Output / Publication
Governing Virtual Wonderland
Power, Rules, and Rebellion in the Metaverse
Down the Digital Rabbit Hole
What does Alice in Wonderland have to do with the metaverse?
Just as Alice tumbles down the rabbit hole into a world where familiar rules no longer apply, researchers of the Immersive Realities Working Group have ventured into the digital wonders of the metaverse. It is a space where reality bends and identities shift, opening up new possibilities for creativity, interaction, and societal transformation.
Exploring virtual worlds from different motivations and angles, this volume revolves around key ideas of identity and representation, community and participation, power and platform design, and governance and futures. Rather than prescribing answers, this volume can be considered food for thought.
It examines fundamental questions of governance in the metaverse: Who am I online? Who decides what is possible in virtual worlds? How can these spaces be made safe, fair, and empowering?
New understandings of identity and representations of personhood can emerge from the most ordinary motivations for entering the metaverse, like gaming or connecting on specific platforms. Future devices likely will deepen the entanglement of real space and virtual worlds. For Alice, the rabbit hole marked the beginning of her journey. For today’s metaverse explorers, the portal is technological. Both invite moments of confusion and instability, but also the possibility of experiences not previously imagined.
Find the whole Monograph below, or come by the TUM Think Tank shelf to read it here.
