The forthcoming book will be edited by our colleagues in the Nordic Virtual Worlds Network Robin Teigland, Stockholm School of Economics and Dominic Power, Uppsala University. They aim to create a thought-provoking and challenging book that builds on thoughtful short chapters (5-10 pages in length) that take a progressive and/or critical perspective on some aspect of how the immersive internet can be a space for progressive social, political and economic development in the future.

Postcards from the Metaverse – Reflections on how the entangling of the virtual with the physical may impact society, politics, and the economy.
New waves of internet and information technology are beginning to promise ever richer and more immersive ways to connect with technology and with each other. Developments in augmented reality, social media, virtual worlds and the immersive/3D internet signal a move towards communications technologies and virtual spaces that offer immersive experiences persuasive enough to begin to blur the lines between the virtual and the physical. This book aims to compile leading edge voices from diverse backgrounds to write about how they imagine the future immersive internet will shape or misshape society, politics, and the economy.

The intention is to create a book based on a collection of short thought pieces that will critically engage with the future directions that the immersive internet might, should, or even should not take. The idea is not to collect a series of empirical pieces but to collect pieces that provoke and attempt to take in the big picture and the long term.

As the immersive internet – including social media, augmented reality, virtual worlds, online games, 3D internet and beyond – is being explored by a number of different disciplines we encourage participation from a wide range of academic disciplines: e.g., artificial intelligence, business administration, cognitive psychology, communication, economics, geography, human-computer interaction, neuroscience, social psychology, sociology. Equally since the future of the immersive internet is very much an open creative process, we invite contributions from social commentators, business people, technology creators, writers and thinkers. To date, we have participation confirmations from more than 10 leading researchers such as Tom Boellstorff, Mia Consalvo, Edward Castranova, Tony O’Driscoll, and Barry Wellman.

Submission guidelines and timeline:
After the initial call is completed, we will approach several major publishers. The production of the book will be facilitated by the editors as well as members of the Nordic Virtual Worlds Network. The initial intention is to publish the collection as an eBook that will be available across multiple platforms: e.g. Amazon, iTunes, and direct download. The book will be licensed under Creative Commons. We also aim to publish the book in paper format.

March 1, 2011: Please enter your abstract or short outline of your contribution of maximum 300 words at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PostcardsfromMetaverse or by email to the editors by March 1, 2011.

July 1, 2011: Upon abstract acceptance, authors will be invited to submit full chapters of between 3500 and 5000 words. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind basis by subject experts. The editors will strive to be an active and helpful resource to the chapter authors.

Fourth quarter 2011: Anticipated date for book to be ready for publication

Please do not hesitate to contact either of the editors if you have further questions: robin.teigland@hhs.se or dominic.power@kultgeog.uu.se.