[Air-L] CFP: Ethical XR: A Multidisciplinary Symposium on the Future of Extended Reality

[Gerald Sim]

Submissions are open for “Ethical XR: A Multidisciplinary Symposium on the Future of Extended Reality,”  taking place at Florida Atlantic University’s main Boca Raton campus on February 21, 2020.


Keynote speakers:  Danya Glabau (Director of Science and Technology Studies in the Department of Technology, Culture, and Society, NYU Tandon School of Engineering) and Helen Nissenbaum (Director of the Digital Life Initiative, Cornell Tech).


The deadline for Proposals is November 15, 2019.


As innovations in extended reality (XR) applications in media, gaming, medicine, and education pass engineering milestones, many recognize that function, utility, and profit should not be the sole drivers of decision-making. Some counterweight is provided by civic-minded XR projects seeking to preserve endangered traditions, enrich cultural memories, and use virtual experiences to produce empathy for marginalized groups. Meanwhile, the ethical issues that complicate the work of designers, developers, and marketers are producing responses from sectors of the academy like science and technology studies, and within the industry where companies are adding ethicists and humanists to their ranks.


Ethical XR will be a forum for ethically driven concerns regarding XR (including virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality). It wants designers and producers to enhance their historical knowledge, develop best practices, and to give critical scholars a chance to engage with practitioners, including engineers working to capitalize on technological advancements, as well as with developers already committed to socially responsible production. The result will hopefully be a set of new ethical frameworks to safeguard our individual and social well-being.


Find out more at http://www.fau.edu/artsandletters/scms/ethicalxr/ or email ethicalxr at gmail.com.