# Digital Art and the Metaverse: Benefits and Challenges
## 2 Background
### Metaverse Structure
#### 2.1.1 Experiences  
Large technology companies (e.g., Mozilla, Oculus, Microsoft, Magic Leap and Google) have all produced their own VR-capable browsers. The Unity game engine even has several plug-ins to allow others to create their own VR applications that contain a Web browser within them. As mentioned, VRML has allowed researchers this capability for over 30 years. Thus, these technologies allow the creator to develop immersive and interactive experiences that go beyond what is possible in the physical world or cater to a blending of the digital and physical world. Such experiences remain engaging and memorable for end users (without the users needing to be physically present) and offer advantages over viewing a static screen. There are well-documented uses of such experiences for education, entertainment and healthcare. Examples include the work by [PERSON] et al. who discuss a Metaverse-based approach in education for use by university-level students, with a focus on showcasing the Chiang Mai University campus to prospective students [22]. Findings indicate that information about the university's curricula and career paths were well-received by participants. Furthermore, [PERSON] et al. discuss the use of the Metaverse for healthcare implications, whereby the authors focus on digital twins of cancer and outline how a Metaverse-based approach '_allows users to fully experience the high levels of interaction and immersion_' [23], which is beneficial for applications such as simulating the diagnosis and development of cancer over time. Further, [PERSON] et al. discuss the state of the technology in the wider medical field, surmising that a Metaverse-based application has the potential to support educators and implement interactions with patients in a bespoke manner [24]. What all these research findings have in common is that Metaverse-based experiences show clear benefits above and beyond solely entertainment purposes.  
From a technology perspective, the future of the Metaverse experience lies in decentralisation. As [PERSON] et al. indicate, Metaverse projects should be built as decentralised platforms [17] as this would allow for appropriate content access through the Web3D ecosystem. There are both technological and ethical benefits for this notion. In terms of a technological consideration, a centralised process has the potential to create an environment in which the exploitation of both creators and participators become possible, for example, being locked into a single currency or development pipeline for content creation and management; thus, this creates an argument for the use of a decentralised approach. Regarding the ethics, ownership of personal data has been a well-debated issue for social media companies, and a 3D-created social environment has the potential to generate vastly richer datasets relating to user interaction, movement and gaze tracking (as further discussed in Section 2.1.2) and user data which goes beyond the level currently available to existing social media platforms. Further, one can consider that new experiences could also lead to the creation of new haptic devices to allow for 3D exploration and bi-directional interaction (digital to physical world and vice versa), thus extending our digital experience even further [17].