Industrial Design & the Metaverse
It all started with a video game
In the fall of 2004, Blizzard Entertainment released World of Warcraft, the first successful massive multiplayer online (MMO) platform..
Gamers from around the world could connect, communicate, collaborate, and compete online in real time. It was mankind’s first step into the metaverse. And as WoW players know, it was freaking awesome.
For this discussion, we brought in our buddy Scott Stevens of Pop Design in Detroit. Scott is a fellow designer who graduated from CSS with our studio’s lead designer, Ray Mattison.
What is the metaverse?
The metaverse is essentially a virtual reality; a place where people can gather online in real time.
But the metaverse as it exists now is quickly evolving into something much more immersive, accessible, and lucrative.
There are a few tech innovations specifically that kicked the metaverse into the next gear. Things like VR goggles, faster internet speeds, and blockchain tech are making the metaverse more and more like reality (but for now, a lamer version of reality. For proof, check out this journalist’s 24 hour foray into the metaverse as it exists today).
“There should be some level of escapism,” Scott says of the metaverse. “There’s something about them pitching it as a digital world that makes it unattractive to me as a gamer.” But he also concedes that this digital world could have some powerful real-world applications. “For education,” Scott says, “it could present some really cool opportunities.” In the metaverse, for example, highschoolers could take a virtual tour of the Louvre without ever setting foot in France.
The most interesting development in the metaverse is that metaproducts can now be made finite through blockchain and NFTs. Object scarcity means that virtual commodities can be valued like real-world commodities. In the metaverse, people will pay a premium for virtual concert tickets, brand-name clothes for avatars, or virtual real estate.
Designers: pay attention.
What does the metaverse mean for design?
“I’m hesitant about the metaverse now with product design. But the metaverse of the future…” Scott trails off, but we know what he’s thinking.
First of all, designers will be hired to help build a more beautiful, true-to-life metaverse. “They hired designers to increase the believability of video games,” Scott says, “The goal is to make things that seem real.”
Tina Mattison, our studio’s president, weighs in on another implication: “We’re already creating realistic digital renderings. Now we can sell digital products on top of that.” With blockchain technology, demand for virtual products will increase, so there is opportunity for designers to create products solely for a virtual market.
Design in the metaverse can also improve design in the real world. For large-scale products like airplanes, for example, designing in the metaverse could mean collaborating in real-time inside a virtual model of the airplane interior. Instead of spending money and time building or printing a 3D model or prototype, the testing, revising, and iterating of parts could happen in a matter of seconds.
The future metaverse will probably include all the things we super-nerds have dreamed of for years: power gloves, light-weight goggles, and haptic suits. Though, Scott admits with a laugh, “I would feel ridiculous putting it on.”
How can designers utilize the metaverse today?
Integrate VR technology
Though the technology still leaves much to be desired, there are ways it can be utilized in the design process, especially if the process involves long-distance collaboration.
Design for digital access.
We can stay ahead of the curve by designing products that exist either solely in the metaverse, or that help improve user experience. You could even design the next virtual Travis Scott concert.
In the metaverse, the possibilities are endless.
Excited about design and the metaverse?
Shoutout to us on LinkedIn or our Facebook page. For more information or inspiration, you can read our blog, check out our design process, or contact us directly. Check out our buddy Scott Stevens at Pop Design.