Designing Digital Spaces for Digital Art

Metaverses and 3D virtual worlds host numerous exhibition spaces that often replicate physical environments skeuo- morphically. This study analyzes 26 digital exhibitions—rang- ing from institutional virtual twins and fully digital museums to independent artist showcases—to investigate approaches to 3D spatial design for the exhibition of digital art pieces. Findings show that only a minority (10/26) adopt speculative spatial strategies, while the majority embraces reality-mimick- ing, showing a clear tendency to replicate real-world spaces. We investigated the technological processes behind the creation of these spaces to understand how the intrinsic characteristics of the tools used potentially influence design choices, embedding presets that favor replication. Despite the widespread use of similar technological frameworks, some exhibitions stand out as speculative cases, demonstrating the possibility of experimental and critical spatial innovation. This contrast highlights the fact that while technology shapes and sometimes constrains design, it does not determine it entirely; creative appropriation can push the boundaries of virtual exhibition design beyond mere copies of the physical world.