Affective atmosphere

, 37

Altspace

, 29–30, 69

Apex Legends

, 35–36

App Tracking Transparency (ATT)

, 7

Apple

, 1, 8, 17

app tracking transparency

, 7–9

Apple Fitness+

, 79

Apple Watch

, 81

Art museums

, 54

Audience participation

, 68, 70–71, 73

Augmented reality (AR)

, 2, 53

Avatar

, 19, 22, 29–31, 37–38, 57, 86

avatar-based interactions

, 30

Baker, Robert

, 65–66, 75–76

Beeple

, 54

Bell, Genevieve

, 15

Berners-Lee, Tim

, 26–27

Bigscreen VR

, 69

Bioshock game series

, 35

Bitcoin

, 51–52, 55–56

Blade Runner

, 17

Blockchain

, 50, 52, 55–56

Bogost, Ian

, 35

Bollmer, Grant

, 63, 71

Box VR

, 75–76

Cambridge Analytica

, 26–27, 82

Capitalism

, 42–43

Capitalistic desire

, 80–81

Christie’s

, 51–52, 54

Cinema

, 69

Cline, Ernest

, 15, 17, 20

Co-operative online games

, 35–36

Coextensive space

, 80

Coital imperative

, 62–63

Collaborative virtual environments (CVE)

, 29–30

Colonialisation

, 42–43

Columbus

, 42–43

Commerce

, 49–50

blockchain, cryptocurrency and NFTs

, 50–52

in metaverse

, 52–55

Computational worlds

, 53

Computer games

, 42–43

Consumers

, 44–45

Contiguous identities

, 82

Corporate platforms

, 45

COVID-19 pandemic

, 58

Creed Rise to Glory

, 75–76

Cryptocurrency

, 50, 52

Crystal Palace

, 15–16

Culture of gaming

, 33

Cyberpunk

, 18

Cyberspaces

, 12–13, 18

Data assemblages

, 39, 79

Datafication

, 64, 77

Dating

, 57–58

Dating sphere

, 58–59

Debord, Guy

, 72

Decentreland

, 49–50

Desire

, 58, 60–61

Dick Tracy

, 17

Digital billboards

, 17

Digital derivative

, 54–55

Digital games

, 36–39, 43

Digital items

, 49–54

Digital labour

, 76, 79

Digital media

, 2–3, 7–8, 58, 68, 85–86

Digital oil

, 26–27

Digital self-tracking devices

, 78–79

Digital space

, 5, 22, 25, 54, 76

Digital technologies

, 66, 76

Digital tracking devices

, 76

Dislocated

, 69

Elder Scrolls Online, The

, 35–36

Embodiment

, 30, 36, 60, 63

Empathy

, 59–60, 71–72

Empathy machine

, 63

Engineering research

, 17

Entertainment

, 66

challenges of immersive entertainment

, 71–72

changing face

, 66–68

VR and immersive entertainment

, 69–71

Epic Games

, 1–2

Escapism

, 66, 72

EVE Online

, 35–36

Experiential world

, 25

Eye tracking

, 27

Facebook

, 1–2, 6–7, 25–27, 45, 51, 71–72, 78, 82

Facebook Files

, 9–10

Facebook Papers

, 1, 7, 9, 12

Facebook phone

, 8

Farman, Jason

, 39

Feudalism

, 27

Financial algorithms

, 28

Fit XR

, 75–76

Fitbit

, 81

Fitness

, 75

in metaverse

, 80–82

self-tracking and quantified self

, 77–79

Fortnite

, 35–37, 39

Free labour

, 27–28, 48, 77–78

Fuchs, Christian

, 25–26, 45–46

GamerGate

, 33, 40

Games

, 33, 37, 43

Gaming culture

, 40

Gaming microverses

, 33–34

Gaming worlds. See also Social worlds

, 33, 35, 37

gaming culture

, 40

worldhood and emotional attachment in games

, 37–39

Gibson, William

, 3–4, 16–18, 20

Google

, 45

Granular data

, 81, 83

Great Exhibition

, 16

Grimes, Sara

, 46

GTA Online

, 35–36

Guardian System

, 75

Halcyon days of VR

, 5–6

Halliday, James

, 20

Hayles, Katherine

, 5

HCI research

, 17

Head-mounted displays (HMD)

, 29–30

Hologram technology

, 17

Horizons

, 25, 31–32, 41–42

Households

, 67–68

HTC Vive

, 6, 31

“Hyperreal” pornography

, 60–61

IKEA Place

, 53

Immersion

, 5, 15–16, 36, 69

Immersive entertainment

, 69–71

challenges of

, 71–72

Immersivity

, 69

Innovative Online Corporation (IOI)

, 20

Instagram

, 1–2, 9

Internet

, 87

Intimacy

, 57–58, 60–61

platformisation

, 58

Isbister, Katherine

, 37–39

Jenkins, Henry

, 43–45

Kinsley, Sam

, 29

Lanier, Jaron

, 5, 27

League of Legends

, 35–36

Leisure

, 58, 77–78, 83

LGBTQ+ community

, 30

Live performance

, 6–7, 13, 69–70

Ludification

, 34–35

Ludology

, 83

Lupton, Deborah

, 39, 76–78

Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs)

, 33, 35–36

Memory

, 29

Meta

, 1–2, 26–27, 45–46, 49, 57, 64–66, 71–72, 87–88

business model

, 8

metaverse

, 4–7

platforms

, 7, 27–28

Meta Quest

, 65–66

Metaverse

, 1, 15, 26–27, 76, 88

aspect

, 41–42

commerce in

, 52–55

fitness in

, 80–82

hype

, 7–12

influences and visions of future

, 21–24

moment

, 3–4

oasis of Ready Player One

, 20–21

plans

, 2

in public discourse

, 2

science fiction and technological visions

, 17

Snow Crash

, 18–19

Microsoft

, 1–2

Microsoft Teams

, 31–32

Microverses

, 3, 6–7, 13, 39, 58, 85–86, 88

Milk, Chris

, 59–60, 69–70

Minecraft

, 41–42, 46, 48

Mobile gaming

, 33–34

Motorola mobile phone

, 17

Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA)

, 35–36

Neoliberal politics

, 77

Neoliberalism

, 42–43

Neos

, 29–30

Netflix VR

, 69

Neuromancer (Gibson)

, 16–18

NHL 2003

, 38–39

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)

, 42, 48, 50, 52

Nonspace

, 42–43

Nvidia

, 1–2

Oculus

, 1–2, 6, 20

Oculus Kickstarter campaign

, 6

Oculus Rift

, 6

Off-platform

, 32

Online advertising

, 27–28

Panorama

, 65–66

Participatory culture

, 43–46

Peloton

, 76, 79

Personal data

, 8, 76

Phenomenology of VR

, 49, 65–66

Physical health

, 75–76, 78–79

Physical intimacy

, 57

Platform capitalism

, 28

Playbour

, 40

Playfulness

, 34–35

Pornography

, 60–61

Pornopticon

, 64

Presence

, 26, 30, 36–37, 69

Procedural rhetoric

, 35

Quantified self

, 76–77, 79

Quest headsets

, 75, 80

QuiVr

, 31

Ready Player One (Cline)

, 12–13, 15–17, 86

oasis of

, 20–21

Rec Room

, 29–30

Roblox

, 13, 41–42, 46, 48

Samsung

, 17

Science fiction

, 3–4, 17, 21

Second Life

, 4–5, 59–60

Second screens

, 68–70

Self-tracking

, 77–79

Shah, Vishal

, 52–53

Shining, The

, 20

Shirky, Clay

, 43–44

Snow Crash (1992 novel)

, 3, 12–13, 15–19

Sociability

, 31–32, 66, 68

Social business model

, 27–29

Social co-presence

, 30

Social media

, 25–26, 28, 41–42

Social networks

, 25

Social television

, 68

Social VR

, 29–31

Social worlds. See also Gaming worlds

, 25, 31–32

current social microverse worlds

, 29–32

meta and metaverse

, 26–27

social business model

, 27–29

Society of the Spectacle, The (Debord)

, 72

Sony PSVR

, 6

2001: A Space Odyssey

, 17

Spatiality

, 36

Sporting companies

, 79

Spreadable media

, 44–45

Star Trek

, 17

Star Wars

, 17

Star Wars: The Old Republic

, 35–36

Stephenson, Neal

, 15–17, 21–22

Sudnow, David

, 33–34

Superhot VR

, 75

Supernatural VR

, 75–76

Surplus value

, 79

Surveillance capitalism

, 3, 12, 25–26, 87

Swipe logic

, 58–59

Techno profit

, 19

Technological visions

, 17

Teledildonic technology

, 57, 61–63

Television

, 66–68

producers

, 68

Terms of Service (TOS)

, 47–48

The First 5000 Days

, 51–52

The Matrix

, 18, 20

The Thrill of the Fight

, 75–76

Third screen

, 69, 73

Till, Christopher

, 76–78, 81

Tinder

, 57

To-and-fro of play

, 34–35

Trawl

, 26–27

Twitter

, 4

Uber

, 7–8

Under Presents, The

, 70–71

User generated content (UGC)

, 41–42

commodification

, 42

context

, 43

participatory culture and

, 43–46

User generated worlds

, 41–42, 46, 48

participatory culture and UGC

, 43–46

Videogames

, 33–34, 36

Viking of the Metaverse

, 4

Virtual embodiment

, 36

Virtual items

, 46–47

Virtual reality (VR)

, 2, 5, 15–16, 18, 25, 65, 71–72, 75

affordances

, 30

cyber-utopian discourse

, 59–60

embodiment

, 60

fortunes

, 6

immersion

, 61

and immersive entertainment

, 69–71

microverses

, 24

phenomenology

, 49, 65–66

pornography

, 60–61

positive argument

, 61

public imagination

, 16

re-emergence

, 50

social interaction in

, 26

users

, 27

Virtual sex

, 60–61, 63

Virtual strip clubs

, 31

Virtual world

, 25

VRChat

, 25, 29–31

Weaponisation of metaverse

, 28

Web 2.0

, 42

Web 3.0

, 42

Whatsapp

, 1–2

Winkelmann, Mike

, 51–52

World of Warcraft

, 35–39

World Wide Web

, 85, 87

World’s Fairs

, 85

X-Box Live

, 18

XCheck programme

, 9

Zoom

, 31–32

Zuboff, Shoshana

, 25–26, 87

Zuckerberg, Mark

, 1–2, 5, 9, 11, 16–17, 22–23, 41–42, 49–50, 65–66, 75–76, 85–86