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Metaverse Shape of Your Life for Future: A bibliometric snapshot
Muhammet Damar
TL;DR
Metaverse research lacked a dedicated bibliometric overview despite renewed public attention and longstanding discussion of the concept. This study analyzes Web of Science publications with bibliometric tools, finding a technically concentrated but multidisciplinary and internationally distributed literature whose prominent themes include virtual and augmented reality, education, and related applications.
Problem
The study addresses the lack of a bibliometric study mapping the recent, rapidly popularized metaverse literature and its prominent researchers, institutions, journals, countries, and topics.
Method
The authors evaluate Web of Science metaverse publications using VOSviewer bibliometric analysis, including publication, contributor, venue, citation, and thematic patterns.
Results
Metaverse research concentrates on computer science and engineering while spanning multiple fields, with frequent themes including virtual reality, augmented reality, education, e-learning, blockchain, and metaverse retailing.
Takeaways & Limitations
The literature snapshot indicates that metaverse research is interdisciplinary and connected to applications in education, culture, health, environmental sciences, and digital or virtual environments.
Abstract
from arXiv · showhide
The metaverse was first introduced in 1992. Many people saw Metaverse as a new word but the concept of Metaverse is not a new term. However, Zuckerberg's press release drew all the attention to the Metaverse. This study presents a bibliometric evaluation of metaverse technology, which has been discussed in the literature since the nineties. A field study is carried out especially for the metaverse, which is a new and trendy subject. In this way, descriptive information is presented on journals, institutions, prominent researchers, and countries in the field, as well as extra evaluation on the prominent topics in the field and researchers with heavy citations. In our study, which was carried out by extracting the data of all documents between the years 1990-2021 from the Web of Science database, it was seen that there were few studies in the literature in the historical process for the metaverse, whose popularity has reached its peak in recent months. In addition, it is seen that the subject is handled intensively with virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, and the education sector and digital marketing fields show interest in the field. Metaverse will probably have entered many areas of our lives in the next 15-20 years, shape our lives by taking advantage of the opportunities of developing technology.
I. INTRODUCTION
The metaverse is an established concept whose recent prominence has intensified following Meta’s 2021 announcement. The study motivates a bibliometric overview to map a rapidly attracting field across technologies, sectors, and research communities.
- The metaverse concept originated in 1992 as a large virtual environment and later became associated with shared spaces combining virtual reality, augmented reality, and the internet.
- The metaverse is commonly linked to three-dimensional shared virtual worlds enabled by augmented- and virtual-reality equipment, with online activity increasing during the COVID-19 period.
- Meta’s 2021 rebranding and investment announcement shifted widespread attention toward the metaverse and encouraged broader public discussion.
- The paper frames metaverse development as broader than a single product, while recognizing potential benefits and harms across future usage areas.
- Bibliometric analysis is motivated by the lack of a dedicated study mapping prominent researchers, journals, institutions, countries, and field development.
II. METHOD
The study uses Web of Science records and VOSviewer bibliometric analysis to examine publication patterns, contributors, outlets, citations, and thematic trends in metaverse research.
- Web of Science publications indexed through SCI-EXPANDED, SSCI, A&HCI, CPCI-S, CPCI-SSH, and ESCI were collected on 26.11.2021 using metaverse title, author-keyword, or keyword-plus searches.
- The analysis examines document distributions, languages, types, researchers, institutions, countries, publication venues, publishers, congresses, and frequently cited works.
- The study also investigates accepted debates and historical topic trends in metaverse publications.
- VOSviewer was used to analyze and visualize large bibliographic datasets through modularity-based clustering and smart local moving.
III. DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS
The findings are organized from an overall bibliometric view through separate analyses of book chapters, proceedings, and articles, followed by content analysis of all documents.
- The findings are presented in sequence as a general view, book-chapter analysis, proceedings analysis, article analysis, and content analysis across all documents.
A. General View
The general literature snapshot contains 93 Web of Science documents produced across a broad but technically concentrated research landscape. Computer science and engineering dominate, while publications span many countries, languages, organizations, and application areas.
- 93 documents received 281 total citations, averaged 3.02 citations per item, and produced an h-index of 9 across 155 researchers.
- 42 articles, 38 proceedings papers, and 14 book chapters comprise the identified document types.
- 2021 and 2016 each had 6 publications, while 2015 had the highest annual output with 12 publications.
- Computer science led research areas with 42 publications, followed by engineering with 17 and education and psychology with 8 each.
- Although computer science and engineering predominate, metaverse studies extend into health, education, culture, environmental sciences, psychology, religion, philosophy, and social issues.
- English accounted for 87 publications, and the leading countries were the USA with 19, Japan with 10, Brazil and South Korea with 8 each.
B. Focus on Book Chapters
Book-chapter research on the metaverse was concentrated in 2015 and centered on educational-technology and related interdisciplinary venues. Brazil led the contributing researchers and institutions, with Backes and Schlemmer the most productive authors.
- 14 book-chapter studies were published, receiving 25 citations in total, and all were published in English.
- 2015 produced the most book-chapter studies with 7, followed by 2013 with 3.
- Advances In Educational Technologies And Instructional Design Book Series was the leading series with 7 chapters.
- Backes L and Schlemmer E each contributed 7 book chapters, leading the listed researchers.
- Brazil led book-chapter contributions with 7 researchers, followed by the USA with 3 and Sweden with 2.
- Centro Universitario La Salle and Universidade Do Vale Do Rio Dos Sinos Unisinos each had 7 affiliated book-chapter contributions.
C. Focus on Proceedings
Metaverse proceedings research showed no major annual surge and was distributed across varied conferences, suggesting an emerging field with an unsettled academic identity. Computer science, augmented reality, virtual reality, education, e-commerce, and digital marketing were prominent topic areas.
- Proceedings output ranged from 1 paper in 2000 to 5 in 2010, with no significant annual jump reported.
- Japan led proceedings production with 10 papers, followed by the USA with 7 and Turkey with 4.
- The leading proceedings institutions were Sabanci University with 4 papers, Clarkson University with 3, and Ritsumeikan University with 3.
- Prominent proceedings venues included the International Conference on Cyberworlds and the International Conference on Entertainment Computing.
- Metaverse proceedings also appeared in congresses on e-health, education, e-commerce, web technology, digital marketing, and interactive multimedia systems.
- Proceedings discussions commonly addressed augmented reality, virtual reality, and intelligent interactive multimedia systems.
D. Focus on Articles
Article-based metaverse research expanded through 2021, with contributions spanning psychology, computer science, business, education, engineering, and cultural studies. The USA led article-producing countries, while Backes and Schlemmer were the most prolific named researchers.
- 42 metaverse articles received 217 citations, averaging 5.17 citations per item, with an h-index of 7.
- Article production peaked at 8 papers in 2015, followed by 5 in 2020 and 4 each in 2021, 2017, and 2010.
- Psychology led article research areas with 8 papers, followed by computer science with 6 and business economics and education educational research with 5 each.
- Backes L and Schlemmer E led article productivity with 7 articles each.
- The USA led article-producing countries with 10 contributions, followed by Brazil with 7 and South Korea with 6.
- The prominent journal domains were computer science, software engineering, business management, and electrical and electronic engineering.
INSTITUTIONS PUBLISHING ARTICLES ABOUT METAVERSE
The supplied material identifies the journal-domain table but does not provide institution-level data for articles. No institution comparison can therefore be summarized from these passages.
- The supplied passages identify Table III as covering journals and their research domains, not institutions publishing articles.
E. Content Analysis About Title, Abstract and Keywords
The content analysis identifies virtual worlds, avatars, 3D, augmented and virtual reality, mixed reality, collaboration, education, retailing, haptics, blockchain, and Industry 4.0 as prominent metaverse themes. It also connects this literature to educational applications, embodied virtual experiences, and earlier virtual-world platforms.
- Prominent keywords: Metaverse studies most frequently associate the field with virtual worlds, avatars, 3D, augmented and virtual reality, mixed reality, collaboration, e-learning, retailing, haptics, blockchain, and Industry 4.0.
- Prominent keywords: Education-related terms, including education, higher education, informal education, e-learning, schools, museums, and exhibitions, also appear prominently in the keyword analysis.The passage attributes this prominence to intensive virtual- and augmented-reality research in educational studies.
- Virtual experiences: Metaverses create virtual experiences based on life scenarios in the physical world, with haptics supporting perception of shape, roughness, and vibration.The passage presents haptics as a way for users to feel virtual surfaces or control slave robots.
- Technology and commercialization: Affordable virtual- and augmented-reality devices, gaming, avatar customization, and blockchain contribute to the practical and commercial development of metaverse applications.The passage cites Fortnite’s $9 billion revenue in 2018 and 2019 from avatar customization as an example.
- Virtual-world platforms: Second Life, Roblox, and other virtual-world platforms illustrate the literature’s connection to navigable, user-created, and immersive environments.Second Life enabled users to build structures, while Roblox developed into an immersive world for designing and selling creations.
- Technology and applications: The literature also discusses foundational computing, networking, human-centered computing, and virtual classroom simulations as technologies relevant to metaverse development.Intelligent avatars and holographic projects are described as tools for simulating real-world classroom scenarios.
IV. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The conclusion presents the metaverse as an expanding field with both benefits and harms, while noting that comprehensive explanatory studies remain limited. It recommends continued multidisciplinary analysis and educational preparation for related technologies.
- Conclusion: The emerging metaverse may produce both benefits and harms, with its effects depending substantially on how it is used.
- Conclusion: Despite growing researcher interest, comprehensive explanatory studies of the metaverse remain few, although research is expected to increase with advances in blockchain, sensors, and augmented and virtual reality.
- Conclusion: The metaverse is described as a field that will develop over 15–20 years and involve many companies rather than a single product controlled by one company.
- Recommendations: The conclusion recommends comparing data from different databases and periodically analyzing the field’s development and overall research profile.
- Conclusion: Expansion by major information-technology companies may create new employment areas as more organizations enter the metaverse field.
- Recommendations: Higher education institutions are encouraged to include virtual reality, augmented reality, simulation, and blockchain topics to help meet sector demand for trained human resources.