Visions of Computing Futures: Meta, Apple, and the Technological Fictions of Digitally Real Worlds

The vision of seamlessly integrating virtual and physical environments—variously called spatial computing and the metaverse—has been around for decades. Recently, Big Tech companies, including Apple and Meta, have prioritized ushering in this computing paradigm. Despite hardware and interface inadequacies, how do these companies make such visions feel not only inevitable but also readily achievable? This paper analyzes performances of corporate vision-making as technological fictions , drawing attention to the genre and aesthetics that make a future seem like the future. By interweaving narratives illustrating the sociality of metaverse futures with presentations of technical capabilities, corporate visions purposely blur fiction and fact such that the former is mistaken for the latter. As scholars consider how to refuse Big Tech visions, excavating how inevitabilities are mere possibilities offers one critical strategy.