Earlier this month, Epic released the latest version of its gaming engine, Unreal Engine 5, which includes new tools for creating highly detailed 3D objects with automated natural lighting effects. There’s an emphasis on creating large-scale photorealistic environments with realistic sound and digital humans. Unreal Engine is, I believe, tooling up to build metaverse experiences.
In March, I went to Epic’s headquarters in Cary, North Carolina to speak to Epic CEO Tim Sweeney about those new tools, and about the metaverse of the future. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Are we reaching a stage where graphics technology can build worlds that are so lifelike that they can spill out of games and be used as realistic simulations of things we’d normally do in person?
