The NZ VRARA launched their new event series, Virtual Skies, on August 8th. The first event of the series,VR: Who owns the future?, saw a diverse mix of people gather together to discuss the utopian and dystopian possibilities of the VR/AR future.
42 people came together to spend an evening debating questions of ethics, ownership and sexuality, within a futuristic VR/AR context . From students to content creators, educators, and business women/men, there was a healthy representation of the Wellington VR/AR community, with a balanced ratio of young, old, male, and female.
A brief presentation on the future predictions for VR/AR was followed by facilitated group conversations set around a series of questions that ranged from the ownership of virtual “tags” to debating the ethics and ramifications of dangerous sexual practises being enacted in a virtual world.
NZ VRARA Executive Director, Courteney Lomas, says “I think that it is really important for the association to be leading this type of conversation alongside promoting, supporting and advocating for our NZ members working in VR and AR. By debating the hard questions and sharing viewpoints amongst the community we are in a better position to build a healthy VRAR future, that harnesses and champions the best of human nature.”
Virtual Skies will be an ongoing event series that deep dives into the hard questions, focusing on different themes each month.
To find out when the next one will be near you, head over to the FB page, NZ VRARA, and stay in the loop!