What Will the “Metaverse” Do to Art and Culture?

A good book, play, or film can be absorbing, enabling our imaginations to engage and take flight, but rarely does it envelop us; there is still space for reflection and contemplation. By privileging immediacy and affect, immersion requires us to submit to our senses. But culture is not just a matter of feeling. It is also a way of knowing and under

Whether it is through a VR headset, the manipulation of projectors, or clever set design, immersion fulfills our desire for escapism, instantly transporting us to far-flung, exotic worlds conveniently differentiated by genre: aliens, dinosaurs, cowboys, zombies, steampunk. Excitement and wonder in a familiar imaginary, this mode of immersive entert