Know Thyself as a Virtual Reality is an interdisciplinary project that focuses on the ethics and aesthetics of the use of medical data and virtual reality. In order to explore this field, we have assembled a skilled and diverse team from across the University of Alberta as well as from other Canadian and international universities, bringing together expertise in medical imaging, health law, software development, biomedical engineering, virtual narratives, sound, the history of medicine, and artistic creation. This collaborative team explores, creates, disseminates and share ideas about cutting-edge technologies that produce bodies in virtual and augmented reality. These bodies offer striking opportunities for producing new medical knowledge, but also render bodies transparent, accessible and manipulable in potentially exploitative ways, particularly during an era of increasing surveillance. Our project addresses these and other issues, allowing scholars and students to experiment with the technologies, learn from each other, and engage a broader public. This unique fusion of medical diagnostics and fine arts will ultimately help us to better know ourselves and our bodies in the digital age. 

As part this research project we engaging with AI and ethics in several ways. Firstly, the team is creating a VR project that allows users to manipulate scan datasets, some are open source downloaded from the Internet (and have been anonymized automatically), and others have been acquired specifically for the project. Into this project will be placed an AI avatar that will learn to ‘assist’ the users.  Secondly, we are organizing an Art and AI speaker series for Fall 2021/Winter 2022 that will showcase the work of artists are working with AI both practically and creatively. Finally, we are creating a suite of software tools and ethical guidelines to allow other researchers to create VR experiences with medical scan data and AI. These tools will be offered to artists to make VR artworks for a public exhibition in 2022.