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A whole new world of trouble: virtual reality content must be regulated to keep public safe, warns Chinese researcher

Cases where users of simulators and devices like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive subsequently confuse reality and virtual reality may be multiplying

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Virtual reality has much to offer - as long as people don’t confuse the simulation with real life. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Even though it isn’t technically real, or even fully developed yet, virtual reality is already spurring safety concerns beyond the clunky glasses and simulated worlds that users temporarily inhabit.

One scholar who visited the Beijing Institute of Technology last year was reportedly so influenced by his experience of testing out a sports car racing simulator that he walked outside and immediately caused a traffic accident.

“He got too used to the simulation and hit the gas too aggressively while driving,” said Weng Dongdong, a professor at the institute’s School of Optoelectronics.

To minimise the risk of such threats to public safety being repeated as VR devices like Facebook’s Oculus Rift, HTC’s Vive and the Samsung VR take off globally, Weng has been urging authorities in China to introduce a rating system for content produced for such gadgets.

Unlike augmented reality, or the blending of virtual reality and real life encapsulated by Google Glass, Microsoft’s Hololense or the text-superimposed shades worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the original Terminator movie, there is no distinction between reality and the unreal in VR.

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