Top 5 Metaverse Platform for Digital Artists to Consider in 2024

Have you ever wondered if your digital creations could live and breathe in a world of their own? Picture this: an artist in Rome sketches a vibrant streetscape, uploads it, and moments later, a student in Tokyo strolls through it in virtual reality. The metaverse represents a commitment to a digital renaissance, where art is not limited to physical galleries or screens but thrives in an immersive universe that spans the entire world.

In 2024, the metaverse is not just a canvas; it’s a cosmos of infinite possibilities. In this article, we’ll explore the top 5 metaverse platforms that are not merely hosting digital art but are nurturing it, allowing it to evolve in ways we’ve only dreamed of. Let’s start!

Unreal Engine 5

Unreal Engine 5 is the latest iteration of the renowned real-time 3D creation metaverse platform developed by Epic Games. It is designed to empower creators across various industries to deliver advanced content, interactive experiences, and immersive virtual worlds with unprecedented freedom, fidelity, and flexibility.

Features

• Lumen: A fully dynamic global illumination and reflection system that reacts to scene and light changes.

• Nanite: A virtualized geometry system that allows artists to create as much geometric detail as the eye can see without compromising on speed.

• Virtual Shadow Maps: Provides high-resolution shadowing while maintaining the performance.

• Temporal Super Resolution (TSR): A built-in, platform-independent, high-quality upsampling system that enables the engine to render at a much lower resolution but with similar output pixel fidelity to frames rendered at a higher resolution.

• World Partition: A system that automatically divides the world into a grid and streams only the necessary cells.

• Animation Tools: UE5 introduces a new Skeletal Editor that enables artists to rig characters and edit skin weights directly within the engine without relying on external 3D modeling software. Besides, it includes updates to the Curve Editor and animation retargeting workflows.

• Modeling: A platform providing an extensive and constantly expanding built-in modeling toolset, including mesh editing, geometry scripting, UV creation and editing, baking and mesh attributes.

• MetaSounds: A high-performance system that offers complete control over audio DSP graph generation of sound sources. Besides, it lets you manage all aspects of audio rendering to drive next-generation procedural audio experiences.

Digital Artists Highlight

1. Ellie Cooper is a concept artist who has utilized Unreal Engine 5 to create immersive environments and stunning visuals for industry giants. Her work demonstrates the platform’s capabilities in rendering high-quality concept art.

2. Lorenzo Drago, an environment artist, shared his process of creating a near-photorealistic train station using Unreal Engine 5, showcasing the platform’s advanced lighting and rendering capabilities.

Unity

Unity is a powerful and versatile real-time development metaverse platform widely used for creating 2D, 3D, VR, and AR experiences. It is also celebrated for its ease of use, robust set of features, and strong community support. 

Features

• Multiplatform Support: Unity provides extensive support for over 20 different platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and various VR and AR hardware.

• Real-Time 3D Creation: Artists can create immersive and interactive 3D content with Unity’s comprehensive toolset.

• XR Development: Unity is at the forefront of XR development, offering tools for AR, VR, and more.

• Asset Store: It provides a vast collection of free and paid assets that developers can use to accelerate their projects and reduce development time. This resource-rich platform offers a wide range of assets created by the community to enhance game development workflows.

• Unity ArtEngine: It leverages AI-assisted artistry for photorealistic 3D creation. Besides, it offers features tailored for environment teams, such as texturing, photogrammetry, and photometric scanning. Additionally, it simplifies material creation tasks, making it accessible to artists of all skill levels, from indie developers to professionals working in AAA game environments.

Metaverse Artists Projects

1. Sakura Rabbit, a talented Developer and VFX Artist worked on a remarkable project using Unity in 2023. He presented an extraordinary shader that draws inspiration from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Harnessing the power of Unity, the artist created a real-time shader that imagines a Venom-style costume for Gwen Stacy in Spider-Verse.
2. Interactive Art Inspired by Old Persian Architecture is a project that involves creating interactive art inspired by old Persian architecture. In fact, the artist leveraged Unity’s capabilities to build an immersive, visually striking environment where users could interact.

Meta Horizon Worlds

Meta Horizon Worlds is a pioneering metaverse platform within the VR world that Meta developed. Besides, it is designed as a social VR space where users can create, share, and explore virtual worlds together. This platform aims to be the most collaborative in VR, bringing people’s wildest dreams to life. 

Features

• Game creation system: This system allows users to create and design their virtual worlds within the platform. Also, users can build unique environments, games and social spaces that others can explore.

• Multiplayer interaction: Players can move around and interact with each other in various virtual worlds that host events, games, and social activities. 

• Avatar customization: Users can create custom avatars with unique faces and outfits to represent themselves in the virtual world. 

• World exploration: Players start at the hub, known as the “plaza,” where they can access portals that lead to different worlds created by other users. 

• Creating Personal Spaces: Users can create their own private spaces, allowing them to design personalized and exclusive environments.

• Voice Mode: This feature allows users to jam incoming audio from strangers, providing protection against potentially harmful interactions. It enhances the security and privacy of users within the platform.

• Security features: Safe Zone, for instance, allows players to separate themselves from others and disable or block certain content or players. Thus, tese tools aim to create a safe and positive environment for users, especially teenagers, to access the platform.

Digital Artists Projects in the Metaverse

1. Ang’l Artiste is a digital artist featured in a Horizon Worlds Spotlight by Meta. They have created various immersive art experiences and interactive worlds within the Horizon Worlds platform. 

2. Several popular music artists, including BLACKPINK, Alicia Keys, and Steve Aoki, have been featured in Horizon Venues, a separate Horizon platform for virtual concerts and events.

Nvidia Omniverse

Nvidia Omniverse is a collaboration and simulation metaverse platform that is transforming creative workflows across various industries. It’s built on the foundation of Pixar’s Universal Scene Description (USD) and powered by NVIDIA RTX technology. Moreover, Omniverse enables artists, no matter how remote, to connect and work on the same project in real-time, seamlessly integrating multiple different software. Also, it delivers scalable, final-frame-quality rendering in real-time, allowing for beautiful, physically accurate visuals.

Features

• Integrated Development Environment (IDE): It is an application that serves as IDE for developers and power users to build their applications or microservices within the Omniverse ecosystem easily. 

• Omniverse DeepSearch: An AI-based search service that allows users to quickly search libraries of unlabeled 3D resources using natural language or images. 

• Omniverse Replicator: is a framework for generating physically accurate 3D synthetic data to accelerate training and improve the accuracy of perception networks. 

• Behavior and animation control: It introduces new versions such as OmniGraph, ActionGraph and AnimGraph to provide advanced behavior and animation control within the platform. 

• Omniverse Avatar: A platform that uses AI and simulation technology to enable developers to create personalized, intelligent and realistic avatars. 

• Omniverse XR: A VR-optimized configuration of the Omniverse View app, allowing users to experience full-fidelity 3D scenes with 1:1 scale RTX in VR.

• Expanded Ecosystem and Integrations: Omniverse has expanded its ecosystem 10-fold, with 82 new connections for integration with third-party applications such as Adobe Substance, Unreal Engine, Cinema 4D, and various CAD, asset library, and industrial automation tools. 

• Hydra Render Delegate: Omniverse now supports integration and toggling between preferred renderers supported by Hydra delegates, such as Chaos V-Ray, Maxon Redshift, and OTOY Octane, with more to come.

Digital Artists NVIDIA Projects

1. Dominic Harris, a London-based digital artist, has integrated AI and NVIDIA GPUs into his artworks to create interactive displays that engage viewers. His exhibition features immersive installations powered by the latest NVIDIA GPUs and features artworks such as “Endurance” and “Unseen” that use AI. So, Harris leverages NVIDIA’s technology to augment his artistic expression and create original works that connect with audiences on a deep level. 

2. Refik Anadol, a multimedia artist and filmmaker, has collaborated with the World Economic Forum and NVIDIA to create innovative AI art projects such as “Artificial Realities: Coral” and “Dataland: Rainforest“. These projects explore the intersection of art and technology using advanced AI technologies such as Stable Diffusion for image production. Thus, Anadol’s collaboration with NVIDIA demonstrates how technology can enhance artistic expression and contribute to environmental innovation through creative outcomes that raise awareness of ecological systems. 

Roblox

Roblox is an expansive metaverse platform that allows users to create, share, and monetize their games and experiences. It is also known for its massive, global audience and the ability for creators of all sizes to find success. Roblox Studio is a comprehensive set of free 3D collaborative creation tools for immediate content creation in the metaverse. It reaches millions of daily active users across 190 countries.

Features

• Game Creation: Roblox Studio is a robust tool that allows users to create their games and worlds within the platform. It offers tools and options suitable for both beginners and advanced users, allowing them to unleash their creativity and develop unique game experiences.

• Social interaction: It facilitates social interaction through features such as groups, chat rooms, friend requests, and social media-like features. Besides, users can connect with others, make friends, and engage in various activities within the platform’s community. 

• Cross-platform availability: It is accessible on multiple platforms (including Windows, macOS, Xbox, iOS, Android and Meta Quest beta). 

• VR support: Roblox offers VR experiences to users with Meta Quest 2 or Meta Quest Pro devices. Players can enjoy immersive experiences using hand controllers and head movements, enhancing their gameplay in a VR environment.

• Robux: In-game currency used on the platform for purchasing items, accessories, upgrades, and even access to entire games within the Roblox ecosystem. 

• Parental Controls: It allows the management of gameplay activities for children under 18 years old. These controls also include pin systems and login options to ensure a safe and secure gaming environment for younger players. 

• User-Generated Content: It is one of the core features. Players can explore millions of user-created games, worlds, and experiences within the platform, offering a diverse range of content for all ages and interests.

Digital Artists’ Projects

1. Universal Music Group (UMG) and Supersocial, a virtual world development company, launched the “Beat Galaxy” experience on Roblox. This innovative music hub features interactive social spaces, exclusive content, and opportunities for Roblox users to discover new artists and music.

2. Anne Shoemaker, 23, is CEO of her own Roblox Fullflower Studio, which has created games such as Mermaid Life, which has over 87.7 million hits. Additionally, Shoemaker has about 30 employees and is an example of a developer who is part of a growing market.

Bottom Line

The potential impact of these metaverse platforms on the future of digital artistry is immense. Moreover, they are not just tools; they are ecosystems that foster creativity, collaboration, and community. As these platforms evolve, they will undoubtedly shape the way we create, experience, and value art in the digital age.

Whether you’re an aspiring artist or an experienced creator, the metaverse awaits your unique vision. So, we encourage you to explore these platforms, experiment with their features, and start building the worlds you’ve always imagined. The future of digital artistry is in your hands—shape it, share it, and let it thrive.