Realidad virtual, ente cibersocial emergente: de la paleoinmersión al metaverso

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) is a cybersocial entity to be studied, since it is a mature discourse that is gaining prominence in relevant contexts such as the press or social networks. The article explores the points that constitute its evolution from its beginnings to the metaverse. With a multidisciplinary character, a diachronic approach is executed with the aim of establishing the stages of the VR phenomenon as a communicative entity, until reaching the current phase of incipient social consolidation. The paper provides a holistic view up to the moment when Facebook starts the race towards the metaverse (2012), since it is understood that this is when the phenomenon begins to crystallize and not when Zuckerberg makes a corporate turn towards Meta. The aim is to broaden the perspective of this story away from the stereotypes spread by the media. A review of the existing literature has been carried out from a hermeneutic and critical approach. A divulgative vision is assumed since there is confusion in all that concerns virtual reality and metaverses. In conclusion, it is assumed that VR has the conditions to establish itself as a cybercultural agent, a process that has already begun and that should culminate in the medium term in the consolidation of the metaverse