Oculus Virtual Reality and Ethical Issues - Report Sample

Give a brief description of the company and its background, for example, how it organizes its operations, the countries it operates in, and so on.

Oculus is a virtual reality company that deals with digital devices. Palmer Luckey and partners established Oculus VR in 2012, putting its headquarters in Irvine, California before Facebook Technologies, LLC acquired it as part of its divisions. Oculus's first popular product was the Rift. The Rift is a video gaming headset that enhances the concept of virtual reality (Sign up for Oculus updates, n.d.).

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Oculus company operates in the industry of virtual reality, which entails the production of devices that support computer-generated simulation devices, which creates an impression of reality in artificial three-dimensional gaming. The popular component of the industry is the head-mounted display (HMD). HMD uses display technology to attract a person's visual sense using immersive Virtual Reality Systems as a substitute for traditional interfaces (Sign up for Oculus updates, n.d.).

The company organizes its operations and different heads, with teams in divisional and functional structures that focus on general products and specific areas of expertise. To reduce redundancy, the company combines specialists iterating towards a similar long-term process instead of using separate groups that are dedicated to specific objectives. The structure efficiently coordinates the efforts around more general lines like VR and AR hardware and software (Matney and Constine, 2018).

Oculus boasts sophisticated products, especially after Facebook acquired and partnered with Surreal Vision and Samsung in 2014. The company now creates a variety of virtual reality gaming tools like the Quests and Samsung Gear VR (Venues: Your Ticket to LIVE Entertainment in VR, n.d.),

The company operates in over 21 countries in Europe, America, and Asia, including the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Taiwan, Japan, and Norway.

Explain your reasons for choosing this company and why you think it will make a good subject for analysis.

Oculus products have ethical questions, including cyber addiction, desensitization, and promotion of virtual criminality. Desensitization and virtual criminality are common in first-person-shooter game clients, while cyber addiction results from the regular use of VR gadgets that erode the boundary between computer-generated experiences and reality (Wolverton, 2015; Virtual Reality and Ethical Issues, n.d).

The popularity of Oculus in the VR industry allows it enough airtime. Thus, it is easy to find information about the company in articles and other internet sources.

Outline the sources you will use to complete your summative assessment.

Recent Oculus annual reports will inform the status of the topic from the company. (University of Fort Hare n.d.).

Journal articles like Borrego et al. (2018) work will help to establish the relationship between the topic and other themes in the industry.

Oculus's Website will inform the company's approach to VR and ethics.

Magazines like the New York Times Technology Updates will provide updated information about the topic (Chen 2016).

Books about VR technology will help put the theme in context with other important issues, give historical information, and provide summaries that support the topic.

Industry website - These websites will provide general information about the topic and compare it with other similar companies in the industry.

Outline your initial thoughts on the international marketing and ethical marketing theories you might use to help you in your analysis (note at this stage you may not have covered all the relevant theories but you will have certainly covered some frameworks that you ought to consider using).

International marketing entails reconciling the commercial advantages of cross-border operational opportunities to meet international business objectives (Morgan et al., 2018; Murphy, 2017). Since the VR industry falls in the entertainment sector, its attraction to large populations makes governments seek to regulate the value of VR products to its people.

Utilitarianism and Virtue ethical marketing theories guide Oculus. While utilitarianism focuses on the costs and benefits of marketing decisions on stakeholders, virtue ethics emphasizes moral integrity like the honesty of individuals involved in making decisions (Kohler, 2017; Stuart, 2015).

References

Borrego, A. et al., 2018. Comparison of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive: Feasibility for Virtual Reality-Based Exploration, Navigation, Exergaming, and Rehabilitation. Games for Health Journal, 7(3), pp.151–156. Available at: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2017.0114

Chen, B.X., 2016. Oculus Rift Review: A Clunky Portal to a Promising Virtual Reality. The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/31/technology/personaltech/oculus-rift-virtual-reality-review.html [Accessed September 27, 2020].

Kohler, C., 2017. The Oculus Rifts Problem Isn't Price-Its Perfection. Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2016/01/oculus-rift-price/ [Accessed September 27, 2020].

Matney, L. & Constine, J., 2018. Facebook reorganizes Oculus for AR/VR's long-haul. TechCrunch. Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/03/oculus-organization/ [Accessed September 27, 2020].

Morgan, N.A., Feng, H. & Whitler, K.A., 2018. Marketing capabilities in international marketing. Journal of International Marketing, 26(1), pp.61-95. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1509/jim.17.0056

Murphy, P.E., 2017. Research in marketing ethics: Continuing and emerging themes. Recherche et Applications en Marketing (English Edition), 32(3), pp.84-89. Available at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2051570717701414

Sign up for Oculus updates n.d., Oculus Rift Supported Countries. Available at: https://support.oculus.com/1754288974827707/ [Accessed September 27, 2020].

Stuart, H., 2015. The very real problems facing Oculus Rift – and how marketers can help solve them. The Drum. Available at: https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2015/03/03/very-real-problems-facing-oculus-rift-and-how-marketers-can-help-solve-them [Accessed September 27, 2020].

University of Fort Hare n.d., Information Literacy Guide: Types of Information Sources. LibGuides. Available at: https://ufh.za.libguides.com/c.php?g=91523&p=590868 [Accessed September 27, 2020].

Venues: Your Ticket to LIVE Entertainment in VR. n.d., Oculus. Available at: https://www.oculus.com/blog/venues-your-ticket-to-live-entertainment-in-vr/ [Accessed September 27, 2020].

Virtual Reality and Ethical Issues. n.d., Virtual Reality Society. Available at: https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/ethical-issues.html [Accessed September 27, 2020].

Wolverton, T. 2015. Oculus Rift Enthusiasm Aside, Virtual Reality Still Faces Challenges (Opinion). Government Technology State & Local Articles - e.Republic. Available at: https://www.govtech.com/products/Oculus-Rift-Enthusiasm-Aside-Virtual-Reality-Still-Faces-Challenges.html [Accessed September 27, 2020].