The Vibe™ is a personal display device that allows an individual to project their views, moods, ideas, likes, dislikes and beliefs into the world and have others react to them. This ability is new in the physical world and as such has no legal boundaries. To ensure that users stay within the law but also the current rules over right and wrong a ‘moral code’ needs to be part of the Vibe ecosystem.

To avoid the uncensored and unregulated pitfalls seen in Social media and video sites such as YouTube it is clear that the Vibe must have strict guidelines to its use. We have seen that allowing users to police their own content has failed which has led to these networks being used in an inappropriate and dangerous manner. Furthermore, the interactive nature of the Vibe lends itself to several areas of inappropriate conduct. The following are methods we intend to use to stop this type of conduct

1. Force via technology – We have built into the NVP communication protocol a set of symbols that convey a message via sight alone. These provide information on whether a person can be approached or whether messages can be sent or not. But what happens if a person approaches another person in direct contradiction to the symbol being displayed? There needs to be method of creating sanctions or no-go areas. One component of the Moral code is to set a rule saying that if a person is reported more than 3 times for infringing the person space their badge and account will be suspended. 

But what happens if the person does not have a badge and approaches the person with the approach symbol anyway. What can be done in this circumstance? This is where a moral code needs to be created or at least set out. An unwritten rule which adheres to normal law is that a person has the right to tell the person that they do not want to talk even though they have that symbol displayed. 

Additionally how much personal information can be displayed on the Vibe without it causing someone offence and who is monitoring, censoring and controlling this content? Through the Vibe App we are able to control what is displayed on the device but this requires monitoring at the server side and will require human intervention. Again this is where the moral code component of the ecosystem comes into play. The alternative is to let the general public publish what they like on their own badges or displays. If this is offensive is it covered under the relevant laws of the country? How much control should we exercise over the content displayed in public?

2. Moral Code culture

We believe that when the Vibe sold it should have an ethics card included which states our ethic culture and what can and cannot be displayed. If anyone is shown to be contravening this it would be more like seen as going against the culture of the Vibe.

3. Ethics and Values

The juxtaposition between an ethical product and being commercial is a difficult line to negotiate. The Vibe has the capacity to display content that is offensive yet we are relying on the right attitude from wearers to manage this content. The Vibe brand must be accompanied with an ethical vibe.