Digital sense of place: why should Psychogeography be relevant to the Metaverse?
Exploring how psychogeography can revolutionize our understanding and experience of virtual worlds, from video games to the metaverse.
In recent months, I have found myself increasingly captivated by the concept of psychogeography—a philosophical movement that, while maintaining a mysterious allure of occult connotations, has reminded me of the importance of similar concepts in the digital world and how they can impact the metaverse. Additionally, because movement and the sense of place seem to be the foundation of this well-discussed and hyped-up frontier
This fascination began during a casual evening spent leafing through the biography of Alan Moore ("Magical Words") and later his work on "From Hell". As I delved deeper into the pages, I was transported into the winding streets of London (for those not familiar with psychogeography, London and Paris are the two cities most psychogeography materials referred to in the past year. Thankfully, thanks to efforts from people such as John Reppion, this is starting to change), experiencing the city in ways that transcended maps and guidebooks. Psychogeography (we will focus on the definition in the next segment) focuses on the overall feelings connected to the location, not only its cultural importance (or lack of) but also how it interacts with both the locals and the tourists and how it "speaks" with the city as a whole.
This led me to ponder: could these principles, rooted in physical exploration and emotional connection, be applied to the realm of virtual worlds? The metaverse, a rapidly expanding digital frontier, seemed an ideal candidate for such an experimental application. And the vast history of video games shows us that it's not such a novel thought, if we take into consideration digital cultural landmarks, like the Wall Market from Final Fantasy VII or Crumbling Farum Azula from Elden Ring. While these places were rooted in the digital and cannot be interacted with physically, the feelings gamers have towards them are very real.
But what exactly is psychogeography, and how can its insights help us navigate and understand these digital landscapes?
Understanding Psychogeography
Psychogeography is the study of the precise effects of geographical environments on the emotions and behavior of individuals. It involves exploring urban environments through drifting or "dérives", a practice aimed at experiencing cities in novel and insightful ways, detached from traditional maps and tour guides. A psychogeographer in London will admire a crack on a wall in the same way he or she appreciates the British Museum or the Tower of London.
The term was coined by the French Situationist International movement in the 1950s, led by Guy Debord. They sought to challenge the commodified and controlled experiences of urban life by encouraging people to wander aimlessly, allowing the environment to shape their thoughts and feelings. Participants engage in walks usually without a predetermined route (although it depends as throughout the years various location-based projects have been done, including a marvelous "London Orbital" book by Iain Sinclair), allowing their senses and emotions to guide them. This method uncovers the hidden narratives and emotional landscapes of urban spaces, revealing how physical spaces influence human psychology and our interactions. From William Blake's writings, Alan Moore's "From Hell," and Peter Ackroyd's "Hawksmoor", throughout the centuries artists, writers and creators of all kinds have been experimenting with writings connected to a specific place, land or even illusions.
As mentioned before, psychogeography often focuses on London, but it has been reimagined and applied to other contexts, locations, and entities. Mark Pesce, the co-inventor of VRML, explores this in his essay within the book "Spirits of the Place", which examines the impact of virtual worlds on humans. Pesce emphasizes that virtual worlds are not just games but real landscapes with commercial underpinnings. Or, they are commercial digital underpinnings to our real-world layer. He points out that these virtual worlds were originally and remain stubbornly commercial (a point I have to partially agree to), but he also acknowledges that they embody adventure, exploration, and new technologies, transcending their commercial origins.
Author of the book "Wandering Games" Melissa Kagen seems to agree with Pesce's approach and goes even further as she asks questions such as "What does it mean to take a walk in the gamified, late capitalist Anthropocene?" and puts an equal sign between Amazon's warehouse low-wage workers and gamers. She points out that:
"Managers expect a worker/walker to locate 100 items per hour. "IT'S GOING TO BE HARD," warns one Amazon brochure given to temp workers when they begin. "You will be on your FEET the entire shift and walking upwards of 12 MILES per shift. (yeah, that's really far!) ".
She focuses on walking simulators (her definition of them being "exploratory, nonviolent video games without points, goals, or tasks, in which the undying, third-person player character (PC) wanders around a narratively rich space."), opposite of traditional quest-money-point-virtual-work driven traditional game titles. While the term "psychogeography" is briefly mentioned and not explored in Kagen's book, references to "the situationist" and "the dérives" are present, therefore indirectly being connected with this specific expression. However while late-capitalism related activities and chores seem to be the basis for most games and researchers such as Kagen will focus solely on walking simulators, in paragraphs below you will find examples that come not only from this range but also from other, more traditional titles.
Knowing all this, how does a connection between a philosophical movement and a digital landscape work? How do the thoughts of the past comply with the building blocks of one of the potential futures? Can we enjoy spontaneous, digital walks among a topography that is point, task, and currency-driven?
Virtual Nostalgia, player analytics and Digital Exploration
First point to start would be an intriguing phenomenon we have witnessed is people developing nostalgic feelings for digital landscapes they have never physically visited. For example, I have nostalgic memories of the world of Final Fantasy VII, a game I frequently revisit to stroll through its towns and world map, but never set my physical foot in any of them. The sense of place and the emotional attachment to these virtual worlds can be as strong as those to physical locations. Similarly, the original Link's Awakening on the classic Game Boy sparked my interest in video game design and the stories behind digital landscapes and, as a side-effect, me creating narratives and short stories connected to the Koholint Island, on paper. These digital experiences have a profound impact on our emotions and memories, much like physical environments.
Various corners of the web are filled with admiration for the landscapes or with questions about the most wondrous journey or gaming locations players have visited. Books are being written and while some of them tend to focus on gaming maps, it's not hard to look beyond the plain plot and find the admirations for the stroll. Even if it only means moving your character in a 2D environment, right or left. But with rising number of games, more analytics is needed. Is there a place for virtual travel in the researchers stack?
With the advancement of gaming and the diversification of gaming types (e.g., mobile, desktop, VR, AR), more research on player archetypes (or "personas" to be more precise with the research terms) has been conducted. While many of them focus on what the player does in-game, the end product rarely focuses on the aimless stroll. Again, we can come back to Melissa Kagen's thesis on late-capitalism and games being in need of tasks, chores and other activities. When it comes to analysis the aimless adventure seems to not exist as a sole activity, but rather, be one of the drivers for the player.
While being one of the best archetype frameworks (done for the aim of analyzing mobile gamers), Game Refinery's team work does just that:
Even if some personas, like the Treasure Hunter or the Thrill Seeker have the motivational drivers (below):
Others seem to follow this trend:
This is particularly interesting as while various activities or reasons for playing games are mentioned, not one is directly connected with journeying and walking.
But the lack of journeying in mainstream research data, does not mean that the urge to walk does not exist, does it? The stroll is visible even in mobile game titles (like Zombies, Run!), and seems to offer new possibilities with VR / AR and the introduction of metaversial platforms. This of course, comes with its own set of issues and dilemmas, as alongside the digital landscapes, physical riddles come along.
The Evolution of Virtual Exploration
The failed promise of the Meta Quest II, which requires a significant physical space for movement (which can be a challenge, especially for larger families with significantly smaller homes cluttered with everyday appliances and accessories), highlights the need for better solutions. Virtual reality headsets offer an immersive visual experience, but they often fall short when it comes to physical interaction and movement (a problem that can be easily tackled with a large investment in hardware). In contrast, traditional gamepads allowed for easy movement through various terrains without the need for significant physical space. You just pushed the button and move according to the type of button you pushed. To truly align with the principles of psychogeography and emulate the feeling of exploring, interacting and pure, unconstrained freedom with an environment, technologies like advanced treadmills offer a more immersive experience. One can argue that this will again, make games an emulation for a capitalistic market, and will turn an idea into just another category on the controller or VR market. However, as we can see, niche metaversial happenings create markets on their own. A market that can be quickly tackled by creators themselves, not only big companies. But these are the big companies that have budgets and R&D resources to take some of the niche trends to the next level.
In a sense, VR goggles are just the beginning and an entry gateway to the new level of exploration. While they provide us with the feeling of digital immersion, they do not give us the gift of movement. VR controllers often feel like shackles, rather than a helpful device. Using them raises more questions, but they are the best budget option we got. Maybe we will have to wait for the second or third iteration of Apple Vision Pro to further explore controller-less VR and metaversal worlds, but till then a gap has to be filled for the player to be less frustrated and explore without boundaries. Innovative technologies like 360 treadmills, such as those tested by Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) at Disney, offer immersive 360-degree movement experiences. These treadmills simulate the feel of movement in all directions, enhancing the sense of place and interaction within virtual worlds. Imagine incorporating such technologies, so the exploration of digital landscapes can become more immersive and psychologically impactful, much like the dérives in physical psychogeography. While we often will still need the feeling of touch (especially if the player is a fan of physical interaction with the environment - just like Iain Sinclair is a fan of touching London walls), this takes away the problem of a room too small to fit a full-blown VR journey with.
Haptic-based gloves that mimic the feel of surfaces and objects further enhance this immersion (this is what Apple Vision Pro cannot emulate, maybe with some futuristic solution of wave emission that works magic on your fingers and body - "magic" might be the key word here). These technologies can simulate the tactile sensations of interacting with the environment, making the experience more engaging and psychologically impactful. Imagine walking through somebody's art collection where touching objects is allowed (an interesting use case for OnCyber perhaps?). Or Silent Hill, where you can feel the journey through purgatory not only in your legs, but also on your fingers (and there is a lot to feel). What about the possibility of evolving the beloved "farm sim" genre? Imagine taming your animals, exploring caves but also - herb mixing (here the only thing missing would be smell, but this might be partially recreated by music and sound - concepts that in video games come closest to smell) with your bare, digital hands?
The list goes on as certain video game titles, have left a lasting impact on many players due to their compelling environments and narratives. Games like The Witcher 3 and Elder Scrolls: Morrowind offer open-world experiences that allow players to explore and interact with their surroundings freely. These games create rich, detailed worlds that players can immerse themselves in, fostering a deep emotional connection to the virtual landscapes. Japanese RPGs, even when linear, excel in creating memorable places that resonate with players - and even though decades went on after the places were conceived, there are hundreds of thousands of gamers who would love to stroll aimlessly through the temples, villages, continents and streets. The detailed storytelling and carefully crafted environments in these games evoke strong emotional responses, similar to the experiences of psychogeographical exploration in the physical world. This is why the overlooked merger of psychogeographic principles and metaversial experiences is one of the most intriguing and promising ideas.
Psychogeography in Game Design
Psychogeography in real life requires a place that evokes significant and strong feelings, emotions or even memories. This can be achieved through not only the visible part of the location but also the inner feelings the person interacting with the area has. More intriguingly, various people can perceive a location a different way - sometimes this can reflect the person themselves, sometimes this "sense of place" works differently on diverse groups of people, where various recollections influence how even the simplest of buildings is perceived. From a gamer's point of view this can work not only as a niche gimmick but an interesting way to use in game design (which These Worlds Are Amazing playlist dives deeper into). To make the journey reflect more of you, rather than only stick to the designer's creations.
Many games excel in this area even at this moment, offering locations that either captivate with their beauty or intrigue with their history and unique events, and at the same time, they trigger a vast range of emotions in the player. For example, the land of Spira from "Final Fantasy X" is a richly detailed world with diverse towns and locations, each offering unique experiences and visual delights. While I was never a huge fan of the topography and the world itself (although I believe the game has the best fighting mechanics in the whole series), I met numerous people insisting that the world design was at its prime (with various layers of history and stellar worldbuilding), adding that they just want to immerse themselves into it and aimlessly stroll through, and not be bound by Tidus and Yuna's quest. The emotional impact of these digital landscapes is comparable to that of physical places explored through psychogeography and real-life walks. When we look at gaming titles, an even greater opportunity arises when we talk about open-world games, where non-linear exploration is not only one of the direct components and promises a game title gives to the players but a magnet for all those who love to wander. Red Dead Redemption 2 or Skyrim, while very task-oriented at their core, are also driven by exploration - be it connected to the story, or just an aimless wander. Additionally, this led to the rise of the wandering streamer, who...just walks. While streamers like Enigma can be bound by the aim of going from one part of the map to another, this is uprooted from the prime activity of completing the game. Red Dead Redemption 2 timelapses seem even more intriguing, as in my mind they would be a perfect digital counterpart to the Disney's 360 treadmill.
The paragraph above focuses on game experience that is curated in a professional environment, the rise of entertainment platforms such as Fortnite, Roblox or even smaller ones like Zepeto, directs us to the question - if a "walking" niche is widely spread among professionally made games (be it a triple A title or an indie gem, what about walking and UGC gaming market? These types of game titles focus less on the well-prepared and tailored experience, rather putting emphasis on the "happening-now" aspect and benefits from dynamic virtual environments where players engage in various activities and competitions - including explorations.
A UGC game that in my opinion has the biggest connection to psychogeography is the UGC / Sandbox title Minecraft. Maybe because of its flexibility (much bigger than in the rest of similar titles) and the love of experimentation the community has (with my favorite example being building a phone inside the game) and less goal-oriented gameplay. On the other hand Roblox provides metaversial experiences inside itself, prompting the players to explore them and find the one that fits them the most. If this is not the true digital equivalent of the post-pandemic, experience-seeking flâneur, I really cannot find a better example. In this sense, clicking through Roblox's menu might be a journey itself (unless, we have an experience recommended to us that is).
These digital spaces, though not always visually stunning (again, another aspect that differentiates them from AAA titles), can evoke memories and emotional responses, making them fertile ground for psychogeographical exploration. The creativity and diversity of user-generated content in Roblox provide a wide range of experiences, allowing players to explore and interact with these digital worlds in unique ways. This aligns with the principles of psychogeography, encouraging players to wander and discover the hidden narratives and emotional landscapes of these virtual environments - even if finding "the one" experience might take forever.
Another prominent example of psychogeography connected to a gaming environment, are the augmented reality mobile games. While using the hardware to explore the real world and bring some benefits into the digital are not exclusive to the mobile niche (games like Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand, where in order to charge the in-game solar weapons, the player had to take their Game Boy Advance outside to the sun, are a perfect example of that), it wasn't until Pokémon Go and many of its clones (like Ghostbusters World or Run an Empire) paved a way for a real and intriguing interaction between the real world and metaversial experiences. However as this topic creates even more interesting angles, it's better to be left for another part of this psychogeographical story.
Conclusion: Merging Psychogeography with the Metaverse
Psychogeography provides a valuable addition to the whole framework for understanding the metaverse. By examining how virtual environments impact our emotions and behaviors, we can gain deeper insights into the digital landscapes we visit and inhabit. As technology advances, new tools and methods will enhance our ability to explore and interact with these virtual worlds, bringing us closer to a true psychogeographical experience in the metaverse where we interact with the topography of our surroundings, create memories and rely on emotions and nudges to show us the way. Whether through advanced treadmills, haptic gloves, or evolving game design, the future of digital exploration promises to be as enriching and transformative as the psychogeographical journeys of the past.
The potential for psychogeography to influence our understanding of the metaverse is immense and should be explored further. As we continue to develop and refine the technologies that allow us to explore virtual worlds, we can create experiences that are emotionally and psychologically rich and encouraging. By integrating the principles of psychogeography into the design and exploration of digital landscapes, and adding special tweaks and features described by the psychogeographers from the past, we can foster deeper connections to these virtual environments, enhancing our overall experience. The future of digital exploration is bright, and psychogeography provides an interesting piece of the puzzle in helping us to navigate this frontier.
Thanks to Marta Słomka for feedback and comments.
This feels very relatable – I only started "wandering" when I moved to London in 2013. And I still distinctly remember the locations in Ragnarok, KOTOR II, Project Entropia. More recently Night City. .. Such a great way to frame the emotional impact of game design.
I'm not a gamer, and tend to view urban wandering as a specifically embodied, analogue experience, but it's interesting to see how it might be simulated in the metaverse. Great post, thank you!