Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
Virtual reality cameras have been used in pornography, at sporting events and in many other ways, but one Florida church is looking at using the technology for a “higher calling.”
According to Gizmodo reports, Rev. Christopher Benek of the First Presbyterian Church of Ft. Lauderdale is exploring the use of devices like the Oculus Rift as a way to reach members of the congregation who live in remote areas or who cannot leave their homes due to health issues.
As the website points out, some places of worship allow their members to view services online, but Rev. Benek believes that adopting VR technology will make churches more accessible, more immersive, and more attractive to the general public.
“Numerous persons and groups have developed churches in the virtual world, mainly Second Life,” he said earlier this month in an interview with Hypergrid Business. “I would venture to say that most have been less concerned with true evangelical success and more focused on what their technological exploratory experience may yield in the future.”
A great asset to the church universal
Essentially, the reverend – who is currently working on a Ph.D. in theology with a focus on the intersection of technological futurism and eschatology at Durham University in the UK – thinks that most modern virtual churches are experiments, not significant faith-based outreach efforts. However, he believes that this will change as the technology becomes more widespread.
“For those of us who tend to be more inclined to the developments of human technology, we are keeping abreast of the important advancements that are occurring in the virtual world,” explained Rev. Benek, adding that devices such as Oculus Rift could be “a great asset to the church universal, as it will enable the infirm, homebound, and potentially even the poor to participate from afar regardless of their personal mobility or lack of affordable transportation.”
He added that there are several ways that churches and other religious groups could benefit from removing physical obstacles to worship. It would allow pastors and congregants to visit and pray with more people more often, he explained, and small worship groups would be able to meet on a more frequent basis, even when they are separated by considerable distances.
“The way that we currently do care and discipleship will radically change as will our expectations as to what it means to participate in those aspects of the church,” added Rev. Benek. In addition to the physical barriers that virtual reality can help overcome, the technology could help overcome language differences by allowing services to be “seamlessly translated.”
Muslims and Mormons looking to virtual worlds, as well
And it’s not only Christian churches that could benefit, obviously. As Hypergrid Business noted, Islam has also established a virtual presence in Second Life, a 3D virtual online world, and the Church of the Latter Day Saints is turning to technology to record and distribute its creation and salvation re-enactments that are traditionally performed live by actors.
“I think the Church, as well as other religious organizations, would benefit from proceeding further in this direction of virtualizing and even open-sourcing their rituals,” Lincoln Cannon, President of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, told the website. “Imagine authenticating to an neurally immersive online temple in which you participate in the mythological re-enactment, adapting the imagery to your personal spiritual needs, perhaps in concert with or according to the guidance of spiritual friends or authorities.”
“I’m deeply curious about how an innovative church might make use of augmented reality in its services or festivals,” said Robert Geraci, Professor in the Department of Religion at Manhattan College and author of the book Virtually Sacred – Myth and Meaning in World of Warcraft and Second Life. “It seems to me that there could be beautiful and artistic uses of something akin to the new Microsoft HoloLens. That kind of technology would actually allow people the benefits of physical community and virtual creativity.”
“Like online churches, it could even be used to provide people with online connectivity to distant communities,” he added. “Most likely, an initial introduction of such technologies would have a lot of awful, kitschy stuff happening; but there might be some real beauty and novel forms of storytelling included. In terms of a virtual-only church, I’d be curious as to what could be accomplished using something like the Oculus Rift.”
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