“You Can't Get a Tan in the Metaverse, but You Can Visit the Beach”. Exploring notions of leisure experiences in virtual environments: an editorial-dialogue
Timothy Yeardley, Jonathan Sibley · World Leisure Journal · 2025
This paper introduces and explores the papers in the World Leisure Journal (WLJ) Special Issue (SI) on the Metaverse and Leisure. The authors critically examine the themes, conclusions, and implications of each paper, addressing the current state and future potential of Virtual Reality (VR) and the Metaverse in leisure experiences. Key topics include generational adoption, niche applications (e.g., seniors, ASD communities), economic and societal benefits, and the interplay between VR and emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI).