Efficient Visualization of 3D Urban Environments in the Metaverse by Integrating GIS and Unreal Engine

Geography and geographical space play an important role in many aspects of life and in many areas of online activity. In terms of loading and visualizing 3D urban environments and city-scale scenes, in real-time rendering, current approaches still require excessive use of CPU, GPU and video memory usage. In this research study we emphasize new technologies and game engines like Unreal Engine in order to efficiently visualize 3D urban environments in the metaverse. The metaverse is a virtual 3D world where individuals can create and control their own avatars, offering three-dimensional and immersive virtual environments. Geographic information systems (GIS) and the metaverse are both complex and rapidly evolving fields with many possible applications. The integration of GIS with the Unreal Engine, a popular game engine and a powerful real-time 3D creation tool, allows the creation and efficient visualization of photoreal virtual environments, while GIS data and layers could be used to create more realistic digital 3D environments in the metaverse, including terrain, buildings and other relevant factors allowing users to explore a three-dimensional virtual representation of city-scale scenes. The aim of this study is to present a methodology for an efficient and detailed visualization of 3D urban environments in the Metaverse by integrating Unreal Engine and GIS.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Published
2025-03-14
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1109/icict64582.2025.00057
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Diverse Topics in Contemporary Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
16.49
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Efficient Visualization of 3D Urban Environments in the Metaverse by Integrating GIS and Unreal Engine

Charalampos Iordanidis, Christos K. Georgiadis
1 citations
Diverse Topics in Contemporary Research
16.49
article

Efficient Visualization of 3D Urban Environments in the Metaverse by Integrating GIS and Unreal Engine

Charalampos Iordanidis, Christos K. Georgiadis
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Geography and geographical space play an important role in many aspects of life and in many areas of online activity. In terms of loading and visualizing 3D urban environments and city-scale scenes, in real-time rendering, current approaches still require excessive use of CPU, GPU and video memory usage. In this research study we emphasize new technologies and game engines like Unreal Engine in order to efficiently visualize 3D urban environments in the metaverse. The metaverse is a virtual 3D world where individuals can create and control their own avatars, offering three-dimensional and immersive virtual environments. Geographic information systems (GIS) and the metaverse are both complex and rapidly evolving fields with many possible applications. The integration of GIS with the Unreal Engine, a popular game engine and a powerful real-time 3D creation tool, allows the creation and efficient visualization of photoreal virtual environments, while GIS data and layers could be used to create more realistic digital 3D environments in the metaverse, including terrain, buildings and other relevant factors allowing users to explore a three-dimensional virtual representation of city-scale scenes. The aim of this study is to present a methodology for an efficient and detailed visualization of 3D urban environments in the Metaverse by integrating Unreal Engine and GIS.

University of Macedonia (GR)
Sustainable cities and communities
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Diverse Topics in Contemporary Research
16.49
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.