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Indian Couple Tie their Knot in the Metaverse, Offering 3D Experience for 500 Guests

To ensure that family and friends across the globe attended their big day, amid geographical constraints and safety measures under the COVID-19 pandemic, an Indian couple decided to have the first wedding of its kind in the metaverse, according to Business Insider.

Abhijeet Goel and Sansrati said “I do” on a scenic beachside venue hosted on Yug Metaverse with the wedding being executed and conceptualized by media agencies Matrimony.com and Wavemaker India.

The metaverse wedding coincided with the physical event happening in Bhopal, India last Saturday.

Per the announcement:

“Abhijeet and Sansrati created a scenic beachside wedding environment which could be accessed via Yug platform. The wedding had more than 500 registrations for the wedding. Users could change their avatars, walk through the event and enjoy the dancing floor too.”

Therefore, guests witnessed the union through their digital avatars.

Shashank, a member of the Yug platform, gave the 3D metaverse wedding a thumbs up and said:

“Metaverses like Yug are a logical evolution of the current 2D Internet to an Immersive 3D experience akin to the real world. Yug is an open platform where people can create their own experiences like marriages, virtual events, exhibitions, friends hangout, business meetings, and conferences or enjoy experiences created by others.”

He added that the platform could transform various fields like entertainment, commerce, business, and education through decentralization.

The metaverse is continuing to become mainstream in the modern era because it entails shared virtual worlds where avatars, buildings, land, and even names can be bought and sold, often using cryptocurrencies.

It seems the sky’s the limit for the metaverse because it is anticipated that 25% of people will utilize at least one hour daily in this virtual world working and shopping, among others, by 2026, according to research and consulting company Gartner.

Furthermore, William Quigley, the co-founder of the stable coin Tether (USDT), believes that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will be the revenue model of the metaverse.

The Sandbox, FlickPlay Collaborate to Accelerate Interoperability in Metaverse

With the metaverse expected to be worth between $8 trillion and $13 trillion by 2030, virtual world gaming platforms The Sandbox and FlickPlay have joined hands to enhance its adoption by offering players a blockchain asset.

With the interoperability concept being at the heart of the metaverse, the blockchain asset will enable users to move freely between virtual worlds on distinctive platforms, enabling them to carry belongings like virtual clothes.

Pierina Merino, the CEO and founder of FlickPlay, noted that the partnership would be a stepping stone towards attaining the interoperability feature in the metaverse.

She noted:

“Initially, Flicky owners will unlock a version of the chameleon to use on The Sandbox, but soon they will be able to use the exact version of the digital asset stored on the blockchain in both games.”

Sebastien Borget, The Sandbox’s co-founder, welcomed the collaboration because it would offer a more immersive experience and said:

“The integration is notable because it may be the first to bridge an NFT in the virtual world with usage linked to the physical world.”

The metaverse continues to gain steam in the modern era because it entails shared virtual worlds where avatars, buildings, land, and even names can be bought and sold, often using cryptocurrencies.

Therefore, these virtual worlds are made more lifelike using technologies like augmented reality, blockchain technology, and virtual reality.

Meanwhile, HSBC Holdings, a British multinational investment bank, recently established a metaverse fund to render investment opportunities to its high and ultra-high net worth investors in Singapore and Hong Kong.

HSBC would pinpoint investment opportunities across five areas in the metaverse ecosystem; infrastructure, interface, computing, experience and discovery, and virtualization through a Metaverse Discretionary Strategy portfolio.

Epic Games and LEGO Group Partner to Build Family-Friendly Metaverse

Epic Games, the creator of the Unreal Engine and Fortnite, has announced a long-term partnership with the LEGO Group to build a “family-friendly” Metaverse. The announcement comes just weeks after Epic Games’ $2 billion funding round aimed at accelerating the company’s plans for the Metaverse.

The partnership between Epic Games and LEGO Group is expected to combine Epic’s expertise in virtual world technology with LEGO’s iconic brand and family-friendly reputation. While neither company has revealed any concrete details about the collaboration, LEGO Group CEO Niels Christiansen told the Financial Times earlier this year that the company was looking to announce more details soon.

The move towards a “family-friendly” Metaverse is significant given the concerns over the potential negative impact of virtual worlds on young people. Critics have raised concerns over the potential for addiction, cyberbullying, and exposure to inappropriate content.

Epic Games’ decision to partner with LEGO Group could be seen as a way to address these concerns and make the Metaverse more accessible to families with children. By leveraging LEGO’s brand and expertise in creating family-friendly content, Epic Games could help to create a virtual world that is both entertaining and safe for all ages.

The partnership between Epic Games and LEGO Group is just the latest indication of the growing interest in the Metaverse. With major players like Facebook, Roblox, and Decentraland also investing in virtual world technology, it’s clear that the concept of the Metaverse is here to stay.

As the Metaverse continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how companies like Epic Games and LEGO Group approach the challenges of creating a virtual world that is both engaging and safe for all ages. With billions of dollars being invested in the technology, the future of the Metaverse looks bright, but there are sure to be bumps along the way as the technology continues to develop.

What Is Web 4.0?

Web 4.0 (or Web4) is an innovative concept outlined by the European Commission, designed to compete with the rapidly emerging trend of Web 3.0, which is gaining significant momentum in countries or regions such as the USA, Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The Commission’s vision for Web 4.0 aims to position the European Union at the forefront of the next technological transition, surpassing the decentralization of Web 3.0.

Characteristics

Web 4.0 is anticipated to provide truly intuitive, immersive experiences by seamlessly integrating digital and real objects and environments, enhancing interactions between humans and machines. This integration is expected to be achieved through advanced artificial and ambient intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), trusted blockchain transactions, virtual worlds, and extended reality (XR) capabilities. It is expected to be driven by open technologies and standards that ensure interoperability between platforms and networks, and freedom of choice for users.

Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds, integral to Web 4.0, are immersive 3D environments that merge virtual, digital, and physical realities, offering highly interactive experiences. These environments persist and evolve even without user interaction and serve diverse purposes, including design, simulation, collaboration, learning, socializing, transactions, and entertainment.

These next-generation virtual worlds are finding applications across sectors such as education, healthcare, manufacturing, and public services, transforming the way we learn, work, and interact. However, they also present challenges, including privacy, security, ethical considerations, and societal impact, necessitating a balance between opportunities and risks.

In the EU, approximately 3,700 entities operate within the virtual worlds subdomain, contributing to about 24% of the global total. Policymakers are tasked with fostering economic growth and digital evolution while ensuring the creation of responsible and fair virtual worlds.

Opportunities

Web 4.0 and virtual worlds hold significant opportunities across industrial and societal domains. In manufacturing, virtual twins can help optimize production processes, making them more efficient and sustainable.

In the cultural and creative industry, virtual worlds offer new ways to create, promote, and distribute content and engage with audiences. In education and training, especially in the medical field, virtual worlds can be used for simulations, reducing risks and improving accuracy.

Virtual classrooms can enable students and teachers to visualize abstract subjects or simulate scientific experiments without taking any risks.

Challenges

Web 4.0 and virtual worlds also present several challenges, including issues related to awareness, access to trustworthy information, digital skills, user acceptance, and trust in new technologies. There are also broader challenges related to fundamental rights and business challenges such as ecosystem fragmentation and access to finance.

EU Strategy

The European Commission has launched a strategy for Web 4.0 and virtual worlds to steer the next technological transition and ensure an open, secure, trustworthy, fair, and inclusive digital environment for EU citizens, businesses, and public administrations.

The strategy aims to empower people and reinforce skills, support a European Web 4.0 industrial ecosystem, support societal progress and virtual public services, and shape global standards for open and interoperable virtual worlds and Web 4.0.