CAVRN – the Critical Augmented and Virtual Reality Research Network – is a scholarly network for academics critically studying emerging VR and AR technologies. It was established in 2022 in the context of the rapid growth of popular, media and academic interest in these technologies, in part due to the introduction of the ‘Metaverse’ into the popular lexicon. The goal of CAVRN is to connect academic researchers and promote their work at the frontiers of this emerging field of research.