The Ethics of Virtual Reality Technology: Social Hazards and Public Policy Recommendations
Abstract
This article explores four major areas of moral concern regarding virtual reality (VR) technologies. First, VR poses potential mental health risks, including Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder. Second, VR technology raises serious concerns related to personal neglect of users' own actual bodies and real physical environments. Third, VR technologies may be used to record personal data which could be deployed in ways that threaten personal privacy and present a danger related to manipulation of users' beliefs, emotions, and behaviors. Finally, there are other moral and social risks associated with the way VR blurs the distinction between the real and illusory. These concerns regarding VR naturally raise questions about public policy. The article makes several recommendations for legal regulations of VR that together address each of the above concerns. It is argued that these regulations would not seriously threaten personal liberty but rather would protect and enhance the autonomy of VR consumers.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Privacy concerns about collecting vast amounts of data from VR usage have already been raised and must continue to be discussed within clinical research.
“privacy concerns have already been raised (Slater et al. 2020;Spiegel 2018) and must continue to be discussed within clinical research”
From Better, Virtually: the Past, Present, and Future of Virtual Reality Cognitive Behavior Therapy (2021) · cites this paper as Spiegel 2018
Cites
Defining virtual reality: Dimensions determining telepresence
Steuer, J. (1992) · Journal of Communication · doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.1992.tb00812.x · Cited by 5,459 · see citing works
Rubber hands ‘feel’ touch that eyes see
Botvinick, M., & Cohen, J. (1998) · Nature · doi:10.1038/35784 · Cited by 4,410 · see citing works
Warren, S. D., & Brandeis, L. D. (1890) · University of Washington Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9780295803661-014 · Cited by 4,092 · see citing works
Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks
Kramer, A. D. I., Guillory, J. E., & Hancock, J. T. (2014) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1320040111 · Cited by 3,687 · see citing works
Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View.
Wenglinsky, M., & Milgram, S. (1975) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2064024 · Cited by 3,291 · see citing works
American Philosophical Quarterly
(2023) · American Philosophical Quarterly · doi:10.5406/21521123.60.4.09 · Cited by 3,244 · see citing works
New York University Law Review
Rawls, J. (2017) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315193496-11 · Cited by 2,941 · see citing works
Place illusion and plausibility can lead to realistic behaviour in immersive virtual environments
Slater, M. (2009) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2009.0138 · Cited by 2,691 · see citing works
Effects of Group Pressure Upon the Modification and Distortion of Judgments
Asch, S. E. (1961) · Documents of Gestalt Psychology · doi:10.1525/9780520313514-017 · Cited by 2,644 · see citing works
Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2001) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00366 · Cited by 2,219 · see citing works
Development of a Facebook Addiction Scale
Andreassen, C. S., Torsheim, T., Brunborg, G. S., & Pallesen, S. (2012) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.2466/02.09.18.pr0.110.2.501-517 · Cited by 1,884 · see citing works
A discussion of cybersickness in virtual environments
LaViola, J. J. (2000) · ACM SIGCHI Bulletin · doi:10.1145/333329.333344 · Cited by 1,426 · see citing works
Pathological Video Game Use Among Youths: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study
Gentile, D. A., Choo, H., Liau, A., Sim, T., Li, D., Fung, D., & Khoo, A. (2011) · Pediatrics · doi:10.1542/peds.2010-1353 · Cited by 1,314 · see citing works
Virtual Reality Simulation for the Operating Room
Gallagher, A. G., Ritter, E. M., Champion, H. R., Higgins, G. A., Fried, M. P., Moses, G. R., Smith, C. D., & Satava, R. M. (2005) · Annals of Surgery · doi:10.1097/01.sla.0000151982.85062.80 · Cited by 1,054 · see citing works
Parsons, T. D., & Rizzo, A. A. (2008) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2007.07.007 · Cited by 994 · see citing works
Social Cognition and the Acquisition of Self
Lewis, M., & Brooks‐Gunn, J. (1979) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-3566-5 · Cited by 982 · see citing works
Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View.
Garbett, G. K., & Milgram, S. (1975) · Man · doi:10.2307/2801239 · Cited by 774 · see citing works
Motor rehabilitation using virtual reality
Sveistrup, H. (2004) · Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1186/1743-0003-1-10 · Cited by 746 · see citing works
A Study of Prisoners and Guards in a Simulated Prison
Haney, C. W., Banks, C., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2004) · Intellect Books · doi:10.2307/j.ctv36xvxrb.6 · Cited by 452 · see citing works
Bahrick, L. E., & Watson, J. S. (1985) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.21.6.963 · Cited by 449 · see citing works
Recommendations for Good Scientific Practice and the Consumers of VR-Technology
Madary, M., & Metzinger, T. K. (2016) · Frontiers in Robotics and AI · doi:10.3389/frobt.2016.00003 · Cited by 435 · see citing works
Rachels, J. A. (1975) · Philosophy & Public Affairs · Cited by 428 · see citing works
Infinite reality: avatars, eternal life, new worlds, and the dawn of the virtual revolution
School, N. Y. L. (2012) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.49-3824 · Cited by 308 · see citing works
Virtual reality in mental health: A review of the literature
Gregg, L., & Tarrier, N. (2007) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-007-0173-4 · Cited by 304 · see citing works
Privacy as an aspect of human dignity: an answer to Dean Prosser
Bloustein, E. J. (1984) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511625138.007 · Cited by 284 · see citing works
Fried, C. (1970) · Harvard University Press eBooks · doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674332485 · Cited by 268 · see citing works
The ethics of representation and action in virtual reality
Brey, P. A. E. (1999) · Ethics and Information Technology · doi:10.1023/a:1010069907461 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
Applications of Virtual Environments in Medicine
Riva, G. (2003) · Methods of Information in Medicine · doi:10.1055/s-0038-1634379 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
Virtual Reality Induces Dissociation and Lowers Sense of Presence in Objective Reality
Aardema, F., O’Connor, K. P., Côté, S., & Taillon, A. (2010) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2009.0164 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
The Convergence of Virtual Reality and Social Networks: Threats to Privacy and Autonomy
Ó’Brolcháin, F., Jacquemard, T., Monaghan, D. S., O'Connor, N. E., Novitzky, P., & Gordijn, B. (2014) · Science and Engineering Ethics · doi:10.1007/s11948-014-9621-1 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
State of Virtual Reality Based Disaster Preparedness and Response Training
Hsu, E. B., Li, Y., Bayram, J. D., Levinson, D. M., Yang, S. S., & Monahan, C. (2013) · PLoS Currents · doi:10.1371/currents.dis.1ea2b2e71237d5337fa53982a38b2aff · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Virtual reality and motor rehabilitation of the upper limb after stroke: A generation of progress?
Lucca, L. F. (2009) · Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine · doi:10.2340/16501977-0405 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, New Worlds, and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution
McCall, R. (2011) · PRESENCE Virtual and Augmented Reality · doi:10.1162/pres_r_00068 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Some practical considerations of ethical issues in VR research
Behr, K.-M., Nosper, A., Klimmt, C., & Hartmann, T. (2005) · Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments · doi:10.1162/105474605775196535 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
West, G. L., Drisdelle, B. L., Konishi, K., Jackson, J., Jolicoeur, P., & Bohbot, V. D. (2015) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.2952 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Mantovani, G. (1995) · Human Relations · doi:10.1177/001872679504800604 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
VIRTUAL REALITY: A NEW CLINICAL SETTING LAB
Botella, C., Perpiñá, C., Baños, R. M., & Garcíu-Palacios, A. (1998) · Studies in health technology and informatics · doi:10.3233/978-1-60750-902-8-73 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
The ethics of video games: Mayhem, death, and the training of the next generation
Gotterbarn, D. (2009) · Information Systems Frontiers · doi:10.1007/s10796-009-9204-x · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Fairfield, J. A. T., & Engel, C. (2017) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781316658888.004 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
A further analysis of the ethics of representation in virtual reality: Multi-user environments
Ford, P. J. (2001) · Ethics and Information Technology · doi:10.1023/a:1011846009390 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Towards an ethics of video gaming
Tavinor, G. (2007) · doi:10.1145/1328202.1328204 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
The social trajectory of virtual reality: Substantive ethics in a world without constraints
Cranford, M. (1996) · Technology in Society · doi:10.1016/0160-791x(95)00023-k · Cited by 25 · see citing works
The Ethical Status of Virtual Actions
Gooskens, G. (2010) · Ethical Perspectives · doi:10.2143/ep.17.1.2046957 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Mitigating challenges of using virtual reality in online courses: a case study
Stewart, B. L., Hutchins, H. M., Ezell, S., et al. (2010) · Innovations in Education and Teaching International · doi:10.1080/14703290903525937 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Abstracts from CyberTherapy 2006
Morganti, F., & Rusconi, M. L. (2006) · CyberPsychology & Behavior · doi:10.1089/cpb.2006.9.653 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Ethics of Realism in Virtual and Augmented Reality
Slater, M., Gonzalez-Liencres, C., Haggard, P., Vinkers, C., Gregory-Clarke, R., Jelley, S., Watson, Z., Breen, G., Schwarz, R., Steptoe, W., et al. (2020) · Frontiers in Virtual Reality · doi:10.3389/frvir.2020.00001 · Cited by 410 · see citing works
Yigitcanlar, T., Corchado, J. M., Mehmood, R., Li, R. Y. M., Mossberger, K., & Desouza, K. (2021) · Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity · doi:10.3390/joitmc7010071 · Cited by 245 · see citing works
Zhang, M., Ding, H., & Zhang, Y. (2022) · doi:10.20944/preprints202202.0056.v1 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
Better, Virtually: the Past, Present, and Future of Virtual Reality Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Lindner, P. (2021) · International Journal of Cognitive Therapy · doi:10.1007/s41811-020-00090-7 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
“…required by inside-out tracking 6DOF — is however not without ethical aspects; privacy concerns have already been raised (Slater et al. 2020; Spiegel 2018) and must continue to be discussed within clinical research, especially since this issue will likely grow more prominent among VR…”
BackgroundInclusive Augmented and Virtual Reality: A Research Agenda
Creed, C., Al-Kalbani, M., Theil, A., Sarcar, S., & Williams, I. (2024) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2023.2247614 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Parsons, T. D. (2021) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm10030378 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Găină, M.-A., Szalontay, A. S., Ștefănescu, G., Bălan, G. G., Ghiciuc, C. M., Boloș, A., Găină, A.-M., & Ștefănescu, C. (2022) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm11061670 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Psychiatric interventions in virtual reality: why we need an ethical framework
MARLOTH, M., CHANDLER, J., & VOGELEY, K. (2020) · Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics · doi:10.1017/s0963180120000328 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
- Authors
- Spiegel, J. S.
- Affiliations
- Taylor University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Spiegel, James S.
- ORCID
- Spiegel, James S.
- Venue
- Science and Engineering Ethics
- Published
- 2017-09-23
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1537-1550
- ISSN
- 1353-3452 (ISSN-L)
- 1471-5546
- OpenAlex
- W2758075370
- Cited by
- 168
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 5
- FWCI
- 13.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Science and Engineering Ethics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Sells Group
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations
- Keywords
- virtual reality, ethics of technology, mental health risk, depersonalization disorder, privacy, public policy, legal regulation, individual liberty, autonomy
- MeSH terms
- Virtual Reality, Mental Disorders, Culture, Depersonalization, Emotions, Freedom, Humans, Illusions, Mental Health, Morals, Public Policy, Risk, Social Control, Formal, Technology, Health Behavior, Privacy, Personal Autonomy, Bioethical Issues
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review