Mersivity, as pioneered by UofT professor Steve Mann, is a novel concept involving Technology, Humanity, and the World. It is the intersection of this trinity which provides an alternative view on technology and it’s development compared to the industry mainstream. It is a proposed solution to tackle the increasing complexities and disconnected nature in our day-to-day life, as a result of the ever-ongoing development of technology.

Here is the quote from Prof. Mann:

“Technology that immerses you, but disconnects you from your surroundings, is harmful to both you and your surroundings (environment). This harm goes beyond pollution and other direct harm, but also harm in the sense that if we disconnect from nature, earth, water, etc., we turn our back on earth, water, etc..

Mersivity is immersive and submersive, e.g. it can immerse us (like fully immersive virtual reality) and it can be immersed / submersed by us (you can dunk it in the water or go swimming with it and it won’t suddenly stop working when it gets dunked in sea water).

If you can’t go swimming or hike through a forest with a piece of technology, the technology could be out-of-tune with nature or distract you from nature. Technology that is not in-tune with nature encumbers us and imprisons us in a world that is divorced from nature. Wearing it or carrying it makes us hesitant to jump into the lake or venture into the wilderness with it, for fear it will be damaged (or lost or stolen if we leave it sitting on the shore or ground). And when we can’t swim in the lake, we turn our back on the lake, and lose an important opportunity to be stewards of our supply of freshwater. Water is the “new oil”, our most valuable resource. Thus we see Mersivity as a mandate for technology in service of both humanity and the environment (nature).“

With this as the Mersivity Society’s central tenet, we strive to expand and propagate the idea of Mersivity. We will be engaging in discussions, research, and development of both mature and cutting-edge technologies with the goal of a “Mersivity Aligned”  future.