These Architects are Building the Metaverse

Narrator - Fred Mills
Producer - Jaden Urbi
Video Editing and Graphics - Jim Casey
Executive Producers - Fred Mills and Graham MacAree

Special thanks to Patrik Schumacher and Patrick Vogel. Additional footage and images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects, Gathr Virtual Studios, Shift/Space, The Sandbox, Decentraland, Everyrealm, Sony/Manchester City Football Club, Epic Games/Unreal Engine, Meta, Mytaverse, 51World, Bluebeam, Autodesk, UNStudio, TODAY, ABC News and NBC News.

#construction​ #architecture​ #metaverse

Ripping and/or editing this video is illegal and will result in legal action.

© 2022 The B1M Limited

[Samuel_J]

At first I thought the idea is ridiculous and pointless. With a bit of thought, though, I think real-world architects building for the Metaverse is perfectly fine, and even a great idea. Like you said, they get to try out designs that could never work in reality without some significant leaps in technology, if at all.
On the idea of the Metaverse as a whole (advertising included) how many millions of people play immersive computer games and meet up in them with their friends? Advertising has been included in games for as long as I've been playing them (the WipEout franchise comes to mind, advertising Kappa and other sponsors). How many millions of people watch eSport tournaments? That's not all that different to watching virtual Man City play a virtual game. I spend real money on virtual assets in games every so often, so if a big architect practice like ZHA was to design a bespoke building that was ground-breaking, I can see people wanting the prestige of owning that.

The one thing I have against the Metaverse, is if things that happen within it start to affect peoples' lives in the real world.

[saltwotter]

The problem that I see with the conclusion is that all these things, architects building virtual spaces, modeling cities to analyze traffic, etc. is already possible without the notion of a "metaverse." What a supposed metaverse does, at least in relation to crypto and the blockchain, is introduce scarcity. And it raises the question for me, what benefit is there to a meta object other than a status symbol? Right now, I buy digital assets to be used in games that I play. But what use is there for me buying a house in a supposed metaverse? Status? The feeling that I own something someone else doesn't? To me, it just seems like speculation, all the way down.

[screwdriver]

So basically while the game environment artist were busy creating rich and immersive worlds that keep players engaged for hours, the real-world architects decided that partnering with crypto-bros for big money and cheap-lookign voxel graphics was a good idea.
Let's be honest, any building in Withcer 3 looks better than this metaverse-crap designed by "real" architects. And if they really wanted to show what's possible to create without real-world constraints then they could ask some game or film studious to collaborate 🤷‍♂️

[MyLittleMagneton]

Engineer here, they're definitely taking it seriously, I've gotten two Job offers from new Meta-studios the past month...

[unvergebeneid]

All of this happened already, where corporations spent a lot of money to secure virtual plots of land to advertise virtual sneakers. Only back then it was called Second Life and nobody even remembers it.

[stavrosspanidis]

This gives me cyberpunk vibes, where everyone's living an extremely poor, stacked in cramped cities, while going online with a VR headset to "live their life". Definitely not a fan of the whole metaverse idea.
Great video though as always!

[geoms]

I think it would be pretty cool if everyone just refuses to use it until Facebook agrees not to collect the data of metaverse users

[darklightlegacyxx]

I'm fine with a metaverse idea, I just feel it's being done by the wrong people. People who are only interested in making money from it. If it were done by a collection of video game studios then I'd have a bit more faith, as at least I know they know how to do this kinda thing (MMO kinda thing)

[piraterubberduck]

Selling digital models I understand, digital land being treated like real land is ridiculous. I would put my money on this being a flop, just like the previous attempts to do the same thing.

[higate_col]

Mixed reality spaces will open up interesting opportunities for architecture and game design to meet. However, it will not likely be a form that emulates what we would see in the physical world. Structures in a digital world don't need to account for physics, human mobility, utilities, weathering, soundproofing, etc and would have different drivers of their design.

Also the idea that infinite digital land being sold as a finite commodity is idiotic

[MastaPFav]

My biggest frustration with the metaverse is that there is so much money going around and yet the asset models for the metaverse look like a late 90s early 2000s playstation or nintendo game because of the low polygon count. Digital world spaces like Second Life have had better graphics. Unless the metaverse is trying to make this a deliberate stylized space, I don't see why this is alluring.

[SequoiaElisabeth]

Having been a part of SecondLife for 20 yrs, I see this as nothing new. Frankly I am a bit tired of it and feel like I have taken it as far as I can. There is great potential in the virtual world for expanding the imagination and for testing ideas. It is a great learning ground. At some point though people will tire of it.

[diogosens]

I understand the technical prowess in making these super curved ultra-futuristic design building projects, but for me they always have the look and feel of a dystopian autocracy where everyone is super polite and smiles every time in order to cope with their internal scream they are not allowed to utter. I think it is quite fitting for what metaverse seemingly is turning out to be.

[AGIRobotics]

This is not just for gaming. You can recreate real world buildings in the metaverse. For example, you could recreate Peking University in the metaverse. Professors and students could meet in the VR classrooms and hold classes virtually. Students could go into the VR library and read e-books virtually. Students could sit in the hallways and have conversations with each other. It would be the same as attending a real university, except the tuition fees would be 100x cheaper.

[gentleshark]

Its essentially VRchat with money, and I´m confused at what direction it could possibly go...

[averagezing]

Is minecraft not the embodiment of "architecture in a metaverse", just without the hype, money, and architecture firms? I'm an aspiring architect, and I've been working on designs through Minecraft for years, with other people joining and experiencing the design in real time.

[ross]

Let's be CREATIVE! If Metaverse architecture just looks like futuristic versions of real-world architecture, I'm going to lose my mind. This should be an opportunity to do things that are completely impossible in our real world. Things can float; buildings can be 10x larger on the inside than the outside, etc.

[AGIRobotics]

So far all the metaverse games I have seen take place on Earth. What about space? I would love to live in the USS Voyager. Buy a quarters with a view of outer space. Customize your personal quarters with posters, trophies, and statues. Sit on the bridge. Play games in the holodeck. Talk with friends in the bar. Explore the warp core.

Instead of selling the game itself, they could sell rooms inside the ship. You pay $10 for an enlisted room. $20 for an officers room. $60 for a captain's room. Decorate the room. You could also invite friends to hang out in your room or hang out in their room. Just like selling cruise ship rooms.

[ravenfeeder]

Augmented Reality has the possibility to transform things. VR is a useful modelling tool, but the Metaverse is mostly just a gimmick. Like the Ponzi scheme that is crypto, the Metaverse may develop a momentum of its own with enough marketing from the likes of Zuck, but it remains a solution looking for a problem. The problem with AR is it's so much harder than VR as it has to interact with the messiness of the real world.

[markus.kaufmann]

What's in it for me to drink a beer, eat a hot dog, or attend a concert in virtual reality? It doesn't get me drunk, nor does it fill me up, and it certainly can't convey the feeling of a real concert. If I find myself there on a sea beach on a warm summer day while in reality i'am sitting in my cold apartment, I will still freeze.
There are so many more important things (I'm just thinking of everything in the field of education as an example) that would really move humanity forward.
This is just a gigantic attempt by big business to get even more control (and money) - and at the same time you are subjected to the political leanings of the corporations and at the mercy of them, and applaud them at the same time.
That's not progress. This is a worldwide attempt to get into control of people's opinions, views and attitudes.