Data-Mediated Environments: Reality after the Metaverse

This chapter examines augmented reality (AR) not as a mere visual overlay of the virtual on the real but as fundamentally relational media between compute and environment. It does so to build toward a definition of the metaverse as media that perceive and persistently relate the physical world with computed data. Tracing mediation technologies (from print to metaverse) that continually shape our reality, this chapter critiques current electro-atomic divides tied to a continuum of virtuality and reality. This chapter explores how a relational understanding of compute and environment constructs and mediates perceivable reality by drawing from foundational concepts like Milgram and Kishino’s continuum, modern works of art and product-science that Extend Reality, and the philosophy of Karen Barad. Understanding the augmentation of reality through this relational, integrative perspective is crucial for not only developing precision of what the metaverse is but also accurate understanding for experiencing and regulating the futures of connection that the metaverse offers.