Mobile Virtual Realities and Portable Magic Circles

Hybrid reality games such as Pokémon GO enable new approaches to embodied space that problematise traditional understandings of play. More recently, smartphones have again become involved in the provision of a new kind of relationship with space: the space of virtual reality. It is the intention of this exploratory chapter to examine mobile virtual reality as part of the continuum of mobile media in the context of two related themes: (1) physical distraction and (2) embodied space. The chapter will consider how this reassessment might provide new understandings of play’s connection to the ordinary space of daily life before expanding upon these issues within the broader context of the “smartphone movement” and concluding with suggested directions for future research within the field