There are ethical issues with VR which will hinder its progress. The main concern is if individuals are unable to tell the difference between reality and virtual. There exists a difference between reality and virtual which people argue humanity can tell the difference while others believe people will be lost to it. Brey (2005) mentions how people would “worry that the idealized, vacuous and consequenceless worlds of VR come to serve as a model by which people comprehend the real world” (p. 2035). It is a problem because individuals may forget what is deemed appropriate and inappropriate in reality which can be different for virtual. An example could be an individual committing crimes in the virtual world for an extended periods of time then committing crimes in reality without knowing.
Social issues also occur in the advancement of VR which ties in with ethical issues which prevents it from being accepted into society easily. Multiple concerns would be an individual may become isolated, antisocial, and/or delusional. An individual may spend most of their time on virtual reality because it is simpler, less restrictive, easier, and makes him/her happy compare to reality which has more responsibilities, causes stress, and has more rules. It may prevent people from interacting with others in person because they feel more comfortable staying at home using VR. Since VR is a form of entertainment, some people will give it more propriety than things they considered boring. People are worried individuals can be addicted to VR which may ruin their social skills, relationships, and work.