3D Virtual worlds and the metaverse: Current status and future possibilities
Open accessAbstract
Moving from a set of independent virtual worlds to an integrated network of 3D virtual worlds or Metaverse rests on progress in four areas: immersive realism, ubiquity of access and identity, interoperability, and scalability. For each area, the current status and needed developments in order to achieve a functional Metaverse are described. Factors that support the formation of a viable Metaverse, such as institutional and popular interest and ongoing improvements in hardware performance, and factors that constrain the achievement of this goal, including limits in computational methods and unrealized collaboration among virtual world stakeholders and developers, are also considered.
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The view that XR use cases are synonymous with the metaverse concept itself is reductionist and does not capture the essence of a metaverse as a fully immersive 3D environment accessible through both VR and AR.
“We argue that such a view is reductionist and does not capture the essence of a metaverse as a fully immersive three-dimensional environment that can be accessed through both VR and AR (Dionisio et al., 2013).”
From Metaverse beyond the hype: Multidisciplinary perspectives on emerging challenges, opportunities, and agenda for research, practice and policy (2022) · cites this paper as Dionisio et al., 2013
Cites
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Mediated social touch: a review of current research and future directions
Haans, A., & IJsselsteijn, W. (2006) · Virtual Reality · doi:10.1007/s10055-005-0014-2 · Cited by 303 · see citing works
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Dwivedi, Y. K., Hughes, L., Baabdullah, A. M., Ribeiro-Navarrete, S., Giannakis, M., Al-Debei, M. M., Dennehy, D., Metri, B., Buhalis, D., Cheung, C. M. K., et al. (2022) · International Journal of Information Management · doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2022.102542 · Cited by 2,753 · see citing works
Sun, Z., Zhu, M., Shan, X., & Lee, C. (2022) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-022-32745-8 · Cited by 532 · see citing works
Will Metaverse Be NextG Internet? Vision, Hype, and Reality
Cheng, R., Wu, N., Chen, S., & Han, B. (2022) · IEEE Network · doi:10.1109/mnet.117.2200055 · Cited by 280 · see citing works
“A narrow definition of Metaverse is thus a universal virtual world focusing on social interaction, which connects multiple 3D virtual environments via the Internet ( i.e., a network of virtual worlds [2]).”
InfluentialAnatomy in the metaverse: Exploring student technology acceptance through the UTAUT2 model
Kalınkara, Y., & Özdemir, O. (2024) · Anatomical Sciences Education · doi:10.1002/ase.2353 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
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Examining the Use of Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) as a Trading Mechanism for the Metaverse
Yilmaz, M., Hacaloğlu, T., & Clarke, P. (2022) · Communications in Computer and Information Science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-15559-8_2 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Girondini, M., Stefanova, M., Pillan, M., & Gallace, A. (2023) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2023.103106 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Martellozzo, E., Bradbury, P., Farr, R., & Davidson, J. (2026) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009620161 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Fu, J., Grierson, M., Jiang, R., Fu, S., He, M., & Xu, M. (2025) · Frontiers in Computer Science · doi:10.3389/fcomp.2025.1591289 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Dionisio, J. D. N., III, W. G. B., & Gilbert, R.
- Affiliations
- Loyola Marymount University (US)
- Object Interoperability Lead for IEEE Virtual World Standard Group
- Venue
- ACM Computing Surveys
- Published
- 2013-06
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1-38
- ISSN
- 0360-0300 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-7341
- OpenAlex
- W2166821106
- Cited by
- 1,151
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 106 · 2025: 202 · 2024: 228 · 2023: 331 · 2022: 207 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 15.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- ACM Computing Surveys (publishedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Control and Systems Engineering › Simulation and Modeling Applications
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design › Computer Graphics and Visualization Techniques
- Keywords
- 3D virtual worlds, metaverse, interoperability, scalability, virtual identity, ubiquitous access
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