Publication

transcript (2024)

The metaverse aka virtual worlds is work in progress – one that needs to be shaped. With this premise, this anthology ventures into promising virtual realities. The focus is on inclusive and creative ways of engaging with these very worlds. To this end, the contributions in the volume combine artistic works with academic essays. In doing so, they venture beyond disciplinary boundaries and bring together diverse perspectives, backgrounds and perceptions. The result is a tentative sketch of a vision for a diverse, emancipated and critical engagement with and through virtuality.

Login - Katharina Haverich and Dr. Lucas Kuster

Critical Onboarding Protocol (COP) for VR-based Metaverses - Fernanda Parente

Initializing World: Im Schwellenzustand des virtuellen Ladebalkens - Dr. Lucas Kuster

Neue Weichen für digitales Produzieren von Kultur und Medien: Brecht into the Metaverse - Dr. Lucas Kuster and Katharina Haverich

365 Tage Zusammenspiel von Kunstproduktion und Diversität - Sonja Baltruschat and Katharina Haverich 

how to move public money (fast) - Katharina Haverich

Don't wake up? Virtuelle Realität vs Träumen - Marietta Kesting

How to (mis)use VR - Anika Krbetschek

Den Alienkönig zum Fliegen bringen. Potenziale und Herausforderungen von VR als Werkzeug der Bildung und Vermittlung in Museen - Carolin Sibilak and Jocelyn Stahl

Sand in der Empathie-Maschine. Dekonstruktive Strategien in kritischer Bildungsarbeit mit VR/AR - Jens Fehrenbacher

Exploring Liminality in the Natyasastra and virtual Metatheatre - David Hughes

Physarium 2.0: Das Scheitern eines analogen Projektes zur Entwicklung eines barrierefreien Gartens und eines virtuellen Gartens - Rosa Di Nero

Empowering women in VR in Zimbabwe - Siza Mukwedini, Julia Bruton

Exploring Non-Normative Avatars with Disabled Dancers in "Figural Bodies" Research Project - Kent Bye

Reality Check für nicht-behinderte Kulturschaffende. Oder: How to become an Angry Crip - Dirk Sorge

Über schwierige Kontaktaufnahmen. Ein Klärungsversuch - Dirk Sorge and Katharina Haverich

Dear Diary, Do's and Don'ts for Diversification - Katharina Haverich

That Glow in the Darkness: Tracing the empathic contours of the VR Metaverse - Ranjit Menon

1. Why a book on this subject?

The metaverse is on everyone’s lips and evokes a vast spectrum of reactions, ranging from scepticism to utopian hopes. Reason enough to put this still-novel technology to the test: we come from an artistic background and are currently grappling with the contemporary challenges of cultural production. For us, it was clear: virtual reality, participation and artistic engagement with a medium in a state of constant flux are a crucial contemporary topic for critical examination.

2. What new perspectives does your book open up?

The book brings together people from different perspectives and backgrounds. The volume is intended as an invitation, a tentative outline of a vision for a diverse, emancipated and critical engagement with and through virtuality.

3. What significance does the topic hold in current research debates?

The book is less a product of definitive knowledge and more a temporary interface, a draft framework for addressing (reproduced) real-world challenges within and at the boundary of virtual reality. In doing so, it avoids a detached examination of the subject, serves as a stimulus for emulation without insisting on generalisation, and expands the current field of research to include a conglomerate of contemporary practice-oriented perspectives.

4. Who would you most like to discuss your book with?

With people who are interested in, or involved in, critically shaping the metaverse. Because, recognising the current state of virtual worlds as a medium that it can be shaped and adapted beyond its niche, we seek to engage with other committed individuals in this field.

5. Your book in one sentence:

The metaverse? A work in progress! With this thesis, we bring together a diverse range of contributors who, through their work, are critically refining creative and diverse futures for virtuality. 

Sonja Baltruschat, Katharina Haverich, Dr. Lucas Kuster, Babusi Nyoni, Inga Scharf da Silva - Review Committee

Anne Leichtfuß - Translation Simple German 

Prof. Stephan Otto, Dr. Ann Kristin Haverich - Proofreading

RambaZamba Atelier Berlin - Visual Comments

Konstantin Bez - Coordination, Editorial Contribution

Ymusic GmbH - Producer