Being at home in the metaverse? Prospectus for a social imaginary

Abstract

The metaverse has seen growing corporate and popular interest over the past few years. While visions vary, the metaverse is generally seen as an extension of the internet that may be developed through advances in a number of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality, as well as new technical infrastructure and standards. The metaverse constitutes an emerging social imaginary, a way of both understanding and directing our shared existence. This paper examines this emerging social imaginary through the phenomenological concept of dwelling, or being at home in the world, as developed by Martin Heidegger. To examine in depth one influential articulation of this social imaginary, this paper focuses on the metaverse as envisioned by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook). The paper presents a thematic analysis of Zuckerberg's public statements regarding the metaverse to provide a close reading of this particular vision. Then, through the lens of Heidegger's philosophy of dwelling, this paper identifies numerous threats to dwelling posed by the metaverse social imaginary. This paper explains these threats and their prognoses, and it closes with some considerations for how the metaverse could be designed to better facilitate human dwelling.

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“…However, in the RSL we find authors who consider that the conception of a true metaverse, in the sense of a digital universe parallel to our analogic world (where the participants can engage in social, economic, artistic or leisure activities beyond just videogames), has yet to be created and is pending the development of the technologies that would make it possible [35]. That's why numerous companies, such as Meta, Microsoft, Epic Games, and Google, are working on and investing in crucial emerging technologies for the metaverse, such as virtual reality headsets, augmented reality sensors, and blockchain [36]. In any event, the challenges presented by the metaverse, its technology, and its prospective evolution remain largely unknown [37].…”

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“…All authors have participated in drafting the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the phenomenology [74], sociology [75], critical race studies [45,76], queer studies [77,78], or theology [75,79].…”