Metaverse or Simulacra? Roblox, Minecraft, Meta and the turn to virtual reality for education, socialisation and work

The Metaverse: "a computer-generated universe that his computer is drawing" (Stephenson, 1992: p23) "an embodied internet where you're in the experience, not just looking at it" (Zuckerberg, 2021) "a networked collection of inexpensive, self-configuring, immersive environments" (Jaynes et al, 2003: p115) 2021 may well turn out to be the inflection point when the use of virtual reality became widely recognised as the gateway to the metaverse.The rebranding of the world's largest online social network from Facebook to Meta is indicative of a shift that is well underway among the generation who are at schools and university now and is accelerating in those that will engage in learning in the future.It is a turn…