Immersive Technology (59)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 16 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
In a world in which social media is constantly visible, and in which the averaged five star rating for each person based on every single one of their interactions with others are displayed, Lacie tries to move into the higher echelons of society. She does this by consistently keeping up saccharine appearances in real life and on her social media feed because everyone is constantly connected to this technology. En route to an important wedding, she loses several points in her rating, yet still finds solace with a truck driver who offers her a ride. After releasing her true emotions at the wedding (from which she was ultimately disinvited for her low score), she is jailed and continues the release of her pent-up emotions. For further reading and real-life connections, see the narrative “Inside China’s Vast New Experiment in Social Ranking.”
- Kinolab
- 2016
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- 16 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Lacie Part II: Everyday Influencers and “Keep Instagram Casual”
In a world in which social media is constantly visible, and in which the averaged five star rating for each person based on every single one of their interactions with others are displayed, Lacie tries to move into the higher echelons of society. She does this by consistently keeping up saccharine appearances in real life and on her social media feed because everyone is constantly connected to this technology. En route to an important wedding, she loses several points in her rating, yet still finds solace with a truck driver who offers her a ride. After releasing her true emotions at the wedding (from which she was ultimately disinvited for her low score), she is jailed and continues the release of her pent-up emotions. For further reading and real-life connections, see the narrative “Inside China’s Vast New Experiment in Social Ranking.”
Are shallow interactions and the improbability of someone saying what they truly mean on a platform inherent to the design of digital social networks? How does social media put pressure on people to change events or relationships in their real life to keep up positive appearances? Consider movements such as “Keep Instagram Casual,” which implores users to post whatever they like, whenever they like, rather than being beholden to strict societal rules on what is acceptable to post. Can this occur with a user-centric push, or does something about the design of the platforms need to change? Does “digital niceness” actually benefit anyone? How do figures such as influencers take advantage of digital platforms to set social norms online and offline?
Black Mirror: The Truck Driver-
- 12 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Cooper, a world traveller whose father recently died of Alzheimer’s disease, is payed to play-test a virtual reality game in which a brain-computer interface will be inserted through his neck in order to place his consciousness into a horror scenario in which he is plagued by his deepest fears. After several terrifying vignettes, he begins to lose all of his memories, mirroring his ultimate concern of succumbing to Alzheimer’s like his father and continuing to ignore or forget his mother. After this, he appears to be rescued by the game’s managers, but the truth of his real-life situation is later revealed to be far more gruesome.
- Kinolab
- 2016
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- 12 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Personalized and Occupational Dangers of Digital Realities
Cooper, a world traveller whose father recently died of Alzheimer’s disease, is payed to play-test a virtual reality game in which a brain-computer interface will be inserted through his neck in order to place his consciousness into a horror scenario in which he is plagued by his deepest fears. After several terrifying vignettes, he begins to lose all of his memories, mirroring his ultimate concern of succumbing to Alzheimer’s like his father and continuing to ignore or forget his mother. After this, he appears to be rescued by the game’s managers, but the truth of his real-life situation is later revealed to be far more gruesome.
Is it ethical to use human subjects to test digital games or realities involving personal psychological processes? What might some alternatives be? How can the safety of subjects be ensured? How can scientists ensure brain-computer interfaces are safe before trying them out on human brains? Can this ever be done ethically? How could technology which mines ones deepest psychological fears be used or abused outside of entertainment purposes?
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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?
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- 15 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
CW: Violence and Genocide
Stripe is a soldier in a generic war who, like all of his other fellow soldiers, is connected to a brain-computer interface known as a MASS implant that provides him with information about targets and missions. The supposed goal of the fighting is to “protect” citizens from roaches, the disturbing humanoid monsters which Stripe hunts and kills within the cabin. Directly after Stripe is hit with a digital device held by one of the roaches, he watches his squadmate kill a “roach” that Stripe perceived as a human. Ultimately, one of the roaches and the military psychologist Arquette explain exactly how the MASS implants alter the soldiers’ perceptions of their surroundings and their targets.
- Kinolab
- 2016
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- 15 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
The Militarization of the Digital Alteration of Reality
CW: Violence and Genocide
Stripe is a soldier in a generic war who, like all of his other fellow soldiers, is connected to a brain-computer interface known as a MASS implant that provides him with information about targets and missions. The supposed goal of the fighting is to “protect” citizens from roaches, the disturbing humanoid monsters which Stripe hunts and kills within the cabin. Directly after Stripe is hit with a digital device held by one of the roaches, he watches his squadmate kill a “roach” that Stripe perceived as a human. Ultimately, one of the roaches and the military psychologist Arquette explain exactly how the MASS implants alter the soldiers’ perceptions of their surroundings and their targets.
How are digital technologies responsible for pushing “us vs. them” narratives relating to wars? How could VR technology make soldiers less sympathetic to their victims? What role might smaller-scale virtual realities, such as violent video games, play in this larger narrative? Should the military ever have unfettered access to cutting-edge digital development? How can empathy be prioritized in the digital age?
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- 6 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Robert Daly is a programmer at the company Callister, which developed the immersive virtual reality game Infinity and its community for the entertainment of users. Daly is typically seen in the shadow of the co-founder of the company, the charismatic James Walton. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Daly possesses a personal modification of the Infinity game program, where he is able to upload sentient digital clones of his co-workers to take out his frustrations upon, as he does with Walton in this narrative.
- Kinolab
- 2017
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- 6 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Virtual Vindictiveness and Simulated Clones Part I: Daly and Walton
Robert Daly is a programmer at the company Callister, which developed the immersive virtual reality game Infinity and its community for the entertainment of users. Daly is typically seen in the shadow of the co-founder of the company, the charismatic James Walton. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Daly possesses a personal modification of the Infinity game program, where he is able to upload sentient digital clones of his co-workers to take out his frustrations upon, as he does with Walton in this narrative.
What should the ethical boundaries be in terms of creating digital copies of real-life people to manipulate in virtual realities? How would this alter the perception of autonomy or entitlement? Should the capability to create exact digital likenesses of real people be created for any reason? If so, how should their autonomy be ensured, since they are technically a piece of programming? Are digital copies of a person entitled to the same rights that their corporeal selves have?
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- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Robert Daly is a programmer at the company Callister, which developed the immersive virtual reality game Infinity and its community for the entertainment of users. Daly is typically seen in the shadow of the co-founder of the company, the charismatic James Walton. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Daly possesses a personal modification of the Infinity game program, where he is able to upload sentient digital clones of his co-workers to take out his frustrations upon. In this narrative, Nannette Cole becomes his newest victim after her DNA is used to draw her into the virtual reality. After Daly’s sexist and violent treatment of her and the other crewmates, Nannette inspires a mutiny to escape Daly’s world. In order to help the team carry out the plan, she seduces Daly as a distraction.
- Kinolab
- 2017
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- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Virtual Vindictiveness and Simulated Clones Part II: Daly and Cole
Robert Daly is a programmer at the company Callister, which developed the immersive virtual reality game Infinity and its community for the entertainment of users. Daly is typically seen in the shadow of the co-founder of the company, the charismatic James Walton. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Daly possesses a personal modification of the Infinity game program, where he is able to upload sentient digital clones of his co-workers to take out his frustrations upon. In this narrative, Nannette Cole becomes his newest victim after her DNA is used to draw her into the virtual reality. After Daly’s sexist and violent treatment of her and the other crewmates, Nannette inspires a mutiny to escape Daly’s world. In order to help the team carry out the plan, she seduces Daly as a distraction.
What should the ethical boundaries be in terms of creating digital copies of real-life people to manipulate in virtual realities? How would this alter the perception of autonomy or entitlement? Should the capability to create exact digital likenesses of real people be created for any reason? If so, how should their autonomy be ensured, since they are technically a piece of programming? How can bias, and more specifically the objectification of women, be eliminated in such conceptualisations? Are digital copies of a person entitled to the same rights that their corporeal selves have?