[Air-L] CFP: Topical Collection on cross-cultural impacts of XR with Digital Society

[Emma Elizabeth Hine - emma.hine@studio.unibo.it]

Digital Society is running a Topical Collection called “The Situated Metaverse: Cross-Cultural Philosophical and Practical Implications of Extended Reality<https://link.springer.com/collections/jdbeeejfed>.” Submissions open in October, but inquiries and proposals are welcome any time. Below is the description of the TC.


This Topical Collection aims to address how XR’s impacts will be understood in different cultural contexts. While most XR development is concentrated in a few countries, its use and impacts will be global. Despite this, most analyses of the potential impacts of XR focus on the American and European contexts. This not only overlooks several of the major XR development powerhouses, but also how XR technologies and experiences will have global implications, including on human rights and the ways we interact with each other.
Researching emerging technologies involves some amount of prediction, but the rich science-fiction tradition surrounding XR promotes often baseless speculation. In order to promote XR as a topic of legitimate academic discourse, this Topical Collection welcomes clearheaded analyses of how XR will impact education, health, socializing, and work, especially those that consider under-addressed topics and locations, as well as explorations of the implications of XR across different philosophical traditions.

Topics that could be addressed include but are not limited to:

- The role of XR in shaping diverse educational practices and pedagogies.

- The applications and impact of XR in healthcare, especially for overlooked conditions and populations.

- What impacts XR may have on mental and physical health, both positive and negative.

- The social implications of XR, especially as regards connectivity and dislocation.

- How XR may impact the future of work, labor relations, and practices.

- What sociotechnical imaginaries of XR are being forwarded by under-studied entities.

- The philosophical implications of the role and nature of XR in our societies, particularly those that foreground non-Western perspectives.

- How the “metaverse” is defined and developed in different contexts.

- The cultural implications of XR adoption, especially as regards under-represented locations and communities.

- Ethical challenges of widespread XR use.


I’ll be guest editing it (EIC is Federica Russo) and am happy to answer any questions!
Best,
Emmie Hine

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Emmie Hine
PhD Candidate in Law, Science, and Technology @ University of Bologna
emmiehine.com