Ethical Dilemmas in VR
By Grant Jones
Erick J. Ramirez, a philosophy professor at Santa Clara University, paired up with Scott LaBarge about a year ago to apply the technology of VR to ethical decision making. The pair has created several programs that allow the user to take on the actual perspective of an individual in classic ethical thought experiments. While the conceptual design and storyboarding is done by the professors, two SCU students — Miles Elliot and Carl Maggio — have been programming the actual application.
Ramirez sees the project as a way to enrich a traditional ethics classroom with VR. Additionally, he is intrigued by the differences between recorded experiments and these VR simulations.
One of the experiences in this VR project is the ‘Violinist Problem,’ a moral philosophy paper by Judith Jarvis Thomson, titled “A Defense of Abortion.” The ‘Violinist Problem’ places the user in a hospital bed, attached to a famous violinist. The user is the only individual who can keep the violinist alive, and is given two options: to either separate themselves from the violinist (which will kill the violinist), or to sign a waiver form and remain attached to the violinist for nine months in order to cure him.
Approaching this predicament within a simulated reality, rather than as a thought exercise could have an interesting implication on how people respond. It will be compelling to see the results of this project, along with the team’s other experiments.
Our SCU Imaginarium page on Facebook and website (scu.edu/imaginarium) will continue to post updates on this project, as well as the many other exciting faculty and student VR projects that are being created this year!
