As the digital wave continues to surge, the connection between the physical and digital worlds grows ever closer. The transformation of physical buildings and spaces into “digital twins” is accelerating rapidly.On November 17-18, 2022, Epic Games—a globally renowned provider of interactive entertainment and 3D engine technology—will host Unreal Open Day 2022 (UOD) on the Bilibili Unreal Engine platform’s official live streaming room, simultaneously held at the Shanghai Peninsula Hotel. BIM Architecture Network has been invited as a media partner for the construction industry to fully participate in this event and introduce audiences to the virtual world of construction.
Unreal Engine, a continuously evolving real-time 3D creation platform, has become a key medium for building virtual worlds. Thanks to its openness, scalability, and excellent compatibility, Unreal Engine is widely used across industries including film, architecture, automotive, broadcasting, and live events.
This year’s UOD features sub-events focused on gaming, media entertainment, automotive, architecture, and simulation. The Architecture and Simulation sub-event will center on the deep application of Unreal Engine in virtual environments such as the metaverse.
From a digital architecture perspective, if the future metaverse embraces concepts from BIM, then elements like simulation, immersion, and visualization will be essential.
Virtual concerts provide a prime example: since 2019, many artists have hosted virtual concerts on platforms like “Roblox” and “Fortnite”—the latter being an open, editable third-person shooter developed by Epic Games using Unreal Engine 5. American DJ Kaskade, Diplo, Korean boy band BTS, and British band Easy Life have all collaborated with Fortnite to bring their concerts into the game.
Last August, American singer Ariana Grande teamed up with Epic Games to present the “Rift Valley Tour” virtual concert in Fortnite. This event was nominated for Best Metaverse Performance at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs)—a new category introduced by MTV this year. Although Ariana Grande did not win, the nomination of a virtual performance involving six artists marks the growing momentum behind virtual concerts.
The immersive, interactive, and engaging nature of virtual spaces is crucial to this trend, and continually improving these experiences is a challenge Unreal Engine is actively addressing.
At the current UOD Architecture and Simulation sub-event, key presentations include:
- “Creating Cloud Native Virtual Music Live Based on Unreal Engine”: This session explains how Unreal Engine is used to craft high-quality visuals, lighting, and audiovisual effects for virtual concerts, leveraging its rich plugin ecosystem to achieve true virtual-real symbiosis.
- “Exploring the Metaverse Based on Unreal Engine”: Focusing on enabling players to engage economically, socially, and creatively in the metaverse, this presentation covers how Unreal Engine serves as the technical foundation to build immersive metaverse scenes and diverse 3D virtual worlds.
Additional topics at the sub-event include the future of architectural visualization, techniques to enhance immersion during virtual scene navigation, building large-scale digital twin environments, and NASA’s lunar surface visualization using Unreal Engine 5.
This year, UOD also revived the Unreal Engine Annual Awards (UOD Awards) after a two-year pause. The awards cover six categories: Best Game of the Year, Most Anticipated Unreal Engine Project, Best Industry Application, Best Independent Work, Best Artistic Performance, Outstanding Community, and Education Partner. These awards aim to motivate Unreal Engine developers across various fields and nurture emerging talent in the engine industry.
Looking ahead to the post-pandemic era, large-scale virtual events like virtual concerts will continue to emerge. As the metaverse becomes increasingly integrated into our lives, defining the concept of future spaces that transcend the physical and virtual realms will be an important topic. Unreal Engine’s existence and evolution might offer valuable insights for this ongoing exploration.
Offline Venue
Shanghai Peninsula Hotel (No. 32 Zhongshan East 1st Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai)
Unreal Engine Official Live Room
https://www.bilibili.com/blackboard/activity-WxQGWU4Lr5.html
Must log in before commenting!
Sign Up