Design Research

Metaverse Media

A year ago, the word “metaverse” was just a concept from a classic Science Fiction novel, but since then, it has leapt into the public conversation. But what does “metaverse” really mean? And how might the metaverse (or some metaverses) impact, or provide opportunities for journalism?

Friends of Knight Lab at the Washington Post are interested in exploring this idea with a team in the Spring studio. Students accepted to work on this project will be asked to let their imaginations roam freely, but also to ground their vision in solid research into the social and technical factors which might enable or constrain the possibilities. The team will have regular consultations with someone from the Washington Post and, at the end of the quarter, will write up their findings.

Note: this is not a technical project. Applicants are not expected to have practical experience creating in virtual reality, and are not expected to create VR experiences, except as descriptions and sketches.

Faculty and Staff Leads

Joe Germuska

Chief Nerd

Joe runs Knight Lab’s technology, professional staff and student fellows. Before joining us, Joe was on the Chicago Tribune News Apps team. He is the founder of CensusReporter.org, and a proud board member of City Bureau.

Jeremy Gilbert

Knight Professor in Digital Media Strategy

Jeremy Gilbert is the Knight Professor of Digital Media Strategy. Both his work and teaching focus on the content and revenue strategies of existing and emerging media companies. He explores the intersection of technology and media, examining how new tools and techniques will affect the creation, consumption and distribution of media.

Project Details

2022 Spring

Important Questions
  • What is “the metaverse”, as best we can describe it now? Will there be only one, or will there be several?
  • How would journalism figure in to a metaverse model? How are journalistic concerns related to, or different from other media concerns?
  • How might the social and interactive nature of possible metaverses affect journalistic practice?
  • How would journalists prepare for and counter the likely metaverse extensions of current networked media challenges such as misinformation and harassment?
Sample Milestones
  • Week 1-2: Meet with our partner(s) at the Washington Post to learn about their current thinking. Develop a list of relevant media (research papers, books, movies, games) and a plan for reading/watching/playing to develop a common context for the quarter’s exploration and ideation. Begin working through the list.
  • Week 3-4: Generate ideas about possible journalistic applications in metaverse technologies. Use the ideas to generate further questions and refine/extend the media research plan. Present concepts to experts and “regular people” for feedback and refinement.
  • Weeks 5-7: Iterate on ideation, concept development and prototyping, and testing/gathering feedback.
  • Weeks 8-10: Taper down testing and develop final artifact summarizing research and recommending next steps.
Outcome

Students who participate in this project will have the opportunity to imagine and critically evaluate the position of journalism in one or more possible metaverses, and to present the results of their research to our partners at the Washington Post, and, in some form, to the public through the Knight Lab Studio website.

Links
Students

Eden Hirschfield

Albert Jin

TJ Kim

Sophie Lamb

Rawan Mohamed