Metaverse is expected to revolutionalize social media -and along with them the way people interact- in the immediate future. But as "Space is the Machine" for human interaction (Hillier, 1999), what qualities and attributes of Space will exist in Metaverse? In a completely virtual environment with no spatial restrictions, no distances applied and no commuting times between "places", do we need a City?
Metaverse lies at the section between the virtual and physical space, designed with reciprocal interactions. In that sense, users can enter Metaverse as Avatars, but also Avatars can “invade” reality, appearing as “holograms” in physical spaces and performing any kind of actions. The same holds for “objects” that share a physical and virtual “materiality”, based on Augmented Reality. In this sense, Metaverse could act as the 4th dimension of physical space, and cities could be flooded and extended with Metaverse Objects. This will eventually lead to a new kind of “hybrid” cities, functioning at the cross-section of virtually augmented physical reality and physically designed virtual space; while cities could become even more complex as Metaverse will integrate digital art and objects, multimedia, video installations, e-commerce and social media within a single “platform” based on interoperability.
In these Hybrid cities there would be specific locations that would host Metaverse Objects and/or Places, but at the same time the Metaverse would be omnipresent and always accessible through the internet network and smartphones. Metaverse could multiply activities and interactions, allowing action-at-a-distance, and hosting many activities traditionally placed in physical space, nevertheless, the role of space in the Hybrid City will maintain its importance.
This project is a research initiative by an individual Architectural & Urban Planning Team, started by students and staff members of the Technical University of Crete (TUC). Our aim is twofold: a) to explore inherent and/or implanted spatial qualities of Metaverse and how they could affect Avatar’s interaction. b) to put forward a discussion of how physical City Space could be affected by this digital “twin” Universe.
Key research questions:
_What is fundamentally different in Metaverse from videogames and science fiction?
_What is the role of Space in a (seemingly) spaceless place?
_In a “Universe” where tele-transportation is the rule, with no distance, no commuting time, no traffic jams, and no energy consumption, what spatial attributes could actually emerge?
_Why would we eventually need a “City” to interact?
We will elaborate on the above issues, exploring Space within the Metaverse and providing insight on how real-city-planning principles might apply. We aim to explore emerging space qualities within the Metaverse, and to put forward innovative brainstorming on ways of designing and planning this new form of an entirely global "City".