That headline paraphrases the research question of Danah Boyd, who, as a computer science student in 2000, wrote her bachelor thesis on whether VR systems were being designed in such a way to defer to, biologically, the male gaze. The research is in no way definitive, but probes an essential question as VR technologies become more ubiquitous and technologically advanced, and for our understanding of "inclusive" programming in design.

Boyd revisited her research in a 2014 Quartz article, on the occasion of Facebook acquiring Oculus Rift (signaling a huge move for VR research and commercialization). In the article, she outlines how human sight is heavily influenced by a person's sex. More sex hormones hang out on the retina than anywhere else (other than the gonads) on the human body. And so depending on your sex chromosome, you'll get more of a certain set of hormones – and the balance of those hormones affect how we see.

Depth perception in human vision is rendered, biologically, in two ways: “motion parallax” and “shape-from-shading.” "Motion parallax" refers to how our brains determine that, if an object begins to appear larger in our field of vision, it's because it's moving closer to us (so if it's becoming smaller, it's moving away). "Shape-from-shading" has to do with light reflection – how an object is shaded can be a cue for us to know its shape and location, depending on where the light source is. The brain (regardless of gender) relies on both of these methods in concert to see the world.

The same is true in VR programming, which emulates motion parallax and shape-from-shading to render three-dimensional space. But right now at least, VR is way worse at recreating shape-from-shading. In her research, and anecdotally, Boyd noticed that "biological men were significantly more likely to prioritize motion parallax. Biological women relied more heavily on shape-from-shading. In other words, men are more likely to use the cues that 3D virtual reality systems relied on."

In practice, Boyd suggests, this could account for her experience of noticing that women were far more likely to become nauseated by a VR system than men. That the majority of programmers creating the VR tech were/are men would also account for an inherent (unconscious) bias during testing, although obviously far more research is needed. She also suggests that hormone therapy could correct for a nauseating experience in the user.

As architects delve more enthusiastically into VR, and become more reliant on it, it's imperative to remember that there is no perfect technology – humans built this thing, and human bias can sneak in.