From: brownw@atc.boeing.com (William J Brown) Subject: Re: PHIL: virtual-worlds ethics Date: Wed, 15 Nov 1995 16:30:22 GMT Organization: Boeing Computer Services From: brownw@atc.boeing.com (William J Brown) In article <484p95$hp6@cville-srv.wam.umd.edu>, weyker@wam.umd.edu (Shayne Weyker) writes: <...deletion> > How do the exclusion of certain aspects of real-life in a simulation > of some part of real-life (for technical, instructional, or > entertainment reasons) shape, and perhaps distort, people's > understanding of the real-world events being represented to them > through VR? <...deletion> These are really interesting questions. I'm sure Fred Brooks and James Coggins at UNC would have a lot more to say about this than me but.... First of all, this is very similar to the debate already going on in the field of Medical Imaging. "How do I know I can trust a digital image as opposed to an X-ray?", "How do I know what processing has been done and what the effects are?" Ethically, it seems to me we have a responsibility to represent what we can represent as accurately as possible and, of course, not try to deliberately mislead. I think we also have a responsibility to know what the most important sensory (not just visual) cues are and work down a prioritized list rather than just focus on what's easiest. This last part is, in general, not being done. Bill ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- William Brown (206) 865-4618 | Internet: brownw@espresso.rt.cs.boeing.com Boeing Research & Technology, Comp. Sci.| "I'm more of an idea rat" - Ratbert