Technology & Religion collide.
For many Christians, being baptized is the ritual of declaring your faith through a symbolic act of purification and rejuvenation. The ceremony, which is usually held in a church or in a body of water, is performed by a church leader and can be a pretty powerful moment in your life, even if some are too young to remember it.
The VR Church, which exists only (for now) in the AltspaceVR platform, recently performed what they claim to be the first-ever VR baptism after holding the special ceremony to two of their church attendees in front of a congregation of over a 100 people from all around the world. Normally a baptism in the real-world takes about 10 seconds, but in VR, the individuals stayed under the virtual waters for over a minute, allowing them to really take in the moment for an even more impactful experience.
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As for the future of VR and religion, Soto, who also uses Facebook Spaces to connect with people, believes that it will be a good renewal of faith in the church, and hopes that other churches explore VR in the hopes of seeing its potential opportunities.
If you’re curious or would like to join Soto’s VR Church, you can simply create an AltspaceVR profile and log in every Sunday.
Of course there’s also a variety of other worthwhile VR experiences centered around other religions that may interest others. Nearpod is an excellent educational VR experience that takes users on an informative tour to historic Mosques around the world, while Experience Mecca provides a fully animated 3D field trip to the center of the Muslim faith. It’ll be interesting to see if other faiths follow suit and begin holding their own virtual congregations on other social VR platforms.
Source: VR Scout