Ritualtech

Ritualtech is an emerging field at the intersection of ritual studies and technology that examines how technological tools are used to create, perform, or study ritual practices, and how ritual thinking can guide the design of technology.

The term covers two interrelated phenomena: technology-enabled rituals in which devices participate in or structure ceremonial action; and ritual-informed design in which practitioners incorporate ritual structure, symbolism, or pacing into the development of digital products.

In religious and spiritual contexts, ritualtech includes live-streamed services, digital altars, AR/VR pilgrimages, and AI-assisted liturgy. In secular and artistic contexts, it includes mindfulness apps with ritualized routines, smart-home routines, and immersive installations that simulate communal rites.

Methodologically, ritualtech is studied by anthropology, religious studies, media studies, and human-computer interaction, often employing ethnography, participatory design, and qualitative analysis to understand how technologies alter meaning, agency, and social dynamics.

Critical issues include cultural sensitivity, appropriation, commodification, privacy and data governance in ritual contexts, accessibility, and the risk of reducing rich practices to repeatable templates or commodified experiences.

The field anticipates ongoing development such as AI-generated ritual scripts, adaptive wearables that respond to emotional cues, and global online rituals that connect diverse communities while raising questions about authenticity, governance, and digital legacy.