05/15/2025

Antonia Straub

How to Metaverse
Feature Spotlights
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Why interactivity is so important in virtual spaces and how our features can improve the user experience.

How interactivity brings virtual spaces to life

A virtual space is a stage for products, brands, and stories. It’s full impact only unfolds when users don't just passively consume content but actively engage with it. This is where interactivity comes in and becomes a critical success factor. Interactive elements bring virtual environments to life. They increase attention, extend the time users spent on a site, boost engagement, and ensure that information is processed more intensively. They have the capacity to transform passive viewers into active explorers. Virtual environments are transformed into interactive experiential spaces along the customer journey.

What does interactivity actually mean?

In this context, interactivity refers to the mutual exchange between people and systems. It’s about actions triggering noticeable reactions. In everyday life, we experience this constantly - a conversation is interactive because a question leads to an answer.

Digital media has seen significant advancements in interactivity over recent decades, evolving from basic menu navigation to more sophisticated drag-and-drop functionalities, and finally to voice and gesture control.

The Impact of Interactivity: Figures and Examples

Interactive elements significantly shape how users behave and connect. The following examples highlight how and why interactivity makes a measurable difference.

Longer dwell time through active experience

Research has shown that interactive content increase users' average dwell time by 52% [1]. Those who actively experience something and become part of the action tend to stay longer. In an environment characterised by a multitude of distractions, this represents a significant competitive advantage.

Example: In a static showroom or website, you might click through PDF flyers. In an interactive showroom, customers can rotate products, view them from all sides, unlock exclusive content, and even co-create. The result is that users invest more time and leave with a more lasting impression.

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Higher engagement—emotionally and cognitively

Interactive experiences not only activate more senses but also more cognitive processes. Making decisions, asking questions and receiving real-time feedback are all effective ways to establish a stronger cognitive and emotional bond with the content. This is particularly beneficial in the context of smart learning, where knowledge that is personally discovered or tested is retained for a longer period. But it also plays an important role in marketing: users who actively participate in a virtual experience later recall brands, products, and messages more effectively.

Connection through social interaction

Virtual spaces that facilitate interaction through virtual avatars or chat functions can contribute to the establishment of a sense of community. This approach is designed to enhance participation and cultivate trust in a brand or company. This aspect of social interaction is particularly important for success in collaborative work or learning setting

Interactivity in Virtual Spaces

In virtual spaces, interactivity takes on a new dimension. In a digital environment, users interact with visual, spatial and social elements in a way that is similar to real-world interactions.

Interactivity, whether through clicking, navigating, or interacting, fosters the creation of memorable experiences. In the current climate, where digital touchpoints frequently represent the sole point of contact with a brand, this is of paramount importance.

By incorporating interactive elements, a virtual space can be transformed into a dynamic experience:

Click Action: Tapping on an object opens a website, video, or a digital brochure. This allows exciting content to be experienced exactly where it has the greatest impact. Features such as highlight effects and short explanatory texts are ideal for drawing attention to key content.

Product Interaction: Clicking on a 3D object opens a 3D product viewer, allowing users to view products from all sites and variations, and even project them into Augmented Reality (AR) with a single click. Annotations are used to highlight explanatory texts or detailed information.

Guided Tour: A predefined tour is available to guide users efficiently through a virtual space, making it ideal for onboarding, product presentations or virtual events where a structured experience boosts engagement and understanding.

Virtual Avatars: Digital representatives are responsible for bringing virtual spaces to life, adding a personal touch, and promoting interaction among participants. Whether photorealistic, cartoon-style or AI-driven – a range of avatar systems offer the right solution for every case.

Sticky Notes: visualise ideas, notes or comments via digital sticky notes. making it perfect for brainstorming sessions, workshops or collaborative processes. Chat messages can also be converted into sticky notes.

Screen Sharing: Sharing screens enables real-time content sharing, allowing for presentations, collaboration, and immediate visualization of ideas within the virtual space.

Livestream: Whether live talks or music events, Livestream is the ideal solution for accessing content directly in the virtual environment.

Movable Objects: In a space viewer, interactive elements can be repositioned via drag & drop, for example, to assign them to specific areas. Ideal for playful learning formats or creative presentations to promote active participation.

Chat and moderation: Thanks to the voice chat function and integrated text chat, direct communication is also possible in the virtual room, including the use of facial expressions and gestures. A moderator determines who is allowed to speak and ensures disruption-free sessions that allow full concentration on the content.

Gamification & Engagement Elements: Gamification elements, such as hidden "Easter eggs", secret doors to other rooms, teleports, or interactive buttons, levers and switches that trigger actions, have the potential to create a special virtual experience.

What are Teleports?

Teleports are interactive objects that enable users to move directly from one place in the virtual space to another. They facilitate navigation, create moments of surprise and make the space even more dynamic and immersive.

Transform your virtual space into a memorable experience.

Regardless of whether you are starting from scratch or enhancing existing content, utilising the appropriate tools can transform your virtual space into an engaging and effective environment. Discover how straightforward interactivity can be.

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Conclusion: Interactivity as a Key Success Factor for Virtual Spaces

Interactivity is more than just a technical add-on. It is an essential component that imbues virtual spaces with realism.
When used correctly, it can be used as a strategic lever for attention, user engagement and sustainable experience quality.
A diverse range of features can have a significant impact. The strategic use of product interactions, virtual avatars, collaboration tools and gamification elements transforms a virtual space from a simple presentation area into a dynamic, interactive experience. In this environment, participants can actively shape, discover and engage with the experience.

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescontentmarketing/2024/06/20/engage-your-audience-with-interactive-content/

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