Risks and Challenges for Inclusive and Equitable Immersive Experiences - KEY TAKEAWAYS

These include heightened privacy, health, and safety concerns; barriers to access to and inclusion within immersive experiences; and the potential to compound rather than mitigate bias and discrimination in both virtual and physical spaces. [...] Given the scope and scale of data collection, the feeling of being “really there” in both positive and negative immersive experiences, and the physical requirements of AR/VR devices, some user privacy, health, and safety needs may fall through the cracks if safeguards are not put in place. [...] Brown warned, “immersive experiences can be a way to enable more access to certain types of opportunities and spaces, and also a way to exacerbate, deepen, and worsen existing inequalities and inaccessibility.”23 AR/VR devices and applications, and those who develop and implement them for uses across sectors, should approach access and inclusion holistically, with consideration for the potential p. [...] If developers and implementing organizations understand these risks from the outset, they can develop the necessary policies, practices, and technical mechanisms to reduce the potential for real-world bias and discrimination to undermine the potential of multi-user immersive experiences. [...] CONSIDERATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR INCLUSIVE USE AND ADOPTION OF AR/VR Inclusive design and implementation of AR/VR will not just make the technology more convenient for some users, but will accelerate innovation and widespread adoption of these technologies by increasing the potential user base and addressing concerns that many businesses, schools, and governments will expect to see resolved bef.