Advancements in digital technologies have revolutionized the way we interact with our environment, particularly in the field of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI), and Healthcare. However, as these technologies develop, they raise questions about our bodies being commodified, and the implications this may have on our physical integrity, privacy, safety, and dignity.
This panel discussion will bring together artists and law and technology experts to explore the challenges brought to us by recent advancements in VR, AR, BCI, and the health industry and the impact of these advancements on our bodies. The panelists will also discuss the importance of ensuring that our voices, gestures, and movements are not commodified or exploited for profit-driven competitions for patents and what role art has in these advancements.
The panel will explore the following questions:
• How can we ensure that using VR, AR, BCI, and technology in healthcare and other industries does not compromise our user rights, privacy, autonomy, and dignity?
• How do patent laws and intellectual property rights impact the development of these technologies, and what are the ethical implications of these laws?
• With ongoing innovations in healthcare forms of technology get closer connected, sometimes even inserted in our bodies. How does the integration of more and more sensors into our own bodies influence the discussion around rights, privacy, autonomy and dignity?
• How can art be effectively used as a platform for communicating complex ethical and social issues related to emerging technologies to a broader audience, encouraging dialogue, and engaging diverse perspectives?
• What are some strategies for leveraging art to support policy formation, promote public engagement and reflection, and participatory approaches to developing emerging technologies?
• How can artists, policymakers, technologists, and ethicists collaborate to create works and approaches that challenge and explore these technologies’ ethical and social implications?
