The rise of the Metaverse has captured the imagination of people all over the world. With its ability to transport us to virtual worlds and provide immersive online experiences, it’s no wonder this phenomenon has gained widespread popularity. Technological advancements have been a driving force behind this trend, along with a growing interest from consumers who are seeking more dynamic forms of entertainment.
RT-RK was one of the pioneers in exploring metaverse from the perspective of digital television, with a focus on enhancing the user experience through interactive ways of providing additional information in line with the broadcast theme.
Watching TV in the metaverse means enjoying television content within a virtual environment instead of a traditional screen. In the metaverse, users can engage with the virtual environment, other users, and the content itself, resulting in a more interactive and immersive viewing experience.
Recently, our team has been dedicated to designing and implementing a new experience including a virtual space within the metaverse, the “Kids’ Room,” which offers an exciting and interactive experience for children. It provides a platform for kids to engage with toys while watching their favorite cartoon shows. This unique space is designed to combine entertainment and play, while also promoting physical engagement by allowing children to walk around and practice their motor skills.
The aim of the design is to provide a playful and engaging environment that is not only entertaining but also educational. Within the room, a variety of toys are available that serve as portals to different cartoon shows that can be watched. This interactive approach encourages children to explore and learn while enjoying their favorite programs.
Children can easily access their favorite cartoon shows by selecting one of the toys in the room. Each toy is linked to a specific show, which is displayed in the room’s frame decorations. The episodes are presented as images or illustrations, along with a brief summary or description to help children choose the one they want to watch. By simply pointing to the desired episode, the child can begin watching and be transported into the world of their favorite cartoon. Our aim is to provide a secure and immersive environment that fosters exploration, play, and learning. The kids’ room in the metaverse is a cutting-edge solution that blends advanced technology with the timeless joys of storytelling and play.
Designing user experience for TV application in metaverse involves several challenges that need to be taken into consideration:
- Navigation: It’s important to create an intuitive navigation system that allows users to easily switch between different virtual environments and experiences.
- Scalability: The design should be scalable to accommodate a large number of users, content, and environments.
- Interactivity: It’s essential to design for interactivity and engagement, allowing users to interact with each other and the virtual environment in real-time.
- Immersiveness: The overall immersive experience can be enhanced by considering factors such as virtual camera angles, lighting, and sound.
- Accessibility: The application should be accessible to users with disabilities and should be able to be used with various input devices such as VR headsets, game controllers, and touch screens.
- Performance: Ensuring the application performs well even in low-bandwidth environments is important, and it shouldn’t experience lag or other technical issues that could detract from the user experience.
- User Safety: It’s important to design for user safety, including considering issues such as cyberbullying and the need for robust moderation systems.
Another application developed by our team is a sports room in the metaverse, created exclusively for the ultimate NBA experience. This virtual space offers a comprehensive and interactive way to enjoy live NBA games. The sports room provides real-time access to game statistics and player information, allowing users to stay up-to-date with what’s happening on the court. With the ability to watch multiple games simultaneously, users can easily switch between games at any time. This feature adds flexibility to the viewing experience and allows users to follow their favorite teams and players without missing any of the action. The sports room is designed to create an immersive and engaging environment that brings fans closer to the game than ever before.
The sports room boasts an exceptional feature – an interactive board that displays real-time updates of the current players and their positions on the court. As the players’ actions unfold on the court, the board updates accordingly, providing users with an immersive and engaging experience that mimics the feeling of being present in an actual arena.
Furthermore, during intermissions between games, users can enjoy a quick game of basketball on the small court located within the room. This feature serves as a fun and interactive way for users to take a break from the intense action and interact with fellow users in the room.
Overall, our sports room in the metaverse is a highly immersive and comprehensive environment that offers users an unparalleled NBA experience.
With real-time game statistics, an interactive board displaying player positions, and the ability to watch multiple games at once, our virtual basketball court provides a unique and engaging way for users to enjoy the sport. Our range of features enhances interactivity and engagement, making the experience even more exciting.
Designing a metaverse experience demands a specialized mix of technical and creative skills that encompass texturing, modeling, lighting, render optimization, materials, and shaders.
Texturing, in particular, is a crucial component of virtual world design and necessitates a firm grasp of tools such as Adobe Photoshop or Substance Painter. The designer must be adept at creating textures that are both photorealistic and aesthetically pleasing, as well as understanding how materials interact with light and shadows.
Modeling is another critical component in metaverse experience design that entails creating 3D objects, characters, and environments. A designer should have a strong grasp of 3D modeling software such as Autodesk Maya or Blender and the capability to produce intricate models with exceptional detail.
Lighting is a fundamental element that plays a critical role in creating a captivating and immersive virtual world. Without proper lighting, the virtual environment can look flat, lifeless, and unrealistic. In contrast, skillful use of lighting can add depth, texture, and mood, creating a more realistic and believable setting. Therefore, to design an exceptional virtual world, the designer must have a strong understanding of lighting techniques and how to use them effectively to create shadows, reflections, and other lighting effects that enhance the overall experience for users.
To create a convincing and believable virtual world, designers must also master the use of materials and shaders. They must understand how to create and apply materials that react to light and interact realistically with the environment. Additionally, render optimization is an essential skill to ensure that the virtual world runs smoothly and efficiently on a range of hardware, including lower-end systems.
The designer must possess a comprehensive understanding of optimization techniques, such as the use of shaders, level of detail (LOD) systems, and other performance optimization techniques.
All in all, watching TV in a metaverse offers a more engaging and immersive experience than traditional television viewing and has the potential to revolutionize the way we consume and interact with media.
Designers must balance technical requirements with creative vision to create an engaging and immersive virtual world. The position that was once held exclusively by CGI artists and 3D modelers has now expanded to encompass the user experience beyond the 2D world of user interface design. To keep up with current trends and continue evolving their skills, engineers must increase their technical proficiency and develop a forward-thinking mindset.
At RT-RK, we pride ourselves on having user experience designers who are constantly pushing the boundaries of their craft. Fueled by their passion and drive, they persistently pursue new challenges and growth opportunities, always striving to stay ahead of the curve. Our designers are not just highly skilled professionals, but also visionary pioneers who are shaping the future of design.
