Metaverse: Gen-AI + WebXR

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ARCH 7014. Fall 2025. DAAP, UC.

This semester’s VIZ-3 course takes a deep dive into Generative AI-driven Metaverse design, building on last year’s explorations in AI-generated design, digital heritage, virtual reality, and digital twins. Students are working in small teams to conceptualize and build original virtual worlds using generative AI, reality capture, computational modeling, and immersive visualization tools. Although not a studio course, VIZ-3 mirrors a studio-like workflow through a research-driven sequence of research, ideation, visualization, and validation. Throughout the semester, students investigate how emerging AI tools and WebXR tools, such as Viverse, reshape the way virtual spaces are imagined, created, and experienced. Final projects are deployed both on the browser-based Viverse platform and through VR headsets supported by the XR-Lab.

“Metaverses are typically fictional, immersive, multi-user environments shaped by social, cultural, and speculative narratives”[1]. The course encourages students to consider the future of AI and the Metaverse while developing flexible, human-centered approaches to the design of virtual environments. Teams tailor their project scopes based on their interests—ranging from digital heritage and gaming environments to architectural, interior, and narrative-driven virtual spaces. The semester begins with an intensive design sprint as part of the Viverse Spark Global University Challenge, where students propose their own Metaverse environments and define their conceptual direction. This early research phase sets the foundation for deeper inquiry into social interaction in virtual environments and the evolving role of AI in shaping next-generation spatial experiences.

Eight metaverses

• AI museum
• Treehouse
• Restaurant
• Underwater world
• The Forgotten Line: Cincinnati Subway
• ManBat Maze
• OTR district
• Four corners

Students: Lubna Shehata, Gustavo Reyes, Sarah Adams, Katie Hammerle, Katie Nefedov, Lindsey Rasberry, Taylor Flanagan, Olivia Corp, Dami Fajemisin, Gabrielle Ragusa, Camryn Lansdell, Liv Adkins, Bekah Selent, Morgan Pascarella, Julia Carter, Madisen Kleinmann, Austin Knupp, Sam Kazmaier, Amith Sai Valsalan, Jaymond Crayton, Sarah Coviello, Lauren Wrinkler, Vincent (Ty) Lucas, Kyra Christie, Journee Adams, Dylan Griffis, Zach Brunotts, Bailey Vianello, Emmanuel Dube, Eian Bennett, David David, Corban McIntosh, dharma patel, Erik Mathys, Darren Dong, Christian Drummond, Rian Klein, Sten Shuman.
TA: Semere Araha.
Thanks to Sangyong Cho, Heekyoung Jung, Hank McLendon, Joori Suh, and Henry Levesque for their excellent guest lectures and the inspiring research and project demonstrations!

[1] Tang, Ming, Mikhail Nikolaenko, Ahmad Alrefai, and Aayush Kumar. 2025. “Metaverse and Digital Twins in the Age of AI and Extended Reality” Architecture 5, no. 2: 36. https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture5020036