Virtual reality is often touted as a technology to promote social behavior. In reality, however, it also allows people to bring forth their worst attitude. There are no repercussions for bad behavior in VR right now, which can pose many problems. At the same time, this may also be a boon for mass adoption of this technology.
The Attitude Problem Affecting VR
A controlled environment often does strange things to human beings. We tend to explore the boundaries of what is allowed and possible and stretch the rules as much as possible. In virtual reality, that situation is no different. Players of video games can effectively act like a horrible person in VR and not face any repercussions for doing so.
On paper, this can cause a lot of behavioral problems down the line. For most consumers, the lines between real life and the virtual world tend to blur quite quickly. Any behavioral patterns established in VR can spill over to the real world fairly quickly. If people behave horribly in VR, they may show similar patterns in real life if they are exposed to VR for extended periods of time.
This concept is not new to virtual reality either. In fact, video games have “promoted” bad behavior for quite some time now. Even so, it is very different to do so in virtual reality, mainly because it almost feels like doing something terrible in real life, yet without the repercussions. Whether or not this will cause long-term behavioral problems, remains to be determined.
There may even be a positive effect to this negative behavior in virtual reality. More specifically, if people learn to associate this behavior with just VR, they may become ‘better humans” in real life accordingly. A thorough study of these behavioral patterns will need to be conducted prior to drawing any conclusions. It is something to take into account at all times, though.
If you liked this article make sure to follow us on twitter @thevrsoldier and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date with the latest VR trends and news.
