Metaverse Application Development: 5 Key Technologies to Use
A year ago, Facebook announced its rebranding strategy. The company changed its name to Meta and set a course for metaverse development. At that time, such a statement sparked a lot of dubious comments. Skeptics assumed it was an attempt to change the subject from a leaked document trove rather than step up into the new era of digitization.
We will never know Zuckerberg's motives for making that announcement. But we know for sure that metaverse development is now gaining momentum. The idea of creating an alternative reality attracts more and more investment. Now, metaverse projects bring significant income, and by 2030, their revenue should grow exponentially.
If you are looking for a promising niche to start a business, metaverse development is the one. Continue reading this post to learn more about metaverse essentials and discover technologies to use in the metaverse project.
What is metaverse, and how does it work?
The metaverse was first described in Neal Stephenson's science fiction novel Snow Crash. Then there were The Matrix, Ready Player One, Free Guy, and many other movies and books based on the idea of an alternative reality. In this reality, people do not just consume information but live inside it. They study, work, travel, cook, eat, fall in love, buy property, and do many other usual things.
Unlike a video game, the metaverse never stops. It cannot be paused, deleted, or terminated. There is no limit to the number of people who inhabit the metaverse. All events occur in real time there, and actions do not depend on external factors.
All of the above may seem too fantastic even for a modern user. However, metaverse technologies are gradually becoming a part of our everyday life. For example, the Ariana Grande concert in Fortnite or the Gucci installation in Roblox are the events of our days.
How do such projects work? The merging of real and unreal worlds creates a sense of reality, allowing users to experience the same feelings they have in real life. Interacting through digital representations of themselves - avatars - people mimic their usual behavior and live real life in virtual space.
Five technologies to take your metaverse global
Alternate reality
The metaverse exists in an alternate space based on virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR). VR completely replaces users' reality, while AR supplements it with specific graphic elements. Depending on the project tasks and VR devices, metaverse developers use specific technologies to create an advanced alternative world. The choice of programming language plays an important role here as it determines the speed of development and the project flexibility. At the moment, the most popular languages for VR apps are C, C#, Java, JavaScript, and Python. If you want to develop a game app, you should also use a gaming engine such as Unity, Unreal Engine, or Anvil.
3D modeling and animation
In addition to programming languages, graphics and animation are of great importance in metaverse programming. To create a sense of reality, it is necessary to work out every detail. The better the virtual elements are created, the smoother the user experience is in the metaverse space.
So, before you start the project, make sure your team is supplemented with skilled designers, illustrators, and animators who can work in Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Nuke, Maya, and more.
Distributed computing
What users see in the alternate space is just the tip of the iceberg. All the logic and principle of operation are embedded in the metaverse backend. It is clear that for the functioning of the virtual world, huge computing resources are needed. Such resources are much greater than the resources for a regular app, even if it is designed for corporate purposes.
To achieve a smooth system operation, software development companies turn to innovative solutions that can cope with the superior demands of metaverse projects. Given this, blockchain becomes a win-win technology for metaverse, as it allows for the distribution of computations among many nodes, thus providing better security and faster system work.
In addition, the blockchain creates a welcoming environment to create NFT in the metaverse spaces. Just imagine the possibility that your digital avatar could release a single and sell it for huge money on the NFT marketplace. That future is approaching.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning
AI and ML have become an integral part of our everyday life and, in the metaverse, their role will be difficult to overestimate. Imagine, for example, the situation when a user enters a virtual space for the first time. An AI-based guide could help them navigate and explain how everything works there. Additionally, AI can enrich other non-player characters in the metaverse, making them smarter, wittier, and more human-like.
AI/ML also plays a crucial role in establishing security. Smart algorithms analyzing users' behavior can detect malicious intents in a timely manner, and manage alarms if something goes wrong. They can also take some actions themselves, such as blocking some features for suspicious customers.
To create an AI-based metaverse, you need skilled developers with deep expertise in Java, Python, Scala, special deep learning platforms like TensorFlow, H2O.ai, or PyTorch, and libraries like Armadillo, FANN, or Keras. It is better to hire developers with proven experience on similar projects to be sure your metaverse software is developed under high-quality standards.
5G
The main advantage of 5G compared to previous generations of broadband cellular network standards is the high connection speed. This plays a crucial role in metaverse development services, eliminating delays, downtimes, and slow data transfer. With 10x lower latency and 10x greater connection density, 5G opens ample opportunities for building metaverse and continuously expanding it with new worlds, infrastructure units, and characters. And considering available APIs that give developers access to 5G as a "network platform", the use of this technology becomes highly attractive from a technical point of view.
Common metaverse development use cases
Metaverse app development is a broad concept that covers projects from different industries of different levels of complexity. The typical use cases in metaverse development are:
Real estate. You can show clients the house/apartment without leaving the office.
eCommerce. You can create virtual fitting rooms or sell intangible products.
Communication. You can develop a workspace platform with people interacting through digital avatars.
Gaming. You can provide a totally new gaming experience with the effect of real presence
Education. You can teach physics or chemistry by doing experiments in virtual space. Or you can teach history or geography by showing places and events in an alternate reality.
What budget and team do you need for a metaverse app development?
Whatever area you choose, the project budget can vary from a few thousand to millions of dollars. However, you don't have to create a full-fledged product at once.
At Erbis, we always recommend starting with an MVP (a minimum viable product). By developing only a few basic features that satisfy the current customers' needs, you save money and minimize the risk of failure.
After releasing an MVP, you can evaluate product demand and decide whether it's worth extending it with advanced functionality. Thus, you can invest as your project grows, and control your budget and development flow.
Three developers may be enough to start a metaverse project. Skilled backend and frontend developers accompanied by an experienced QA engineer will launch an initial product version in a few months. Further, you can expand the team by hiring mobile developers, AI/ML experts, blockchain developers, designers, and other specialists required by your project specifics.
If you, like us, believe in the future of metaverse and want to start your development project, please contact us. We have available people, expertise, and tools to help.
