Designing for the metaverse.

The term “metaverse” has its origins in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash as a portmanteau of “meta” and “universe.” A thought that existed only in science fiction and futurism is now coming true with big companies like Facebook(Meta), Google, Microsoft. Wikipedia’s definition is, a metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection. In futurism and science fiction, the term is often described as a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal virtual world facilitated by virtual and augmented reality headsets.

Immersive technologies like Artificial Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality have an essential role in the metaverse. It is a virtual world where people can interact, carry out their daily tasks, play, learn, socialize, and live their entire lives through avatars. The Google glasses, Meta (Oculus) Quest 2 are a few examples of virtual reality. Snapchat’s ‘geo-filters’ and ‘landmarks’ features are examples of augmented reality. Effective designs of spatial technologies will determine the comfort level in a virtual world.

It is crucial to catch on to these technologies right now rather than fall behind later. They are here to stay and bring transforming changes to how we live. As an all-purpose digital design agency, we strive to provide the best user experience to our clients. For that, we keep ourselves updated with the design trends and technologies. Video gamers have had some understanding of the virtual world. But the release of Pokemon Go in 2016 had created the excitement of interacting with the virtual world. Real-estate and insurance companies use the virtual environment to help their customers improve their processes.

Design:

Designers and developers will be responsible for the functionality and experience in the virtual world. Empathy and security will be essential for humans to live in a virtual society. The spatial technologies need to be designed light-weight with optimized web designs. The screens were designed for tablets, mobiles, and desktops until now. The number of screen designs will increase and change with their purpose(handheld, wearables, fixed, movable).

Designers that work on 2D will see a significant shift in the requirement to move towards 3D. Tools like Lens Studio, Spark AR, Reality Composer, Blender, and Unity will help designers design 3D space. Conversational Design will be necessary with chatbots and virtual consultants at every point of business interaction. The language will change with location, culture, and human speech will expand to text, audio, image, and other forms.

Technology:

The world is moving into an era of Web 3.0 with blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, the Internet of Things, and immersive technologies. The search will move from keywords to context-based queries, and the metaverse will be connected and decentralized. The content used should be based on the data from domain-specific AI. Data will be collected at every point, and the privacy and security of this data will depend on the back-end technologies. Frond-end designs will need to be made immersive and interactive to involve and evoke the right emotions in the users. User Research and customized designs will drive the user retention levels up.

When designing in the metaverse, the focus of every design agency should be to provide a Great Customer Experience in the virtual world. Over time AR/VR will be a standard, and users will demand it. The race to develop the metaverse has started. We might see direct competition between companies, and the one with the best User Experience will win. We have helped companies provide a good User Experience for a long time; you can check our portfolio to know more. There are many possibilities for everyone to explore, and you should not miss the ride to the virtual world.

Evolution in thinking of how Design can benefit the individual user has started, and we invite you to come on the journey with us. You can reach us to know more about our Design experience and knowledge — happy learning to all.