Governing Immersive Tech (GIT) Project

Immersive technologies – such as augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) – represent one of this decade’s most exciting technological frontiers. AR/VR is increasingly used in a broad range of industries and applications, across galleries, museums, retail, healthcare and education. In industrial settings, it’s providing new forms of employee training, changing manufacturing processes and is increasingly being incorporated into decision-making.

But as immersive technologies enable more embodied, always-on digital experiences, they risk deepening the harms already linked to digital technologies—amplifying issues of surveillance, exclusion, exploitation and control.

The GIT Project delivers world-first research to inform evidence-based policy for the responsible development of immersive technologies—anticipating risks, preventing harm, and supporting inclusive, ethical innovation.

Supported by: ARC Discovery Project (DP250100343)

Contact: Dr Jo Gray

Books

Carter, M. & Egliston, B. (2024) Fantasies of Virtual Reality: Untangling Fiction, Fact, and Threat. MIT Press [Buy, Open Access]

Gray, J., Carter, M., Egliston, B. (2024) Governing Social Virtual Reality: Preparing for the Content, Conduct and Design Challenges of Immersive Social Media. Palgrave MacMillan [Buy]

Journal Articles

Gray, J., Tang, W. (2024). The Chinese metaverse: An analysis of China’s policy agenda for extended reality (XR). Policy and Internet, 17(1 Article number e418). [Link]

Egliston, B., Carter, M., and Clark, K. (2024). Value and Virtue in the Extended Reality (XR) Industry. Information, Communication and Society. [Link]

Egliston, B., Carter, M., Clark, K. (2024). Who will govern the metaverse? Examining governance initiatives for extended reality (XR) technologies. New Media and Society. [Link]

Carter, M., Egliston, B. (2023). What are the risks of Virtual Reality data? Learning Analytics, Algorithmic Bias and a Fantasy of Perfect Data. New Media & Society, 25(3), 485-504. [Link]

Egliston, B., Carter, M. (2022). ‘The metaverse and how we’ll build it’: The political economy of Meta’s Reality Labs. New Media and Society, 26(8), 4336-4360. [Link]

Egliston, B., and Carter, M. (2021). ‘Critical questions for Facebook’s virtual reality: data, power and the metaverse’. Internet Policy Review, 10(4), 1-24. [Link]

Reports

Carter, M., Egliston, B., Clark, K., Goggin, G., Zhuang, V., Ellis, K., Hawkins, W., and Tan, W. (2024). Disability in the Metaverse. [Link]