How to Worship in the Metaverse: Religious Experience and the Affordances of a New Medium
Marco Adria
Religions April 15, 2024 DOI: 10.3390/rel15040487 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that the metaverse's religious and spiritual potential depends on how users' aims align with the medium's "affordances," which overlap with those of existing virtual reality. The author contends these affordances—immersion, presence, embodiment, usability, empathy, and contemplation—can deepen belonging and enable new forms of presence in online religious spaces, and assesses how the metaverse's "buildout" phases may shape them. |
Abstract
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.