From block-chain integration to NFTs, the metaverse buzz has truly hit the mainstream and the interior design industry has received the speculation treatment. With the metaverse being the ultimate hype in the current tech landscape, design professionals might be wondering what their roll could be in the not so far future.
With the metaverse’s shared 3D virtual space, users are creating, collaborating, and sharing their vision of the future. A tomorrow uninhibited by the constraints of the physical world. These digital architects are laying the building blocks for what could be the biggest revolution in design.
With any design-led industry, the biggest hurdle is often managing expectations and building trust. Traditionally, clients have had to trust designers, working from mood boards, drawings and 3D renders. The metaverse is here to shake things up with the ability to create a scale model of a space that clients can discover and interact with, using the ever-expanding capabilities of VR. This mainstream adoption has transformed the world of VR from a niche that only the hardcore techies would adopt, to day-to-day normies jumping in to their first visit to the metaverse experience.
With Facebook’s expansions into the VR space with their purchase of Oculus and with costs dropping daily, the widespread integration of VR seems imminent. As we transition more to a digital world it will be up to designers to make these pixels beautiful and to help lay the building blocks of a new and exciting world without limitations.
The question on many design professionals’ minds is whether this a passing fad or is it worth jumping into the metaverse?
The integration between metaverses, architecture and design has evolved and is gaining mainstream attention as a new artform and future investment. Leverage digital architecture with NFTs and you’ve got yourself firmly planted in the $500 000 000 digital real estate industry.
Republic Realm paid a record $4.3 million for land in the largest metaverse real estate platform, Sandbox. The company is developing 100 islands, called Fantasy Islands, with their own villas and a related market of boats and jet skis. Ninety of the islands sold on the first day for $15,000 each and some are now listed for resale for more than $100,000.
With this amount of money being spent for virtual land, the possibilities of the virtual buildings and spaces seem endless and the industry is a virtual goldmine for those brave enough to venture into the ever expanding metaverse.
While we won’t be dropping our brick and mortar construction projects for pixels just yet, it’s these early days that will define the future market and industry thought leaders and we’re sitting with baited breath to see how designers will rise to this new challenge.