#58 – Neely on Augmented Reality, Ethics and Property Rights

In this episode I talk to Erica Neely. Erica is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Ohio Northern University specializing in philosophy of technology and computer ethics. Her work focuses is on the ethical ramifications of emerging technologies. She has written a number of papers on 3D printing, the ethics of video games, robotics and augmented reality. We chat about the ethics of augmented reality, with a particular focus on property rights and the problems that arise when we blend virtual and physical reality together in augmented reality platforms.

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Show Notes

• 0:00 – Introduction
• 1:00 – What is augmented reality (AR)?
• 5:55 – Is augmented reality overhyped?
• 10:36 – What are property rights?
• 14:22 – Justice and autonomy in the protection of property rights
• 16:47 – Are we comfortable with property rights over virtual spaces/objects?
• 22:30 – The blending problem: why augmented reality poses a unique problem for the protection of property rights
• 27:00 – The different modalities of augmented reality: single-sphere or multi-sphere?
• 30:45 – Scenario 1: Single-sphere AR with private property
• 34:28 – Scenario 2: Multi-sphere AR with private property
• 37:30 – Other ethical problems in scenario 2
• 43:25 – Augmented reality vs imagination
• 47:15 – Public property as contested space
• 49:38 – Scenario 3: Multi-sphere AR with public property
• 54:30 – Scenario 4: Single-sphere AR with public property
• 1:00:28 – Must the owner of the single-sphere AR platform be regulated as a public utility/entity?
• 1:02:25 – Other important ethical issues that arise from the use of AR

Relevant Links

• Erica’s Homepage
• ‘Augmented Reality, Augmented Ethics: Who Has the Right to Augment a Particular Physical Space?‘ by Erica
• ‘The Ethics of Choice in Single Player Video Games‘ by Erica
• ‘The Risks of Revolution: Ethical Dilemmas in 3D Printing from a US Perspective‘ by Erica
• ‘Machines and the Moral Community‘ by Erica
• IKEA Place augmented reality app
• L’Oreal’s use of augmented reality make-up apps
• Holocaust Museum Bans Pokemon Go