Immersion From The Onlife Education Perspective: The Cave Project

Abstract

We live in a paradoxical era in which the expansion of digital connectivity coexists with the operation of algorithms that modulate attention, shape perceptions, and capture data on a large scale. The aim of this full article is to investigate the formative potential of an immersive learning experience in Virtual Reality, currently under development, conceived as a narrative game in the escape room format and grounded in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, to foster epistemological shifts, strengthen agency, and promote critical reflection among high school students regarding algorithmic mediation in the onlife condition. Based on a critical review of surveillance capitalism, data colonialism, and Onlife education, the article describes the design of the game “Cave Project”, articulating its narrative and mechanics with the adopted theoretical framework, within the scope of an intervention-oriented qualitative research approach. In doing so, the study seeks to contribute to the development of young people’s critical awareness of the regimes of visibility and algorithmic mediation that permeate connected life.