Virtual Reality and the potential danger to the future

Increasingly the field of virtual reality is growing due to the increase of accessibility of technologies such as the Oculus Rift and the Google Cardboard. However, as society tends to do many times, we are often informed about the great successes in this field, such as the 3-D game. But society needs to reevaluate every aspect of this technology as increasingly these technologies are being used for awful purposes.

For instance, this article explains how virtual reality is being used in the porn industry. As a probable traditionalist with conservative views in this aspect, I feel that porn in general is detrimental to not only our society but also to the psyche of users of it. (I will spare you my deeply felt opinions about this matter of pornographic images and turn to where the issue lies).

As the porn industry is increasingly developing programs to simulate real sexual activity in virtual reality, the ability this will give people will impact our society's behavior. For instance, abuse of a electronic projection of a partner in virtual reality will have virtually no laws to prohibit it. However, this will promote in the psyche of the users that this is a real but also doable thing that they may choose to enact on in the real world outside the cardboard or the Oculus. Furthermore, the creation of these images in virtual space increases the hopes and dreams of a person's ideal of a partner in what they look at in their physical appearance.

I wholeheartedly feel disgust that we judge our partners by their looks, but nevertheless, we all have our preferences and bias. However, as we can always code up another vision of what the "perfect" partner can be (at least in the future), this will leave users craving these ideals that do not exist in the real world. And thus, we may end up being sucked in a vacuum where we have been exposed to a virtual fantasy that cannot and will not exist in real life. This will in turn drive people to insanity, deep lust, and depression as these impossible desires will forever be able to be repeated in virtual space but will never exist in reality. And who knows what will be a result of these unmet expectations? It would not be far to imagine a dystopia some time in the future due to the potential negative impact virtual reality may have on our perceptions of our lives and our relationships with others.

Thus, it is important for society as a whole to recognize the potential moral issues that come with the advancing technology and to place the appropriate laws before our society transforms into one that loses control of itself.