METAVERSE ARCHITECTURE : PLACE-MAKING IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

The Internet technology, designed primarily as a communication tool, has gradually changed our life styles to the point where it becomes an extension of our physical reality. This is reflected in the Internet world statistics where today, Asia is considered as the biggest continent of Internet users, boasting a total number of 578.5 millions of users among the 1463.6 millions of Internet users worldwide2. This sets an example of the supremacy of the Internet technology in the years to come. One of the selling points of the Internet is the interaction offered to the online community, exemplified by softwares such as Microsoft Messenger, Skype and Facebook. These facilities allow people to talk to each other without the need to be physically in the same location. New projects such as the virtual world, a three dimensional experiential environment was developed to improve interaction where one can immerse in a 3D realistic context. Examples are Activeworlds (1997), Second Life (2003), and Lively (2008).