Prelims

Half Title Page

From Microverse to Metaverse

Title Page

From Microverse to Metaverse

Modelling the Future through Today's Virtual Worlds

By

Leighton Evans

Swansea University, UK

Jordan Frith

Clemson University, USA

And

Michael Saker

City, University of London, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2022

Copyright © 2022 Leighton Evans, Jordan Frith, and Michael Saker.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80455-022-9 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80455-021-2 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80455-023-6 (Epub)

About the Contributors

Leighton Evans is an Associate Professor of Media Theory at Swansea University. He is the author of Locative Social Media: Place in the Digital Age (2015), The Re-Emergence of Virtual Reality (2018) and the co-author of Location-Based Social Media: Space, Time and Identity (2017) and Intergenerational Locative Play: Augmenting Family (2021).

Jordan Frith is the Pearce Professor of Professional Communication at Clemson University. His primary research focuses on mobile media and infrastructure. He is the author of three books and more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles in a variety of disciplines. His third book – A Billion Little Pieces: RFID and Infrastructures of Identification – was published by MIT Press in Spring 2019.

Michael Saker is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications at City, University of London. He is co-author of Location-Based Social Media: Space, Time and Identity (2017) and Intergenerational Locative Play: Augmenting Family (2021).

Acknowledgements

Leighton: My partner, Carly, deserves all the praise in the world for her patience and kindness while getting this book done – you are the best and most wonderful person in the world. Thank you. Thanks also to my family and friends. My two co-authors, Jordan and Mike, have made this such an easy and fun book to work on. My colleagues at Swansea University deserve a mention, especially William Merrin who was a very useful sounding board for ideas as always. Thanks to Rob Long for ideas and cricket chats. My PhD students Sarah Williams, Bonny Apunyu, Evelyn Song and Rita Hu kept me on my toes.

Jordan: First off, I'd like to thank my two co-authors Mike and Leighton. They have been excellent collaborators and a dream to write with. I'd also like to thank my wonderful wife Stevie who is the best partner anyone could ask for. She's always supportive when I have work to do, and she's maybe the smartest person I know. She doesn't care even a bit about VR, but she'll listen and say random things that always make me think. Finally, I want to thank my three rescue pups: Daisy, Tinkerbell and Peaches. They sit with me while I write and are patient while I think through what I want to say. And most notably, they HATE VR and love to bark at me whenever I have a headset on. Their barking is a nice way to stay grounded in the physical world.

Mike: First, I want to say a huge thanks to my co-authors Leighton and Jordan. I have been fortunate enough to work with both on several occasions, and it never feels like work. When we started this project, I was slightly apprehensive about the deadline. Then I remembered who I was writing with. Simply put, I could not ask for two nicer, more supportive and talented friends. Second, I would like to thank my fantastic colleagues in the School of Policy and Global Affairs, at City, University of London, especially Dan Mercea. Third, a special thanks go to my wonderful family, who always manage to feign interest in my work. I owe a gargantuan thanks to my endlessly thoughtful mum. Lastly, an unreserved thanks go to my beautiful and talented wife, Megan, and my wonderful children, Úna and Elliott. There is not a day that goes by when I do think about how lucky I am to spend time with you. I never want this to end.