Ethics of Virtual Reality Applications in Computer Games Production

A current trend in the gaming industry is to provide more realistic and believable looking animations. Therefore, motion capture has been used to create such animations. Lately, immersive virtual environments have been developed to support motion capture actors with their work. Using virtual environments as work environments has already been explored but no ethical analysis or applied ethical code has been provided for such situations. In this paper we investigate the ethical implications of introducing a highly immersive virtual environment within motion capture and discuss under which circumstances it is ethically justified to place an actor in such an environment. Moreover, we provide an overview of research in computer games ethics, virtual realities and acting, as well as an investigation of potential moral and ethical issues in motion capture. A discussion shall help finding an ethical consensus within the field of motion capture and for related situations.