Awesome Metaverse

List of awesome projects and information resources about the Metaverse. Since there are many competing ideas about what the Metaverse is, feel free to leave feedback in the form of pull requests, issues, and comments. You can also reach us through discord.

WebXR
Social VR
Avatar Providers
Protocols & Standards
Books
- Science Fiction
- Non-fiction
Media
Articles & Blogs
Crypto
White Papers
Links

WebXR

WebXR Explainer - What is WebXR and what are the use-cases?
Awesome WebVR - Curated list of awesome WebVR packages and resources
Exokit - WebXR meta-browsers, engines, avatar systems, and more
- Exokit overview - Unofficial overview of the Exokit toolkit
- Exokit Web - The web metaverse engine
- Exokit Web 2 - Make the API simpler and easier to understand
Webaverse - 100% open source web based metaverse / game engine
Awesome WebXR - Compilation of links for WebXR demos, frameworks, editors and more
- Awesome WebXR 2
Zesty Market - A marketplace for rentable NFT banner spaces in XR
Web3XR - Site explaining the intersection of Web3 and WebXR technologies, WIP
Glitch WebXR tutorials - Editable templates and guides for making your own WebXR sites

Social VR

Open Source Frameworks

JanusWeb - Web framework for building interconnected virtual reality experiences
- Janus Guide - Learn to build open source self-hosted virtual worlds connected by portals
a-frame - JS framework for building 3D/AR/VR experiences
- Exokit Avatar Component - Importing full IK avatars into aframe webxr apps
- Integrating Augmented Reality Objects into the Real World with Light and Shadows - Guide by Ada Rose Cannon
~~Hubs~~ - Multi-user virtual spaces in WebXR, made by Mozilla (Sunset May 31, 2024, code donated to Hubs Foundation)
- ~~Hubs Creator Labs~~ - Inspiration, creativity and knowledge that transcends Hubs
Hubs Foundation Created as a non-profit to provide Hubs for self-hosting
~~High Fidelity~~ - Open source VR software platform (Deprecated)
Vircadia - Community maintained fork of High Fidelity
~~Tivoli Cloud~~ - Open source fork of High Fidelity
Overte - community maintained open source fork of High Fidelity with VR support
Decentraland - A blockchain-based virtual world (not VR yet)
Webaverse - 100% open source web based metaverse / game engine
Ethereal Engine - Open source framework for building scalable realtime social apps
Third Room - Open, decentralised, immersive worlds built on Matrix protocol
Croquet - A new web-based operating system that runs on any device
Three Object Viewer (3OV) - Open Source WordPress plugin with WebXR and AI integrations
Unavi - Open source web-based metaverse platform that supoprts VRM + glTF

Open Source Tools

Blender - #1 open tool for 3D creation, modeling, and much more
Spoke - Easily create custom 3D environments
Open Brush - Derivative made from the open source code of Tilt Brush
Three.js editor - Web editor for three.js
Babylonjs editor - Web editor for babylon.js

Commercial Frameworks & Tools

Cryptovoxels - Virtual world owned by its users
Somnium Space - Persistent blockchain based virtual world
NeosVR - Engine designed to accelerate the development of social VR applications
VRChat - Biggest social VR platform with UGC of worlds and avatars
- Awesome VRChat - One-stop shop for people interested in developing content for VRchat
Roblox - Massive online multiplayer UGC gaming platform
Omniverse - Real-time simulation and collaboration platform for 3D production pipelines
dot big bang - Web-based multiplayer UGC gaming platform with built-in tools and Typescript scripting
Helios - Unreal Engine based UGC worlds, avatars and gaming platform
Horizon Worlds - Meta (previously Facebook) announcement video of The Metaverse
FrameVR - No-code creation of browser based virtual worlds
oncyber - Easy platform to display NFTs in a virtual world, built on threejs
Monaverse - Mint and display 3D spaces in Unity webgl powered 3D worlds, VR support soon
RP1 - An upcoming platform "that can synchronously connect hundreds of millions of users to one another in a real-time, persistent virtual world, without the need for sharding."
AltspaceVR - AltspaceVR is a leading platform for live events, artists, brands and businesses
Hyperfy - webxr enabled platform that lets you own and build anything you can imagine

2D Platforms

Worldwide Web3 - Free to play interoperable MMORPG metaverse project on Ethereum, closed source
Gather Town - Virtual office and event space, closed source
Atlantis World - Web3 social metaverse platform, closed source
Work Adventure - collaborative virtual office web app presented as a 16-bit RPG video game, open source

Avatar Providers

Ready Player Me - Cross-game Avatar Platform for the Metaverse
VRoid Hub - Platform for uploading humanoid VRM avatars
Cryptoavatars - Unique VRM avatars on the Ethereum blockchain
Mixamo - Easy tool to rig and animate characters, by Adobe
Booth.pm - Indie marketplace that contains many 3D avatar / world assets

Protocols and Standards

Dat - a peer-to-peer protocol
IPFS - a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol
glTF - Runtime 3D asset delivery
VRM - File format for 3D humanoid avatars
Ethereum - Decentralized world computer
WebXR - Accessing VR/AR hardware on the web
Open Metaverse Interoperability group (OMI) - Working group for open protocols / standards
Metaverse Standards Forum - a new venue for cooperation between standards organizations and companies to foster the development of interoperability standards for an open and inclusive metaverse

Books

Sci-Fi

Neuromancer - (80s) Defined the Cyberpunk genre and the term Cyberspace
Snow Crash - (90s) Coined the term Metaverse as a successor to the Internet, author Neal Stephenson recently cofounded Lamina1.
Ready Player One - (2011) Hit book that later became a Spielberg movie
- Ready Player Two - (2020) Sequel to Ready Player One
Rainbows End - (2006) Increasingly digital/virtual world with ubiquitous computing
Idoru - Virtual celebrities and decentralized virtual worlds, Book #2 in Bridge Trilogy

Non-fiction

The Spatial Web - How web 3.0 will connect humans, machines and AI to transform the world
The Metaverse: And How it Will Revolutionize Everything - Upcoming book by Matthew Ball

Media

The Matrix
The Thirteenth Floor
Existenz
Free Guy
Tron
Wreck it Ralph 2
Ready Player One
Black Mirror (USS Callister & San Junipero in particular)
Upload

Articles and Blogs

The Metaverse Primer - 9 Part series from Matthew Ball
Matthew Ball – The Future of Media: Movies, the Metaverse, and More - Investor field guide to the Metaverse
The Metaverse by Matthew Ball - What It Is, Where to Find it, Who Will Build It, and Fortnite
A Primer on the Metaverse - Venturebeat article on the next iteration of the Internet
Parts List for the Metaverse - List by Philip Rosedale
The Metaverse Explained - Loup Ventures take on the Metaverse in 4 parts
Metaversing - Exploring issues related to the Metaverse and design choices and challenges
Makers Guide to the Metaverse - 2015 article on 5 principles to build into the Metaverse
Metaverse Lab - Experiments with VR/AR, Neural Networks, and 3D Internet
PUDDLES to OASIS - Wired article on connecting disparate virtual worlds
A Multiverse, not the metaverse - 5 Part series on Multiversing by Techcrunch
The library inside Minecraft and our future in the Metaverse - The Uncensored Library
Roblox believes user-generated content will bring us the Metaverse - Roblox wants players to build the metaverse
Balaji Srinivasan on Building a “Pseudonymous Economy” - Pseudonymity is already the norm in virtual worlds
WHAT IS THE METAVERSE, AND DO I HAVE TO CARE? - Verge article that's one part definition, one part aspiration, one part hype
The Economy of the Metaverse - Interview with Epic CEO Tim Sweeney
Mark Zuckerberg Metaverse Interview - Zuck on Facebook becoming 'a Metaverse Company'
The Metaverse is Everything - Article by Doug Thompson on why we're talking about the Metaverse now
Building the Metaverse with janusVR - From 2015 but still relevant for building 3D internet experiences
The Seven Rules of the Metaverse - A framework for the coming immersive reality by auradeluxe
Building the Open Metaverse Podcast - Hosted by Patrick Cozzi (Cesium) and Marc Petit (Epic Games)
IPSME - Dr. Kim Nevelsteen - Idempotent Publish/Subscribe Messaging Environment (IPSME) can be used for both client-side and server-side interoperability, or between blockchains; systems can be integrated without being taken down and re-engineered; avoids the need for standardization and supports legacy systems; and, reduces the complexity of integrating systems
How the Open Metaverse Will Transform Our Online Identities - Interview with maintainer of this awesome list by Richard MacManus

Crypto

Into the Void: Where Crypto Meets The Metaverse - Piers Kicks article on blockchain based underpinnings for an open Metaverse
The Open Metaverse OS - Exploration & framework for how web3 innovations converge with The Metaverse
Larping Ethereum - Look into NFT Value from Interoperable Utility
Interoperability in the Blockchain Gaming World - Ideas about connecting blockchain based virtual worlds
The Virtual Economy - Stunning wbesite presentation about the intersection of crypto and virtual worlds
Zima Red - NFTs, Virtual Worlds, Blockchain Games
NFT Canon - Go-to resource curated by a16z about NFTs
The Great Online Game - Blog post about the multiplayer meta game of the Internet
A Primer on VR & the Blockchain - 20 Big Ideas about the Decentralized Metaverse by Kent Bye
CC0 Compendium - curated selection of resources about CC0 NFT projects
7 Essential Ingredients of a Metaverse - Article by a16z on what distinguishes virtual worlds from an open metaverse
Metaversal | Bankless - a top newsletter about crypto and metaverse by William M. Peaster

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