How Will the Metaverse Change the World of Web Design

Digitisation is hardly a new concept, but it’s one that continues to take hold across the world. From the rise of remote and hybrid working to the conversion of analog data sources into digital files, we’re seeing significant changes in every area of our lives.

More recently, this technological evolution has also been elevated to a whole new level, particularly with the development of interconnected worlds like the so-called “metaverse”.

This describes a virtual and immersive realm in which users can interact and communicate through online avatars, while there’s also scope to enjoy a range of past-times such as gambling, socialising and even purchasing and monetising real estate.

But how will the metaverse impact the worlds of web design and commerce, and what should developers be aware of as this innovation continues to take hold?

Web Design and the Metaverse - What Will Change?

Whenever you’re in need of web design in Leeds or a similar location, you can rest assured that most will offer a similar array of services to its clients.

However, this range of services and skills is likely to evolve markedly as the concept of the metaverse becomes a reality, particularly when you consider how this is likely to impact on the worlds of business and commerce.

Certainly, the metaverse will trigger a shift in how businesses communicate with one another and their customers, with web design being a major facilitator for this change online.

More specifically, we’ll see a marked shift when the Internet eventually upgrades to the so-called “Web 3.0” model based on the Metaverse. This will simultaneously alter the rules of web development and online interaction forever, impacting every app and site located on the web.

But how will such changes manifest themselves? Well, it will help to enhance and adapt existing digital products rather than make them obsolete, ensuring that users can access more engaging and immersive platforms that allow for far greater capabilities.

As the metaverse will enable users to experience a full virtual world in all of its three dimensional glory, developers will initially have to switch to advanced tools like WebVR, Web GL and WebAR, in order to build more complex and interactive spaces that are both functional and engaging in equal measure.

The main purpose of these platforms will be to integrate virtual and augmented realities into a website’s core design, while developers will also have to find ways of blending such technology seamlessly with 3D functionality.

VR and AR are central to the premise of the metaverse, particularly in terms of driving engagement and creating accessible 3D realms in which users can interact. The quality of execution here will certainly help to distinguish the best individual metaverses from inferior alternatives, from company-centric realms to blockchain based entities such as Decentraland.

The Metaverse and Changing Business Websites

We’ve already touched on how the metaverse will change the interaction between businesses and their consumers, by enabling users to interact with virtual items and avatars in the same way as they would in the corporeal world.

For example, businesses could leverage the metaverse and upgraded web design protocols to present products virtually and in a way that they can be touched and sampled, eschewing the need for standard product presentations in the process.

This is because VR and AR technologies can be utilised to create accurate 360-degree views of products and objects through the screen. While some will argue that this is already possible through existing technologies, the user’s view is typically restricted by the dimensions of their device’s displays.

This will include existing websites and platforms that have been created specifically for the metaverse, which will combine to create a rich and diverse virtual landscape in which the same technologies are used to create fully immersive experiences.

The Bottom Line

The first challenge for web developers is to embrace this change, while reimagining and redesigning their tech stacks to create more interactive interfaces that incorporate 3D technologies.

There will be an element of experimentation in the short-term too here, especially as web developers near you look to work more closely with businesses and create new interfaces in the age of the metaverse.

The transition from traditional to updated development platforms will also be challenging for web design firms, although those that are proactive in their approach and take time to understand the metaverse revolution will navigate such hurdles better than others.

This is an important consideration, particularly with the metaverse and its underlying technology likely to impact on every market and industry in the future.