Regulating virtual and augmented people in the public sphere; can the current legal framework keep up?

This paper examines the current regulatory framework for the use of AR within public spaces. Whereby public spaces are considered those spaces accessible to the larger public without entry limitations such as fees. This paper specifically focuses on the use of real or realistic people in AR environments. This paper first examines the need to regulate the use of real or realistic people within AR. It finds that there is no need to prohibit the use of real or realistic people but that misuses of AR can lead to serious damage to the public sphere. It is therefore important to regulate the extend to which AR can alter other people’s appearance and how people can be designed. The current legal framework of the Netherlands and the US however are currently not adept to respond. The focus of both jurisdictions is with physical events. It thereby does not respond to the dangers that AR poses. It is therefore this paper’s recommendation that legislation is updated to tailor to AR.