The Desert of the Unreal: Inequality in Virtual and Augmented Reality
The Desert of the Unreal: Inequality in Virtual and Augmented Reality Mary Anne Franks* The world we live in is structured by inequality: of gender, race, class, sexual orientation, disability, and more. Virtual and augmented reality technologies hold out the promise of a more perfect world, one that offers us more stimulation, more connection, more freedom, more equality than the “real” world. But for such technologies to be truly innovative, they must move us beyond our current limitations and prejudices. When existing inequalities are unacknowledged and unaddressed in the “real” world, they tend to be replicated and augmented in virtual realities. We make new worlds based on who we are and what we do in old ones. All of our worlds, virtual and physical, are the product of human choice and human creation. The developers of virtual and augmented reality make choices about which aspects of our lived history they want to replicate, enhance, or change. The design — and design flaws — of new virtual and augmented reality technologies should be critically evaluated to assess their likely impact on inequality and their consequences for legal and social policy. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 501 I. VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY: DEFINITIONS, TAXONOMY, AND EQUALITY FACTORS ....................................... 504 II. VR/AR AS A FORCE FOR EQUALITY ............................................ 507 III. VR/AR AS HAZARDOUS TO EQUALITY ........................................ 514 A. The Limits of Empathy ...................................................... 515 B. The Expansion of Surveillance ........................................... 519 C. Virtual Violence ................................................................. 526 * Copyright © 2017 Mary Anne Franks. Professor of Law, University of Miami School of Law, and Legislative and Tech Policy Director, Cyber Civil Rights Initiative.
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