Moscow artist arrested for wearing VR glasses

The Moscow artist Ekaterina Nenasheva was arrested and taken to a psychiatric hospital. The crime? She refused to take off her VR glasses.

Walking with VR glasses on your head seems to be dangerous - at least in Russia. Katrin Nenasheva, artist and activist, is currently working on a project about mentally ill people in Russia and therefore went for a walk with VR glasses.

On this walk, which is part of a performance for the project "Between Here and There," she was arrested in Moscow and subsequently admitted to a psychiatric hospital after refusing to remove a VR headset. The incident took place outside the walls of the Kremlin.

Violating social norms

She reported on Facebook that an official had said: "It is strictly forbidden to be in virtual reality in public spaces. This is reality." She was asked: "Are you in reality? In that one or in this one? Do you think it's okay to break social norms? "

The officers tried to make her believe that she was hurting others with her action. She takes the whole drama in her stride: the artist describes the experience on Facebook and promotes her project.

Doctors at the hospital discharged her a short time later. Everything was normal with her.

And yet the story raises important questions. Will wearing VR glasses in public be tolerated in the future? What rules and laws make sense?

Source: VRscout / Euronews