The Musmet project

The Musical Metaverse made in Europe — is a Horizon Europe research initiative exploring how extended-reality can transform music creation, performance, and audience experiences. As the technology partner in the consortium, PatchXR is designing the next generation of music-making tools and a collaborative VR platform.

Opening the lab: why we co-design

PatchWorld has always been built with users at its core. We jam with you, hang out on Discord, and treat our community as an extension of our team. With MUSMET, we went a step further: instead of just collecting feedback and building alone with the dev team, we surfaced the hard problems of making music together in VR and set out to solve them with you.

Co-designing the Beat Maker of the Musical Metaverse

The brief was demanding. In VR, even small timing deviations can break ensemble cohesion. Drumming “in the air” lacks tactile reward, and many sequencers aren’t immediate for live play. We needed something expressive, intuitive, and robust for seasoned producers and first-time jammers alike.

How the sessions worked

We ran multiple remote VR workshops using PatchWorld on Meta Quest 3. Each ~60-minute session was facilitated by Gad (“DJ Patchy”) and split into quick play + discussion loops:

  • Hands-on rotations through six existing PatchWorld rhythm instruments (expressive pads, gestural grids, algorithmic rhythm cubes, and more).
  • Group debriefs after short play intervals to unpack what worked, what didn’t, and why.

This rapid cycle gave us clear feedback on latency, responsiveness, visual clarity, and collaborative usability. Participants gravitated toward gestural instruments with continuous control and clear feedback—expressive without cognitive overload. Anything sluggish, rigid, or lacking tactile feel quickly fell out of favor.

A standout prototype: the Pattern Grid

One prototype—the Pattern Grid—consistently rose to the top. It let players control pitch, rhythmic subdivision, dynamics, and sample length by moving their hands along different axes. Waveform overlays and nuanced haptic cues reinforced the sensation of striking a “real” instrument. Round after round, participants voted it their favorite.

“We can patch it right now!”

Live iteration in VR

The magic of PatchWorld is its modular building environment. During sessions, participants didn’t just critique, they patched ideas live. Suggestions became real features in minutes, then everyone jumped back in to test. This kind of deep, immediate collaboration is rare on other platforms and proved pivotal to refining the instrument.\

From prototypes to the Universal Rhythm Box

Using workshop feedback, we merged the best of the Pattern Grid and the Rhythm Variation Grid into a single instrument: the Universal Rhythm Box—a semi-transparent cube designed for live play and collaborative jams.

Using the workshop feedback, we merged the best of the Pattern Grid and the Rhythm Variation Grid into a single instrument: the Universal Rhythm Box—a semi-transparent cube designed for live play and collaborative jams.

What it does:

• Four expressive axes:
– Lateral → Pitch
– Depth → Subdivision rate / groove density
– Vertical → Dynamics
– Wrist rotation → Sample length / decay
• Two-hand support for bilateral expressivity and complex patterns
• Real-time visual feedback with waveform overlays
• Adjustable haptics for physicality
• Built-in looper and MIDI out for capture and integration
• Resizable UI to fit different play styles
• Optional Edit mode that hides complexity for newcomers while keeping depth for pros

What’s in Expert Mode?

  • Off-grid rhythm logic: Explore polymeters, shifting cycles, and evolving grooves beyond standard quantization.
  • Advanced mappings: Assign velocity to volume, layer LFOs or sliders, and craft responsive feedback loops.
  • Full modularity: Patch pitch, volume, filters, and FX chains however you like—no two instruments need be alike.

We believe this co-designed instrument is now one of the most versatile beat makers in VR—and it simply wouldn’t exist without the community’s ideas and hands-on testing.

What’s next

The beat was only the first step. In upcoming sessions, we’ve been exploring how VR jam spaces can best support collaboration, connection, and flow. Stay tuned for the next article, where we’ll share how the community re-imagined the ultimate VR jam room layout.

Join the journey

Our co-design workshops are ongoing. We’ll soon integrate the Universal Rhythm Box into PatchWorld for wider testing. If you’re passionate about music, VR, or simply love experimenting with new creative tools, join our next co-design session and help build the musical metaverse of tomorrow.

Huge thanks to everyone who has already contributed time, creativity, and energy, we couldn’t do this without you.

Discover more about the MUSMET initiative here: musmet.eu
Want to shape the Future of Music with us ? Get PatchWorld on the Meta Quest Store and hop into our Discord.\