Verse 1.0
31 May 2023With more than 60% of the global population projected to be online in 2023, and this constantly growing demographic boosted by technology such as SpaceX’s Starlink, the global digital divide is slowly closing. The next step in the evolution of the internet is the metaverse, which is fuelled by the immense advantages and intuitiveness of immersive technologies over 2D information delivery systems. It will become the ultimate platform for virtual and informational content in the 21st century.
Despite the many iterations to come and its current infancy - this new domain will be able to absorb all the previous information systems and unify their progression into a new, far-reaching, singular access point for a global population. Due to its synchronicity with the human’s physical experience, it can also relate to the physical reality in a literal sense, creating overlays and providing expertise in a level of resolution and immediacy that so far has been unthinkable.
Personal residences, stadiums, concert halls, galleries and even whole cities, physical spaces, are rapidly extending into the virtual realm. However, the current technological limitations for such environments are highly prohibitive and limit interactions to less than 100 concurrent participants. Due to these constraints, trade-offs are made between scale, resolution, fidelity and interactivity. So far, due to the lack of a computational budget, it has been impossible to create a resolved and human-centred solution.
This tech demo presents a virtual world design proposition by ZHVR Group in partnership with MetaGravity | The Metaverse Engine, a next-generation metaverse distributed cloud compute infrastructure enabling the design of virtual spaces beyond the aforementioned limitations and with an arbitrary large number of concurrent players, or scale of simulation, in a single virtual world. For the first time designers of virtual worlds will have a canvas which is not constrained by simulation scale or cloud operating costs.
Verse1.0 world, early sketches by ZHVR
The design approach is to create a dynamic and expandable world while emphasizing the quality of the user experience. It is envisaged to host a wide range of interactions and venues offered by third parties for the end user, promoting interactions with other users, the virtual environment and other content.
Visitors can explore the virtual world as high-fidelity avatars with full-size body representation, which is essential for immersion into the architectural space. They can use Fitting Rooms to test and choose their personal look: an avatar, clothes, and outfits.
To encourage random encounters, users do not teleport but are instead invited to explore the public spaces, connecting various zones within the contiguous open world. Long-distance travel is possible via special vehicles designed by Andreas Thurner, a design house focused on exclusive, future mobility products.
Visitors new to the experience can also receive a concierge assistance and are provided with a signage system to help them navigate the virtual environment.
ZHVR Group developed an array of architectural spaces, indoor and outdoor, at different scales to host and respond to the various needs of the users. Different zones evoke local quality and attract users to gather.
Private residences, accessible only by the owners and guests, provide a customisable space for personal expression. Here, users can store their content, and NFT collections, or host private events.
Gallery: organization diagram, exterior & interior views
The ZHVR/ZHA Gallery is an Iconic Metabolism that adapts to the changes in the program and various events hosted inside this spatial composition. Small NFTs such as souvenirs can be obtained at the gallery shop. The envelope of the shop responds to users coming towards it and opens to allow them to enter.
The two main gallery spaces are the Permanent Exhibition and the Commercial Gallery. The Commercial Gallery is oriented towards the public space to attract visitors and art buyers. Additional event spaces can be instantiated to provide for a Lecture Hall/ Auditorium or other spaces needed for certain audiences or performances. Their size will depend on the performance criteria and audience size.
Forum, exterior & interior views
Forums were designed to host events for large audiences. With different sizes and settings, they can simultaneously host a variety of different events and experiences. For the first time, large scale events are possible with all participants interacting within the same shared environment. Once entered, the conditions in the surrounding world could change, and users could experience another reality for example with a changed gravity, weather, or sky dome.
The Private Club features a drop-off area and a high-end lounge for more intimate gatherings and VIP events, where users can mingle and network.
As part of a partnership between ZHVR and THURNER DESIGN for future mobility system developments, Andreas Thurner developed a concept for a transportation system for mid- to far-distance travel inside the virtual space. The design is a system of floating platforms, generated by the individual user and self-driving, the platform adapts its size to the number of occupants and delivers the user to a selected destination at a choice of speeds from scenic to fast. The platforms - called Gliders - can be spawned by the users at any of the pathways and their intersections embedded in the landscape. From a small, hand-sized object, drawn from their inventory, the Gliders grow into their functional size ready to be boarded. From there, users can select their destinations and can modify the platforms to offer full enclosures, seating, displays, etc. hosting singular travellers or groups that would use the Gliders for gatherings and tours.
Glider vehicle, sketches by Andreas Thurner
Gliders, self-driving vehicles
One of the future goals for the development of the Verse is that users' actions are to be persistent and should be able to leave lasting changes on the world. Thanks to MetaGravity’s development such a self-consistent, simulated reality with full collisions and physics is within reach. One of the key differences between computer gaming and one of the Metaverse’s main future drivers is the aspect of persistent causality. In order to create meaning the virtual space will have to offer the immersed humans a ‘place’ that will have to provide individual outcomes and responsiveness - offering both, a canvas for individual creativity but also repercussions to one’s actions.
ZHVR Group and MetaGravity’s Verse1.0 demo will be used for internal evaluation and research purposes. With the ultimate aim to provide a consistent and professional service to commercial and cultural Microverse clients, the demo verse will provide ZHVR Group with a testing ground for the many collaborations and experiments to come.
Credits:
ZHVR Group:
Helmut Kinzler, Jose Pareja Gomez, Marco Pavoni, Aleksandra Mnich-Spraiter, Risa Tadauchi, Daria Zolotareva.
Collaborators: