Immersive virtual experiences in the metaverse

The metaverse is coming of age, providing users endless opportunities to explore, create, and connect. As technologies like Web3, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and high-speed internet advance, our virtual experiences will become more interactive and engaging. Metaverse experiences allow users to connect and socialize in 3D virtual environments, creating heightened levels of immersion. The best way to experience the metaverse is by engaging with users, attending virtual events, creating content, and exploring the expanse of virtual worlds. If you’re new to exploring the metaverse, this blog will help you understand metaverse experiences and how best to enjoy them.

What is a metaverse experience?

The metaverse is a three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment where individuals can come together to socialize, work and play. The metaverse's focal point is the experiences available to engage with, ranging from games, concerts, art shows, and virtual walkthroughs.

Audiences can experience these virtual activations through life-like spatial dimensions, distances, and objects with the metaverse’s high-quality graphics. Technologies like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and blockchain support making these experiences engaging and immersive for audiences. Unlike Web2, people in the metaverse can represent themselves as 3D avatars to interact with each other. As a result, users can customize their avatars with life-like features and gestures that improve their experience.

For example, Walmart, the American retailer, has marked a strong presence in the Roblox metaverse with their two main digital experiences, Walmart Land and Universe of Play. Users can join these virtual worlds to participate in live events, play games and buy virtual merchandise. Some immersive experiences available include roller skating rinks and DJ booths.

What is metaverse immersive experience?

• A metaverse immersive experience is a form of entertainment that allows users to fully immerse themselves in a virtual world, often through the use of virtual reality headsets.

• It can include anything from exploring digital worlds, playing games, attending concerts, or even shopping.

• One of the key features of a metaverse immersive experience is the ability to create a unique avatar and customize it to your liking, allowing for more personalized interactions within the virtual world.

• This type of experience can also offer a sense of community and social interaction that may not be available in the physical world.

• As technology continues to evolve, the possibilities for metaverse immersive experiences are endless, and the line between real and virtual worlds may become increasingly blurred.

Specific experiences in the metaverse offer a complete immersion into a digital environment through mobile devices, browsers, sensors, and extended reality (XR) headsets, including AR, VR and mixed reality (MR). These immersive experiences will open up various possibilities for e-commerce, gaming, education, social interactions, and much more. For instance, using a VR headset and haptic bodysuit to experience a metaverse activation will allow one to interact with hyper-realistic virtual assets through multiple senses, making the experience more immersive.

Immersive experiences could consist of the following:

• 2D interfaces: These include enhanced experiences accessible on flat interfaces like smartphones and desktops through 3D, VR, and AR applications. An example of this could be virtual property tours.

• Spatial interfaces: These immersive experiences are made possible through voice assistance, motion sensors, or touch and smell. Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa are examples of spatial interfaces.

• 3D extended reality: Headsets support extended reality experiences to enhance real-world experiences or create virtual simulations. Meta’s Oculus headsets are a perfect example of this.

As technologies evolve, the extent of immersion into virtual worlds will get more advanced. For instance, a bank can transform customer service by designing an immersive process to solve customer issues through multiple devices. Companies can also sell high-ticket items like automobiles through an immersive experience where customers can view and interact with a 3D-rendered car. Organizations must prioritize use cases with the highest potential value they can bring to consumers or audiences and have the right technical capabilities to execute them.

What is the best way to experience the metaverse?

Engage with users

The metaverse is a 3D immersive space for users to interact with friends, family, and other connections and enjoy shared experiences like games, events, shopping, conferences, and collaborative work.

To capitalize on this social platform, create an avatar to represent yourself and interact with other metaverse inhabitants. You can connect with individuals with similar interests or join like-minded communities in the metaverse. You can also use the metaverse to network, collaborate, share ideas, and build solutions.

Attend virtual events

The metaverse has the infrastructure to host immersive online events like brand activations, concerts, and festivals, often including interactive elements such as quizzes and competitions. You can attend these events as avatars and interact with other attendees. Some metaverse events you can attend include:

• Virtual walk-throughs of spaces, travel locations, and properties.

• Immersive workshops that provide educational and skill-building experiences.

• Fashion shows that showcase virtual clothing lines, like Decentraland’s Metaverse Fashion Week.

• Brand activations that allow you to experience and interact with a product or service virtually

Explore virtual worlds

The metaverse spans multiple platforms, from The Sandbox, Decetraland, to Roblox. Each platform offers a different experience to users:

• The Sandbox: This Ethereum-based metaverse platform allows users to create, share and monetize their gaming experience through their play-to-earn model. Users can develop NFTs, connect with other members, and earn rewards through community participation. The gaming experience offered by The Sandbox is much more intuitive and user-friendly than other platforms.

• Decentraland: This virtual world also runs on the Ethereum blockchain, allowing users to buy, sell, and build on virtual land. Decentraland gears its experiences towards developing virtual land and monetizing it. Compared to other metaverse platforms, Decentraland allows users to have a say in building and administering the virtual world through its decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

• Roblox: A leading game development platform where individuals can create and play a vast library of user-generated games covering several genres, activities, and experiences. Users can also create and sell digital items like avatar apparel and accessories. Roblox is a centralized metaverse, compared to The Sandbox and Decentraland. The platform attracts younger audiences, with a third of its users under 16.

Use VR headsets

You can completely immerse yourself into a virtual world using virtual reality (VR) headsets and other hardware. These headsets can improve your metaverse experience by enhancing 3D objects and avatars. They have built-in sensors and hand-held controls that help visually represent your movements and interactions in a virtual world. The type of headset you choose will depend on the console you use to access the metaverse. Headsets like the MetaQuest 2, Sony PlayStation VR, and HP Reverb G2 are popular for metaverse experiences.

However, VR headsets are only sometimes necessary, and several platforms like Decentraland or The Sandbox allow you to access their network through a browser on your smartphone or PC.

Create content

Co-creation and user-generated content (UGC) drive metaverse platforms. You can start creating content to express yourself, showcase your skills, and join the metaverse community. This content could include designing digital assets like virtual wearables as NFTs, developing virtual land by building on top of it or building games in the metaverse. Each metaverse platform has its own tools to help you create content. For instance, The Sandbox provides its proprietary Voxel Editor and Game Maker tools, while Decentraland provides its Software Development Kit (SDK) to users.

Best metaverse experiences

Innovation and technological sophistication are opening up new possibilities for experiences in the metaverse. Here are some of the best metaverse experiences:

Virtual concerts: Virtual concerts in the metaverse are much more immersive and interactive than real ones. Users can connect with friends globally to attend these concerts digitally. In 2020, Travis Scott held his show on Fortnite with elaborate visuals and psychedelic effects, something only possible in virtual reality. Marshmello’s Fortnite concert used the metaverse to create a music experience inviting audiences to participate in interactive games, attracting over 10 million people globally.

Virtual scavenger hunts: Users can join friends in virtual scavenger hunts in the metaverse to solve clues, search for items, and compete by tracking points and progress. Deadmau5’s metaverse music company, Pixelynx, used the metaverse to organize an NFT scavenger hunt. The hunt, powered by augmented reality (AR), allowed users to view their surroundings through their smartphone to interact with music-themed elements and collect fractionalized pieces of an NFT.

Digital art galleries: The metaverse is a fantastic platform to view, interact with and buy digital art from anywhere in the world. You can visit art galleries of famous artists worldwide and purchase artworks as NFTs, for which ownership is digitally certified and recorded. As a part of Decentraland’s Art Week, Frida Kahlo’s family celebrated the artist's rare pieces by showcasing them through the ‘Frida Kahlo Family Red House’ in the metaverse.

Virtual conferences and workshops: The metaverse hosts immersive spaces for any conference or workshop, from outdoor amphitheaters to event halls. These events are a great way to connect with colleagues, experts, and industry practitioners when meeting at a physical location is challenging. These stimulating environments even help people build richer memories of the event and the connections they make. Meta (formerly Facebook) leveraged the metaverse to create virtual meeting spaces called Meta Horizon Workrooms, while Microsoft also launched Microsoft Mesh for virtual working.

Online metaverse communities: Several online communities dedicated to the metaverse and Web3 exist on channels like Discord, Telegram, and LinkedIn. You can join these communities to discuss the latest trends and developments in the industry with like-minded individuals. While some communities are free to join, some are token-gated. JUMP, a Discord community, has over 700 members and has discussions focused on NFTs, the metaverse, and tokenomics. Conversely, Club CPG is a Telegram group that requires individuals to have an NFT pass to join the select group of influential members in the Web3 community.

Conclusion

The metaverse is changing how we interact with each other and engage with experiences. Individuals can come together to socialize, work and play in the metaverse’s three-dimensional virtual environment. This virtual world can host immersive virtual concerts, art galleries, scavenger hunts, events, and workshops - bringing together communities across the globe. Users must learn how to use this evolving platform to have the best possible experiences, connect with people and become a part of a growing metaverse community.

Are you looking to build an immersive metaverse experience? We can help you engage with your community by developing, scaling, and monetizing your experience in the metaverse. Get in touch with us!