You would not be alone if you had never heard of the word Metaverse especially if your core business is not architectural visualisation or the future of the internet.
For us, bringing the unbuilt environment to life through digital innovation that is both realistic and interactive is a constant discussion. So what is a Metaverse?
Metaverses are not dissimilar to online video games, but what that means for the construction industry is that mini-universes so to speak can be created around building projects.
Architectural Visualisation and Real Urbanism
As we already know how important it is to sell both the area and the lifestyle around a project, the Metaverse becomes an exciting option to provide responsive and flexible solutions to this without the expense of real engineering.
According to Alistair Hume, a VR World Builder, Metaverses are new ways to engage with information and space. Using the term ‘Real Urbanism’ he describes how metaspace is going to become one of the most interesting and transformative areas of design and creation that humanity has ever seen in the 21st century and beyond.
COVID and the Zoom Boom
For us at Thinklab, it was during the early days of COVID and the Zoom Boom that these ideals for better connections within a computer-generated world began to take on more meaning. Through collaborative discussions with colleague Andrew Mackinnon, Futurist and MD of the Australian advertising agency, Taboo, we adopted the belief that within the next three years every business would have a space in the VR world.
Since then, Metaverse has become the biggest trending tech word on the planet. The outlook for this one word was so potent that Facebook adopted it as their business centrepiece: Facebook is a Metaverse Company.
With NFT’s, Blockchain, and Avatars already in play, it’s becoming more than just a possibility, possible – it’s virtually real.
Gamers are Ahead of the Game
Gaming enthusiasts who are already enjoying mind-blowing immersive digital experiences are well ahead of this trend. So with internet speeds increasing every year, rapid technological advances, and the human passion for creating new experiences, it’s safe to say the Metaverse is almost here.
Mackinnon’s fascination with the future saw him team up with world-renowned futurist Sarah Owen. Together, through their foresight company, SOON Future Studies, they have recently published their first report citing the Metaverse as the unsurprising, standout star.
Following this, SOON, interviewed one of the founding godfathers of the Metaverse, Matthew Ball, Managing Partner of EpyllionCo who states:
“Thinking about the Metaverse in annual increments isn’t practical. It has been maturing for years and will mature for years. In 2024, we should expect more leisure in virtual worlds, more labour in virtual worlds, a larger virtual economy, more realistic virtual simulations, and greater connectivity to the ‘real world.”
Property Marketing and the Seismic Augmented Reality Economy
So as Mackinnon says, with a space being created that is going to absorb so much of our time, the Metaverse is touted as the next internet, and when you consider that PwC is predicting that the virtual and augmented reality economy will grow from US $46.4 billion in 2019 to US $1.5 trillion by 2030 it’s easily possible.
Of course, all of this begs the question, how will this affect property developers? In many ways that is for sure, but for starters, dream homes will soon not only exist in detailed developments but also dream urban locations – and we all know what they say about location.
The possibilities are only limited by our imaginations. So start dreaming, let’s take your architectural visualisation into the Metaverse.
