You will be surprised to know that you were already using the world of “Metaverse” without realizing it! This world has been at your fingertips for a long time through electronic games, but it has recently emerged and has come to dominate the strategies of major companies around the world, especially in the Gulf, which is designing many branded products based on it. This world is expected to be worth $800 billion by 2024.
While major technology companies consider the “Metaverse” to be the inevitable future of the Internet, this world has entered almost all economic, health, technical, and creative sectors as well.
You can now watch a movie, sit in restaurants, buy goods and land, and even attend an international fashion week in the virtual world.
Travel
Qatar Airways joined the world of “Metaverse” recently with the launch of “Qverse”, becoming the first airline in the world to offer a member of the cabin crew with “MetaHuman” technology, to provide an interactive digital experience for the airline’s customers.
Visitors to the airline’s website will be able to explore the first-class and business-class check-in area at Hamad International Airport, and the interior of the airline’s cabins, including the award-winning Qsuite Business Class seat, and the Economy Class cabin, by using the electronic devices availed to them.
Art and creativity
Good news for film lovers and the world of metaverse alike, as MContent, in collaboration with teams of emerging technologists from PwC in the Middle East, has launched the Cineverse Experience, which aims to bring cinematic movies to people anytime, anywhere.
Barco is also providing digital projection technology services for the new immersive arts center “Infinity de Lumiere” hosted in Dubai. The new digital art center will provide the opportunity for visitors and residents of the UAE to explore a modern approach based on a unique artistic experience.
Fashion
Fashion has its share, too. The world witnessed the first fashion week in the “Metaverse” from 24 to 27 March 2022, after some international designers moved to this world, most recently the Lebanese designer Elie Saab. About 55 international fashion houses participated in it, including PacoRabanne, Dolce&Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger, Roberto Cavalli, Etro, Hugo Boss, and Dundas.
Data controls
The “Metaverse” also entered the field of information, and as such NEOM Digital Technology Company (Xverse) in Saudi launched the “Metaverse” 3D perceptual platform based on digital twinning, which aims to enable a mixed-reality model of real urban life.
The cognitive platform “Xverse” combines the real and digital architectural world of NEOM, in addition to a group of highly communicative technologies and artificial intelligence features, and aims to achieve seamless integration between the real and digital world.
Xverse allows users to have multiple scene options as well as the ability to view from multiple locations via Metaverse in real-time (via teleportation) as an avatar, hologram or robotic avatar.
It also launched its innovative “M3LD” platform, to manage approved data, which enables users to control and benefit from personal data.
M3LD has the ability to see who owns user data, monitor how it is used, and make recommendations about privacy settings for all their digital accounts.
Engineering and real estate
While the virtual Emirati real estate in the world of “Metaverse” witnessed strong demand and great demand during the last period, large amounts of digital real estate were acquired in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, and the rest of the emirates of the country as digital assets that are non-fungible against specific digital currencies.
XCLUSIVERSE was also launched, the first integrated real-world digital experience that maps solutions to real estate brokers, sellers, and business owners to enhance their business opportunities, as they can now list their real properties in the digital world and access a global list of properties and lands in order to help their clients.
Damac Properties also recently announced it would build communities on the Metaverse.
Virtue Worldwide, a virtual office within the metaverse world of VICE Media Group (VMG), helps brands innovate in new platforms, technologies and spaces in culturally appropriate ways.
Hospitality and restaurants
Let’s move on to the hospitality and restaurant sector, where “Colossal Beat”, a Dubai-based cryptocurrency and NFT developer, “opened” the restaurant “Metaterrace” at the Dubai International Financial Centre, which links the digital and physical worlds in line with the principle of “Metaverse”.
The restaurant offers nightlife enthusiasts a unique opportunity to get a glimpse of what the digital future looks like. The restaurant will have its own VR room, which will facilitate the metaverse experience. The virtual reality glasses will enable people to visit alternate worlds, have drinks, and participate in discussions about cryptocurrency and NFT.
Health
“Metaverse” broke into the health sector, so it launched “Aimedis”, an online healthcare delivery platform that adopts blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things. It is headquartered in the UAE, the healthcare city in the world of “Metaverse”, also called “Imides Health City”.
This system will integrate the real and virtual worlds and provide a better experience for patients and medical staff alike. Aimedis Health City will allow users to connect, interact, rehabilitate and provide treatment across time and space in ways previously unimaginable.
In addition, the Aimedis Health City will include the first Museum of Virtual Scientific and Medical Arts.
Mental health has also had a share in the Metaverse. For example, the Emirates Health Services Corporation is concerned with providing remote mental health services, and early diagnosis of autism and dementia using artificial intelligence technology.
