A CRITICAL FUTURE OF VIRTUAL REALITY: ALL WORK AND NO PLAY

Abstract

Head-Mounted Virtual Reality (VR) is generally discussed as a gaming technology, but in this paper we argue for the greater need to take VR seriously as a general computing platform and future site for, and of, work. For Facebook (who hold a dominant 39% share of the VR market) VR is not simply a gaming device but as a new frontier for social media, framed by Zuckerberg as a “new kind of social computing platform”. In this paper we report on our research that is examining the implications of VR as (1) a technology being introduced into workplaces; as (2) a possible site for existing forms of labour, in technologies like Infinite Office; and as (3) a platform for transformed and new kinds of labour, such as remote work via telepresence. We identify concerning issues of algorithmic discrimination, exascberated by a prevailing 'fantasy of perfect data' with VR, with serious consequences in the context of productivity tracking and analytics, and the further expansion of the gig economy into new domains.