Using the grounded theory method (GTM), this article proposes an “integral” model for studying the development and use of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies. Integral models seek holistic understanding by combining third-person, empirical perspectives with first-person, subjective experience. Here, the proposed model provides a comparative analysis of immersive virtual reality...
This article provides an ethnographic account of Goth subculture within a major metropolitan city in the northeastern United States. We situate our study in the context of previous literature in nightlife and dance subcultures, including Delgado and Muñoz's work on Latin-American dance culture, Bailey's research on drag queen culture, Saldanha's study of Goa freaks, and the Goth studies of...
The psychological and socio-economic implications of digital technologies call for scholarship that engages questions about the nature of human consciousness, the construction of the self and the ethics of technical development. In this article, I outline a framework for an approach called contemplative media studies. This approach incorporates several different scholarly threads, namely: via...
In early 2014 activist Amanda Ream and members of Eviction Free San Francisco disrupted the fifth annual Wisdom 2.0 conference, at which Silicon Valley leaders discuss the benefits of ‘mindfulness’ practices. It was another confrontation between working-class residents of San Francisco and the technology employees who have gentrified their neighborhoods. A member of the East Bay Meditation...