We offer in-depth theorisation of two multi-site case studies of dying and being dead in Extended Reality (XR) to investigate immersive death experiences facilitated by these media. Our observations, discussion and critique underscore an emergent and nuanced interplay between spatial technologies and death encounters, their linked phenomenological cultural constructions, and the emerging industry that channels these phenomenon. XR are media technologies that mediate digital data with the physical world in real time. Yet, this might take users ‘out' of their surroundings through VR systems that map-but-hide the physical, and replace it with what programmers desire. Or, XR might seemingly add digital artefacts that relate with the physical world via AR systems that have us peering through screens or – arguably, hearing spatial cues (Boisvert et al. 2023), that are computed to fool our senses of what is ‘in’ the real. What – and who – is able to be brought ‘in’ and ‘out’ of the perceived world has significant consequences for the growing industry of necro technologies. Our work then, focuses on two multi-site phenomenological cases within the digital necro-industry: the first, is taking users ‘out’ of the real (usually via VR) to experience death, dying or the dead; and second, bringing death ‘in’ to the physical world via mediations of the dead, death or dying. The paper concludes with a discussion that syntheses our study of industrial trends and phenomenological-technological critique to consider how stakeholders that have hitherto not been invited to compose cultures of XR death-tech might act.

Digital twins are characterized as NextGen smart cities, part of cyber-manufacturing processes and as industry 4.0 systems. They are digital replicas of ‘real’ world physical assets, with real-time information interchanges via sensors between digital replicas and their material assets. They can be immersive 3D environments of cities rendered in game engines and engaged with via VR headsets. Uncritical, enthusiastic and technologically solutionist rationales are generally offered for their creation in IT, engineering and vendor literature. Digital twins are often touted as a system to predict, preempt, prevent and plan for the impact of climate change and for emergency preparedness scenario planning. This paper discusses preliminary observations from a transdisciplinary archival and AI research project of an urban digital twin in the architecture, engineering, construction and owner operated (AECOO) sector, theoretically framed by critical data studies, archival digital diplomatics, digital records forensics and social and technological assemblage theory. A hybrid methodological approach combines a technological walkthrough with twin developers mapping data flows and technological processes, guided by a semi-structured interview instrument to identify what constitutes a record of automated and AI/ML actions that affect social and material outcomes. Preliminary observations identified a complex set of technopolitics, myriad procurement and contractual arrangements where data and technology ownership remains with vendors. It has become clear that digital twins are very messy and poorly governed infrastructures of infrastructure, which are mostly proprietary, lack interoperability and standards. The aim is to understand urban digital twins so that they may be governed in the public interest.

Nostalgia is a culturally resonant, politically potent, and increasingly networked sensemaking resource that frames how people see the past and understand their place in the world. Despite nostalgia's locative meaning, there is a lack of research applying network analytic methods to study its structure and social-semiotic function in online networks which enable connective action based on discursive, affective, and mimetic bonds. While research indicates nostalgia’s dual-edge social function in group dynamics of solidarity and exclusion, these studies often take collective identity a priori, limiting understanding of how platform affordances structure the formation of affective publics around nostalgic discourse and sentiment. Through a semantic network analysis of the popular hashtag #nostalgia (>140B views) on TikTok, this study offers a first step toward understanding the meaning of nostalgia in networked processes of group identification by mapping a topology of “nostalgic neighborhoods” emerging from the co-linkages of hashtags on the platform. Based on the equivalence of these neighborhoods’ semantic structures and thematic meanings, I identify three types of affective publics – play-grounds, heart-lands, and reflecting pools – that emerged in relation to different linguistic and technical functions of the hashtag. I argue the different affective intensities and meanings of nostalgia within these publics reflected the platform’s dynamics of imitation and virality. As TikTok’s algorithmic affordances of visibility and association are less rooted in interpersonal social ties, this study contributes important insights into how the hashtag, as a semiotic technology (Zappavigna, 2018), structures nostalgic affective publics on popular site for nostalgia within youth cultures.

This paper investigates the changing documentality of AI-generated images and their role in the industrial production of war imaginaries. In doing so, we center our analysis on the paradigmatic case of Adobe Stock selling photorealistic AI images depicting the Israel-Gaza conflict. After the outbreak of the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, the stock photo service Adobe Stock started to collect of AI-generated images produced by users depicting the conflict. Paying customers were then able to download and publish these images in both online and printed media. A public debate ensued when news media began using pictures from this collection, sparking discussion due to the lack of proper contextualization regarding their AI origin. The primary research question guiding this project is therefore: How does the popularisation and industrialisation of photorealistic AI-generated pictures alter the criteria by which we ascribe documentality to images employed in news reporting? To this end we conducted a mixed method research. In the first phase we collected and analyzed 55 articles related to the Adobe Stock case. The initial content analysis focused on framing of the news, in order to point out key themes and discourses surrounding the controversy. The second phase involves photo-elicitation interviews with photojournalists and photo editors, exploring the documentary and informational value of AI-generated images. Preliminary findings highlight the significance of metadata, the role of illustrative captions, and the aesthetics shaping representations of war and violence.