XR4Human Code of Conduct

Version 1.0
Code of Conduct for the Human-Centered and Ethical Development of Immersive Technologies

Table of Contents:

Preamble
Scope
Guiding Principles
Article 1: User Transparency by Design
Article 2: Data gathering protection and use
Article 3: Risk Management by Design
Article 4: Well-being By Design
Article 5: Identity
Article 6: Shared Spaces
Article 7: Engagement with Non-Human Resources

Scope

This Code applies to all developers, organizations, and stakeholders involved in the lifecycle of
immersive technologies. The principles outlined here serve as a guide for creating immersive
experiences that are ethical, inclusive, safe, and aligned with human rights standards.

Guiding Principles

Human-Centered Design
• Ensure that the needs, values, and well-being of users are guiding considerations in all
stages of development.
• Ensure immersive technologies enhance user agency, allowing users to make informed
decisions and control their digital interactions.

Diversity, Inclusivity, and Accessibility
• Design immersive experiences that are inclusive and accessible to as many users as
possible, considering its intended use. Ensure experiences also cater to the special needs
of marginalized and vulnerable populations, including people with disabilities and the
economically disadvantaged.

Trustworthiness and Transparency
• Maintain transparency throughout the design, development, and deployment of
immersive technologies, particularly regarding data collection, processing, and usage.
• Provide clear and understandable communication about the digital and non-digital
nature of immersive environments.

Privacy and Data Governance
• Respect user and bystander privacy and implement robust personal data protection
measures.
• Inform users explicitly and at predefined and reasonable intervals about the collection,
usage, and sharing of their data, especially in cases involving third-party providers.

Equitability
• Strive to ensure that immersive technologies foster fairness and actively avoid
reinforcing existing inequities.

Safe Experience
• Design immersive experiences to prevent harm to users, allowing protection mechanisms
against manipulation, abuse, and harassment.
• Develop and implement content moderation and community guidelines that promote
safe and respectful behaviour.

Identity and Right to Anonymity
• Allow users to own and control their digital identities, including avatars, both during their
lifetime and after death, with the ability to customize and transport them across
platforms, ensuring continuity and interoperability.
• Respect user preferences for anonymity.

Sustainability
• Minimize the environmental impact of immersive technologies, focusing on reducing
energy consumption and waste.

Technical Security and Interoperability
• Ensure the security of essential technical processes, such as digitally mediating functions,
to prevent hijacking and manipulation of the immersive experience by malicious entities.
• Foster the development of standards that allow for interoperability between different
platforms and devices, enabling seamless transitions of digital identities and assets

Risk Management and Moral Dilemma Resolution
• Apply procedures for moral dilemma resolution and traceable risk management
procedures involving all relevant stakeholders

Article 1: User Transparency by Design

1. Clear Purpose Statement: Developers should include an easily accessible description of the
   application, its purpose, and features. Developers should specify who the application is designed for,
   the target demographics, and the specific user needs it addresses, to help users determine if the
   product is suitable for them.
2. Accessibility Limitations: Developers should outline any known limitations related to accessibility.
   This should be clearly communicated to set appropriate user expectations.
3. Risk Information: Developers should clearly communicate any potential risks or limitations
   associated with the application, especially regarding privacy, data usage, safety, or the reliability of
   features.
4. User Education and Information Sharing: Developers should provide resources or help guides that
   offer additional context, including how specific features operates, to support users.
5. User Data Transparency: Developers must be explicit about what the application does with user
   data, if applicable.
6. User Feedback and Problem Reporting: Developers must establish a clear and accessible process
   for users to report problems, suggest improvements, or provide feedback on the application. This
   ensures ongoing improvement and responsiveness to user needs.

Article 2: Data gathering protection and use

1. Designing Privacy-Sensitive Experiences: Privacy as a core consideration should be integrated into
   every phase of design of immersive technologies. Wherever feasible, data should be processed on-
   device to reduce dependence on cloud-based solutions and minimise exposure to security risks.
2. Respect for Bystanders: Developers must account for the rights to privacy and lawful personal data
   processing of bystanders who may be inadvertently captured or involved in the immersive
   experiences of others. Developers should take measures to protect bystanders’ privacy and make all
   reasonable efforts to inform them of any relevant impacts.
3. Empowerment Tools & Information: Communicate clearly and frequently how users’ data is being
   used and shared. Provide users with intuitive tools to manage their privacy settings and access to
   clear information about how their data is being used and shared. Provide in multiple formats,
   audio/video, and language proficiency levels to be comprehensible to the broadest range of users.
4. Respecting Data Rights: Respect users’ rights to their personal data, including the right to access
   and delete their data. Developers must clearly define types of data (personal, sensitive, etc.) and the rights associated with each type.

Article 3: Risk Management by Design

1. Risk Management and Communication: Developers must sufficiently assess and mitigate risks
   related to data security, privacy breaches, and vulnerabilities in the immersive technology
   experience. Users should be aware of how their data could be misused or compromised.
2. Risk of Obsolescence: Developers should make all reasonable efforts to extend the horizon of
   obsolescence and support schemes for repair, reuse, and recycling.
3. Establishing and adopting standards across industries: Developers should adopt and advance
   interoperability across platforms, systems, processes, workflows, and industries, including
   integration of existing and future standards. They should encourage the use of open and widely
   supported file formats and utilize metadata and annotate frameworks that enhance content
   discovery and accessibility.
4. Promote sustainable practices: Developers should promote sustainable practices in the design,
   development, and deployment of immersive experiences.

Article 4: Well-being By Design

1. Promote & Support Well-being: Developers must design immersive experiences that uphold the
   mental and physical well-being of users. Features such as reminders for breaks and ergonomically
   sound designs should be built into the experience. This is to encourage users to engage in healthier
   behaviours and time management, such as taking breaks, limiting screen time, avoiding prolonged
   and/or uncomfortable physical actions, and maintaining awareness of their physical surroundings.
2. Safety Features: Developers should implement features that support user safety. This includes
   taking reasonable steps to mitigate potential risks associated with overuse, addiction, or physical
   strain (e.g., visual discomfort, muscle or joint strain).
3. Special Protections for Vulnerable Groups: Developers must include special considerations for
   children and other vulnerable persons2 including those with limited digital proficiency, ensuring that
   immersive content is appropriate and fosters a safe and inclusive experience.

Article 5: Identity

1. Digital Persona Ownership & Customization: Developers must ensure that users have full control
   over their identities and avatars, with the ability to customize and transfer their digital personas
   across platforms. Developers should enable users to create digital representations that align with
   their perception of their identity by offering diverse customization options for avatars and digital
   personas. The users must have the tools to design their avatar with inclusivity in mind, allowing for
   diverse self-representation.
2. Special Protections for Children: Developers must include specific safeguards to protect the digital
   identities of children, ensuring that their online presence is secure and free from exploitation.
3. Prevention of Identity Theft: Developers must implement robust security measures to protect users
   from identity theft, including unauthorized use or replication of their digital personas and avatars.
   This includes mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication, secure user verification, and alerts for
   suspicious activity. Developers are encouraged to follow industry best practices for digital identity
   protection and comply with relevant data privacy regulations to safeguard users against
   impersonation and misuse of their digital identities.
4. Appropriate Avatar Customization: Developers should implement safeguards to discourage the
   creation of avatars that may be harmful, offensive, or cause distress to others. This includes
   establishing standards for avatar customization that discourage extremely unpleasant, grotesque, or
   disturbing representations unless they are contextually appropriate. Developers should offer content
   moderation tools, community policies, and reporting features that allow users to flag inappropriate
   avatars and take corrective action when necessary.

Article 6: Shared Spaces

1. Community Guidelines: Developers must establish clear community guidelines for behaviour within
   shared immersive spaces. These guidelines must be designed to promote respect, inclusivity, and
   safety for all participants.
2. Content Moderation: Developers are responsible for implementing robust moderation tools that
   allow for the prevention and removal of abusive or harmful content in shared immersive
   environments.
3. Private vs. Public Spaces: Developers should design clear distinctions between private and public
   spaces within immersive environments, ensuring users understand the implications of engaging in
   each type of space. Users should have control over their level of visibility and interaction in shared
   environments. In public spaces, developers must clearly communicate whether invisible observers
   are allowed and provide users with the option to opt out or adjust their visibility settings accordingly.
   This transparency helps users make informed decisions about their participation and privacy in
   shared digital environments.
4. Transparency of Roles: Developers should clearly and frequently inform users regarding the
   entities and persons who have authority to make changes, moderate, or control the space, along
   with an accessible history of such actions.
5. Transparency of Experience: Developers should clearly and frequently communicate the
   differences in users’ experience, including but not limited to differences based on users’ access
   devices (e.g., mobile, PC, VR) to ensure all participants are aware of the variations in affordances and experiences.
6. Transparency of Actions: Developers should ensure that actions that may be invisible to other
   users, such as recording or capturing screenshots, are clearly signalled to all users, such as by an
   avatar holding a camera when taking screenshots of the shared space.
7. Transparency of Digitally Mediated Processes: Developers should always disclose any
   augmentations to users’ representations, such as avatars, animated expressions, filters, or voice
   modifications, to maintain users’ trust and awareness of the role played by digital mediation.

Article 7: Engagement with Non-Human Resources

1. Altering physical environments: Developers must engage with relevant stakeholders when altering
   properties of the physical environment through augmentation or digitalization. These alterations
   should be respectful and sensitive to the social and cultural contexts of the objects and mitigate
   potential risks or threats.
2. Transparency & Traceability: Developers must provide mechanisms that allow users to easily
   distinguish between real-world representations and purely digital creations such as AI-driven entities or intermediate representations, ensuring transparency in immersive environments. This includes clear identification of AI agents as non-human entities and disclosing their purpose and
   capabilities. Additionally, developers should follow methods for tracing the origins and verifying the permissibility of digital objects within the virtual world.
3. Deployment of Socially-Interactive AI Agents: Developers should assess and address the
   impact of socially-interactive AI agents on end-users, promoting supportive, non-exploitative
   interactions that prioritize user well-being. This includes promoting sincere identity by providing
   clear and understandable communication to the user about the nature of digital identities they
   encounter. Users must retain autonomy through explicit consent mechanisms and control over
   their interactions with AI-driven entities.