Building realities in the XR age: How we learned to engineer worlds in our own image and likeness

The means to build Extended Reality (XR) have become increasingly available through cheaper hardware and accessible software. As in other fields, this shift has dissolved the boundaries between user and developer, but with its own traits: users no longer merely aspire to coauthor information about the world but also demand agency in the construction of those worlds where information inhabits. XR hints at a new stage in the understanding of reality, of information, and of the notion of media itself, as its primary function would no longer be to communicate but to build. If the media defines the boundaries of the perceived world, our role in this world-shaping process has become less passive. Whether the notions themselves are truly changing is uncertain, but the rules of the game have been undeniably altered. Based on the study and observation of cultural trends, this chapter's focus is to understand the cultural implications that arise from wider access to the world-creating tools that happens through XR. Therefore, it may be useful to consider XR as a new age in the information era.