Conclusions
In the end, leisure should be perceived as a practice of exploring the world and what it offers by collecting unique experiences. Thus, leisure is a search for more than a mere living, a development of ‘self’ based on passions, by which one can shape own identity and personality. Leisure is a tool which can influence this process; therefore, the most important leisure concepts are the ones we can practice daily, and which give us the feeling of freedom and being alive in a consumptive world. Besides, leisure brings the sense of community and being a part of something bigger, which is contrary to an anonymous character of contemporary living. Last, leisure, being an escape from a daily routine, should be simply fun. To continue, the future of leisure lies in-between the real and virtual spaces. A transition to the virtual domain in leisure happened so quickly, that many have not even noticed the change. The number of virtual communities is expanding rapidly and today almost everyone is a member of at least one of them. Now, the concept of virtual is associated with an expectation for ‘beyond body and matter’, where one can completely detach from reality. Nevertheless, the two are strongly connected, they exist along each other and interrelate. For instance, before a gaming session a player drinks a coffee, puts on VR headset, places a snack next to a computer, which means he never leaves the real space while immersing into the virtual world of a game. Having this in mind, virtual and real spaces should be understood as inseparable, where a mediator between them is an architectural space. To continue, the idea of architecture in
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virtuality can be defined in three ways. First, as an inseparable element of a building’s design, where one can enter the code into the system and leave the virtual space at will. Second, as a new way of designing and perceiving a space, the idea of intangible, immaterial aspect of a design and augmentation of senses. Third, it can be perceived as a way of constant redefining and rediscovering of the spaces. Taking those elements into account, a leisure concept which fulfils all those characteristics is a concept of play. Play is an activity which can be practiced daily, is accessible for everyone, and is experienced through immersion into fantasy and dream – the intangible, virtual elements. Also, play is an activity which involves both the actor and the spectator, helps to ‘blow off steam’, escape a daily routine, and last – is fun. Yet, play should be perceived as a process which unfolds in time, not as a solid but a series of connected events. Nonetheless, the concept of play is a very broad subject which needs a medium to take place. Thus, a highly engaging and complex medium of the 21st century, which lies in-between the real and virtual spaces is a video game. As the history of video games has shown, video games are cultural artefacts in which emotions, passions and trills of player are engraved, and which were started by enthusiasts of computers and Japanese popular culture. Hence, from their very beginning in the ‘60s and the ‘70s video games were developed as a pure leisure concept both for its users as for its creators, and given a scientific attention only after the turn of millennium.