Space, text and hoopla: constructing typographic playgrounds in the metaverse

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijacdt.2013010102

This text attempts to delve into the creation of textual content as well as its visualization through typographic design mechanisms inside three dimensional virtual worlds known as the metaverse, with a particular focus upon the way in which such virtually three dimensional environments may place the usage of text within a context that stands in contradiction to its traditional one by creating an unexpected novel purpose: This takes a marked departure from the intrinsic attribute with which text has inherently been associated – namely the attribute of legibility. In such environments readability can be displaced through the usage of text and typography as playful devices that may manifest as visual structures the contents of which are meant to be understood through means other than reading – as it is understood in the traditional sense of the word. Instead, such spaces are aimed to bring about about states of heightened engagement, wonder and ‘play’ through their manipulation or indeed simply by being immersed within the typographic conglomeration that constitutes their essences. This subject will be explored through the discussion of three such typographic playgrounds that the author has created in the metaverse; as well as through their visual documentation undertaken through numerous images/screenshots that are placed throughout this text.