The fact that VR can be used to simulate environments that appear “real” but are not brings up questions of ethics – as with most things that can reflect realism. A virtual world. Users are able to place themselves into different bodies temporarily, changing their background and identity for the period of time they are in virtual reality. Do the same rules still apply in a virtual world?
In augmented reality (AR), virtual elements are added to the real world via a device (for example, goggles or a smartphone), and the information provided frequently uses the user’s actual location. For example, when visiting some ruins, one may notice a representation of what the place used to look like overlaid over the ruins. This is useful for historical representations as well as educational objectives (for example architects and engineers).
“…he argued that it is a fundamental moral principle “that human beings have a duty to treat other persons with respect, that is, to treat them as ends and not as means, or to do to them as one would expect to be treated by others oneself.” But does this apply to virtual characters? He gave two arguments suggesting that it does. First, following Kant in relation to treatment of animals, we should treat virtual characters with respect because if not we may end up treating people badly too (note that this is a philosophical rather than an empirical argument). Second, if we treat virtual characters with disrespect or act violently toward them, this may actually cause psychological harm to people that those characters might represent. ”
(Slater et al., 2020)