Can an "Online Temple" Built With Vibe Coding Revive the Metaverse Even Meta Couldn't Save?

600,000 Visitors in Three Days to “Sansa,” Built in 30 Minutes

From Pilgrimage Routes to Fire-Gazing... More Than 300 Virtual Spaces Emerge

AI Lowers the Barrier to Development, but Sustaining Revenue Remains a Challenge

When I logged on to the online temple on the morning of November 2, a space where 100 users could sit spread out in front of a gilt-bronze seated Buddha statue. Although it was early in the morning, 98 people had gathered in the virtual space “Sansa01,” created through “vibe coding.” Without having to log in, I could move a monk character with a serene expression. I moved inside the temple, put my hands together in prayer, and rolled a Buddhist prayer bead bracelet 108 times. In a booth set up on the right side of the temple, around 15 users gathered in a circle and danced to Buddhist music.

Users dance together on the online Buddhist temple “Sansa” (sansatemple.com) on the 2nd. They interact using features such as “Dance” and “Press palms together,” without a separate chat function. Photo by Lee Eunseo.

Park Jinwon, a 26-year-old job seeker who majored in English literature, launched the site on October 26, after building it in about 30 minutes using OpenAI’s “Codex.” Sansa attracted 600,000 visitors within three days of its launch, and is set to be released on the App Store sometime this week. To handle the growing number of users, it operates around 100 servers using Cloudflare’s services.

“Users in Korea are having fun with it, and people overseas are also visiting steadily,” Park said. “Its popularity was greater than I expected, so I decided to build it as a metaverse capable of accommodating more than 10,000 people.” He added, “Going forward, I want to develop my expertise in database management and server setup,” and said, “I also plan to add seasonal events, such as hanging lanterns during the College Scholastic Ability Test season.”

As virtual spaces built through vibe coding attract attention on social media, the metaverse, which had been in a prolonged slump, is drawing renewed interest. In addition to Sansa, the number of sites where users can relax according to their personal tastes has grown to around 300, including an online cathedral, the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, and campfires for “bulmeong,” or gazing at a fire.

The metaverse drew attention during the COVID-19 pandemic amid the shift to remote settings, but failed to take off because its applications were limited to uses such as virtual meetings and events, and it lacked content people could enjoy over time. But recent advances in AI have expanded the scope for building virtual worlds that bring individual ideas and tastes to life through vibe coding, making it possible to target the diverse and increasingly specific needs of users.

However, some observers say it remains to be seen whether these changes will lead to a full-fledged revival of the metaverse market and the creation of profitable businesses. “AI has advanced to the point where ordinary people, not just professional developers, can turn their ideas into services to some extent,” said Park Jinho, a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at Dongguk University. “Attracting users’ interest and generating revenue through an actual business are separate matters.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.