtual gaming that they ignore actual reality … while the real world goes to hell in a handbasket!

The ethics of extended reality: enhancing reality … or escaping it altogether?

Designing and using extended reality to enrich life … or just avoid it?