The actualization of meta affordances: Conceptualizing affordance actualization in the metaverse games

Drawing on the theory of affordance, we conceptualize affordance actualization for the metaverse games (MG) relative to the affordances of internalized and embodied experiences by users. Focusing on MG players' affordances, we examine how they affect the user experience by exploring how affordances are realized and enacted in an extended environment. Based on mixed methods of empirical analysis, we identify relevant affordances, theorize affordance actualization, and characterize the duality of affordance in the metaverse. A heuristic process of immersion and selection of affordances through underlying cues together actualize a player's sensory representations of affective affordances. By identifying how extended reality mediates interactions with users, we contribute to prescriptive knowledge in the form of theoretical considerations and practical implications intended for academics and practitioners working in the context of the extended environment. We propose that affordance actualization helps to theorize the duality of affordance in the metaverse that users shape their metaverse based on their actualized affordance, and at the same time, the metaverse becomes a part of the structure shaping and constraining user actions.

Automated summary

Drawing on the theory of affordance, this study explores the impact of affordance actualization on user experience in metaverse games. Through mixed methods analysis, relevant affordances are identified and a theoretical framework for affordance actualization is proposed. The study finds that players can perceive affective affordances through a process of immersion and selection of affordances. The research provides theoretical and practical implications for academics and practitioners working in the context of the extended environment, and contributes to understanding how users shape the metaverse through actualizing affordances.