Beyond virtual reality: The domestication and gentrification of virtual space

This paper examines the domestication of virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) technologies within the home. It argues that recent advances have reshaped both the spatial and affective character of digital experience. Where earlier iterations of VR sought to transcend physical space, newer VR/MR headsets, such as the Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro, integrate digital objects into remediated images of the domestic environment. Drawing on theories of placemaking, affective atmospheres, and technological domestication, we explore how MR facilitates hybridised experiences that blend physical and imagined space. We argue that this shift enables more effective domestication by aligning with everyday mobilities and routines. At the same time, we also suggest that this transformation is privileging certain users as well as datafying the home for commercial ends. To account for this shift, we theorise that the virtual space of VR is being gentrified, and that this process is not just reconfiguring how the domestic sphere is experienced but might also displace certain users because of the material properties associated with their homes. We conclude this article by offering a conceptual model that formalises the gentrification of virtual space .