I decided to have my project take the form of what could be considered a trailhead for an ARG. It’s a letter from a woman who claims she is participating in a research study against her will. Her letter is a cry for help, because as she claims, she is being electo-shocked by subjects of the research study. I wanted the letter to act as an introduction to a multitude of considerations regarding virtual reality. I think one of the most important themes of the class was the suspicion that a fictionalized concept of reality may or may not be false. I think this concept is particularly problematized when the fictionalized concept of reality requires an ethical reaction or engagement from a real-world participant.
My attachment has two links that provide the context for the letter. They are descriptions of two REAL experiments; the first was done in 1963, and the second was done recently, in 2006. The woman in the letter is referring to the experiment done in 2006. I came across this experiment early in the semester when I was doing research on unethical research studies for another class. This one stood out to me originally because of its virtual reality content, so I decided it would make for an interesting final project.
Note: Read the two links before you read the explanation after the letter.