Cardboard Crash
Journalism 24th October 2016
In a world of AI and self-driving cars, who determines the ethics algorithm to handle emergency situations? In this VR vignette, the user is slowed down to bullet-time, becoming the computer, and forced to confront a hard decision where there is plenty of data, but no easy answer.
| Direction | Production | VR | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vincent McCurley, Loc Dao | Janine Steele, Dana Dansereau, Laura Mitchell, Loc Dao | NFB Digital Studio | Free |
Every time we get behind the wheel, we make decisions with life and death implications. Brake or swerve? Quick! Decide!
Cardboard Crash is a virtual reality (VR) experience that explores whether we’re ready to hand over such ethically fraught decisions to artificial intelligence (AI).
In it, users take the place of a self driving car, forcing them to make a difficult ethical choice when confronted with an imminent collision. There is plenty of data, but no easy answer.
Although it plays like a child’s game, the somewhat disturbing implications allow us to physically engage with the abstract concepts involved.
“I think Cardboard Crash is a story best told in Virtual Reality because of the sense of presence the audience feels when they are in a virtual world.“Vincent McCurley
- Excellent use of the medium
- Ability to re-vist your decisions immediately
- Demonstrates how simple decisions can have a range of effects
- Great pacing allowed you to get comfortable before the drama peaks
- Use of car structure as a frame lowers nausea
- Smooth playback and no technical issues
- I would have liked to see other accident simulations
Cardboard Crash (Sundance Edition) is available in Google Play and on the Apple Store.
