Architectural Design in Metaverse Case Study

Abstract

The Metaverse is a new digital world where the users not only play there, but also live their lives in it. The use of the Metaverse has been extended to various fields with the development and integration of technology: it is growing rapidly with an ever-increasing number of users and platforms. The growing interest and use of the Metaverse has increased the attention given to the architectural design of Metaverse platforms. Although the Metaverse world has distinct characteristics compared to the real world such as no gravity and no climate effects, architectural design in popular Metaverse platforms tends to imitate the architectural designs of the real world. However, given the characteristics of the Metaverse, architectural design in the Metaverse can be unique and different from architectural design in the real world. Moreover, because the goal of the Metaverse is to partially relocate people’s real world lives to the Metaverse world, it is significant to give people a proper space experience through optimal design like how real architectural space does. To do so, architectural design in the Metaverse needs to support the diverse daily activities of users, further helping users enjoy Metaverse platforms that also promote interaction between users. This study used a case study and analyzed five representative Metaverse platforms in games, social experiences, collaborations, simulations and designs, and creator economy categories. Furthermore, this study analyzed the architectural design of popular Metaverse platforms according to the applications of the Metaverse such as cultural, commercial, and workspaces. Finally, this study discussed the future direction and potential of Metaverse architectural design based on the analysis results. © 2022 Architectural Institute of Korea