Ethical Considerations for AR Experiences at Dark Tourism Sites

Abstract

There are a number of Augmented Reality (AR) experiences that are situated or related to sites of pain, suffering, and death. The ethical design, development, and facilitation of these experiences has not been addressed by the current AR scholarship. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper presents foundational principles for how AR can be ethically designed to facilitate a respectful experience. A niche form of tourism studies, dark tourism is used as a universal term for any form of tourism that is related to death, suffering, atrocity, tragedy or crime. Based on this research, the paper proposes some suggestions for creating ethical AR experiences at dark tourism sites before, during, and after a visit. AR can become an ethical and powerful extension of reflecting upon mortality if spectacle is moderated at these dark sites. The paper concludes with design suggestions for ethical AR experiences at dark tourism sites already engaged in the commodification and consumption of the macabre.