The DOI matches its Crossref record; 60 of the 61 references it cites were found in a registry or an index, and 1 are not checked yet.
The Ethics of Realism in Virtual and Augmented Reality
Open accessAbstract
In this paper we consider ethical issues that could emerge with the widespread adoption ofvirtual and augmented reality (XR) as a consumer product. Our major focus is on a likelyfuture where, with technological advances, virtual and augmented reality may becomeindistinguishable from reality thanks to the improvements in sensory feedback, in the abilityto interact with virtual features, and in other elements that enhance the realism of the virtualexperience—what we refer to as superrealism. In the introductory section we first considermore general ethical issues related to XR use, and in later sections we consider issues specificto superrealism in XR. Finally, we propose approaches towards remedies and outline a seriesof scientific questions targeted at the research community. This work is the result of a groupmeeting under the auspices of Digital Catapult in London, and reports findings of theirdiscussions. The intention of this paper is to highlight important areas for consideration bythe wider XR community, and provoke the discussion and further research needed toinvestigate and address these important topics.
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“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 Slater et al. 2020
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Cites
The Open Society and Its Enemies
Popper, K. (2012) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203439913 · Cited by 3,513
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
Self-citationThe Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior
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Enhancing Our Lives with Immersive Virtual Reality
Slater, M., & Sanchez-Vives, M. V. (2016) · Frontiers in Robotics and AI · doi:10.3389/frobt.2016.00074 · Cited by 1,993
Self-citationVirtual Reality in the Assessment, Understanding, and Treatment of Mental Health Disorders
Freeman, D., Reeve, S., Robinson, A., Ehlers, A., Clark, D., Spanlang, B., & Slater, M. (2017) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s003329171700040x · Cited by 1,428
Self-citationThomson, J. J. (1985) · The Yale Law Journal · doi:10.2307/796133 · Cited by 1,315
First person experience of body transfer in virtual reality
Slater, M., Spanlang, B., Sanchez-Vives, M. V., & Blanke, O. (2010) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010564 · Cited by 1,090
Self-citationSkin-integrated wireless haptic interfaces for virtual and augmented reality
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Putting yourself in the skin of a black avatar reduces implicit racial bias
Peck, T. C., Seinfeld, S., Aglioti, S. M., & Slater, M. (2013) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2013.04.016 · Cited by 967
Self-citationWalking > walking-in-place > flying, in virtual environments
Usoh, M., Arthur, K. W., Whitton, M. C., Bastos, R., Steed, A. J., Slater, M., & Brooks, F. P. (1999) · ACM SIGGRAPH Conference (SIGGRAPH) · doi:10.1145/311535.311589 · Cited by 924
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Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Pase, 2012, Ethical considerations in augmented reality applications, 1
- Wassom, 2014, Augmented Reality Law, Privacy, and Ethics: Law, Society, and Emerging AR Technologies.
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Items 401–410 of 410
Yan, K., Welch, G., Mills, L., Menon, U., Oruche, U. M., Burtzos, A., Asakitogum, D. A., & Loerzel, V. W. (2026) · Frontiers in Virtual Reality · doi:10.3389/frvir.2026.1862031
Predictive brains in hyperreal worlds: how XR exploits the indifference to being
Wood, G. M. D. O., & Kober, S. E. (2026) · AI & Society · doi:10.1007/s00146-026-03197-1
Li, W. (2026) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-29586-6_37
From needs to values: approaching the ‘How’ for ethical XR experiences
Hallström, L., Jennes, I., & den Broeck, W. V. (2026) · Frontiers in Computer Science · doi:10.3389/fcomp.2026.1856855
Guerra, E., Söhngen, Y. N., & Prilla, M. (2026) · Mensch und Computer (MuC) · doi:10.1145/3820253.3820273
Jin, W., & Chen, L. (2026) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2026.2711547
The Hurdles of Virtual Reality and Generative Artificial Intelligence in Education
Vasser, M., Rozgonjuk, D., & Aru, J. (2026) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su18189368
Vergunova, N. (2026) · Journal of Architectural/Planning Research and Studies (JARS) · doi:10.56261/jars.v23.279132
Hudson, D. M., & Heales, C. J. (2026) · Journal of medical imaging and radiation sciences · doi:10.1016/j.jmir.2026.102613
Neuro‐XR Primer: Blending Neuroscience and Extended Reality to Facilitate Cognitive Investigation
Murray, C. L., Alexander, N., Pinti, P., Gregory, S. E. A., & Senftleben, U. (2026) · European Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1111/ejn.70733 · Cited by 1
Metadata
- Authors
- Slater, M., Gonzalez-Liencres, C., Haggard, P., Vinkers, C., Gregory-Clarke, R., Jelley, S., Watson, Z., Breen, G., Schwarz, R., Steptoe, W., Szostak, D., Halan, S., Fox, D., & Silver, J.
- Affiliations
- Digital Catapult (GB)
- University College London (GB)
- Magic Leap (United States) (US)
- British Broadcasting Corporation (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Meta (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Meta (United States) (US)
- Nesta (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Slater, Mel
- Venue
- Frontiers in Virtual Reality
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2020-03-03
- Volume
- 1
- ISSN
- 2673-4192 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3009436916
- Cited by
- 410
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 32 · 2025: 66 · 2024: 87 · 2023: 112 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 18
- FWCI
- 40.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Virtual Reality (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- H2020 European Research Council (742989)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Social Sciences › Communication › Cultural Studies and Postmodernism
- Keywords
- ethics of virtual reality, hyperrealism, sensory feedback, consumer technology adoption, virtual and augmented reality
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