Creation of Virtual Stands in the Metaverse. Application for the Textile Sector

This article investigates the possibilities of the Metaverse in the creation of trade fair stands 1 for the exhibition of products and services associated with the textile sector, particularly upholstery 2 fabrics, with the aim of expanding the possibilities of interrelation between manufacturers and 3 customers. This study is part of a broader research that analyses the applications of the Metaverse 4 in Industry 5.0, improving design aspects and interactions with users. The applied methodology 5 proposes to expand the possibilities of a physical stand and to impose itself as an alternative exhibition 6 for the promotion and sale of these textile products. To create the digital environment, the Metaverso 7 platform, Spatial.io and its Spatial Toolkit have been used, which has a Unity template, allowing 8 for more efficient editing of scenarios in their three-dimensional aspects. The template used has 9 limitations imposed by Spatial because it does not have the full potential of Unity, however, some 10 restrictions have been overcome by resorting to good programming so that the user can combine 11 fabrics from a texture selector. The authors of this article have designed a virtual stand following the 12 client’s indications by applying compositional resources based on simple structure systems, according 13 to the basic design theories of modernity. This design was tested at the Habitat Fair in Valencia 2024, 14 and the result shows the potential of these new technologies at the service of the textile sector.