How to Worship in the Metaverse

Religious Experience and the Affordances of a New Medium

Bibliographic Data

ID3427735
AuthorsMarco Adria (0000-0001-6622-5884, University of Alberta, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume15
Issue4
Pages487
Publication date2024-04-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel15040487
OpenAlexW4394822145
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited17

The extent to which the metaverse will become a site for religious and spiritual experience depends on how the aims of users align with the new medium's potentialities for action, or "affordances". Affordances are formed as the social, technological, and contextual capacities of a medium are recognized and then enacted by users. This exploratory essay argues that the metaverse's affordances, which overlap with those of already existing virtual reality (VR) environments, can deepen a sense of belonging for users of online religious spaces and mediate new ways of being present in those spaces. The following affordances of the metaverse (and of VR) are discussed analytically in the essay: immersion, presence, embodiment, usability, empathy, and contemplation. The phases of the continuing "buildout" of the metaverse are also assessed to uncover their likely effects on the metaverse's affordances. These phases are massive scale, system interoperability, robust rendering, and persistent continuity

Affordance · Contemplation · Empathy · Epistemology · Human–computer interaction · Metaverse · Virtual reality · Computer Science · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Religious Tourism and Spaces · Social Psychology

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Open DOIOpen Access