Metaverse Is Not Fading Away Easily; Some Cities Have Their Own

Metaverse may not have become a part of the mainstream, but some regions are pouring investments into it. The World Economic Forum (WEF), a non-governmental organization, lists three cities that have developed virtual worlds. The term garnered significant attention in 2021 following Facebook’s rebranding to Meta Platforms.

Adoption Will Rely on Technological Development

These cities include Seoul, South Korea; Dubai; United Arab Emirates (UAE), Santa Monica; United States. A true metaverse is a virtual world resonating with the physical world where people can carry out real-life chores like shopping and socializing. Technologies like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) are crucial to access it. People have started using extended reality (XR) as a catch-all phrase for the mentioned technologies.

South Korea aims to become a leading country in the global metaverse market by 2026. They poured around $180 Million into their metaverse endeavors in May last year. Lim Hyesook, Former Minister of Science and ICT of the Government of South Korea, called it “an uncharted digital continent with indefinite potential.”

Meta Seoul, a virtual city developed by the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG), is a digital twin to the South Korean capital. Users can visit different places in the metaverse resonating with real-life locations. Seoul has poured nearly $4 Billion into Seoul Culture Vision 2030, a metaverse project that will be crucial to Meta Seoul.

Economic and technological development in Dubai has been exponential. Dubai Metaverse Strategy aims at research and development collaborations to boost virtual worlds in the region through incubators and accelerators. Additionally, it aims to become one of the top 10 metaverse economies globally.

According to Dubai Metaverse Strategy, it “aims to turn Dubai into one of the world’s top 10 metaverse economies as well as a global hub for the metaverse community. The strategy aims to build on Dubai’s achievement of attracting more than 1,000 companies in the fields of blockchain and metaverse. It also promotes Dubai’s ambitions to support more than 40,000 virtual jobs by 2030.”

In 2021, Santa Monica became the first U.S. city following the partnership with FlickPlay, a Web3 social app, to access the metaverse through the application. It’s an AR-focused app that adds interactive elements to the location through a phone’s camera.

The concept is similar to Niantic’s mobile game Pokémon Go. The game leverages a mobile camera and gyroscope to make in-game characters appear real. In FlickPlay, players can collect coins spread around the digital map of the city. Interestingly, the app is focused on cutting the crime rate in the region. Pierina Merino, FlickPlay founder, says, “It has been proven that activating unused city spaces with art reduces crime rates.”

A proper metaverse has not arrived among the people yet. A majority are still accessing through flat screens. Metaverse adoption is likely to go hand in hand with developments in AR, VR, MR, and more. However, it is uncertain if it will be positive only.

Adarsh Singh is a true connoisseur of Defi and Blockchain technologies, who left his job at a “Big 4” multinational finance firm to pursue crypto and NFT trading full-time. He has a strong background in finance, with MBA from a prestigious B-school. He delves deep into these innovative fields, unraveling their intricacies. Uncovering hidden gems, be it coins, tokens or NFTs, is his expertise. NFTs drive deep interest for him, and his creative analysis of NFTs opens up engaging narratives. He strives to bring decentralized digital assets accessible to the masses.Adarsh Singh is a true connoisseur of Defi and Blockchain technologies, who left his job at a “Big 4” multinational finance firm to pursue crypto and NFT trading full-time. He has a strong background in finance, with MBA from a prestigious B-school. He delves deep into these innovative fields, unraveling their intricacies. Uncovering hidden gems, be it coins, tokens or NFTs, is his expertise. NFTs drive deep interest for him, and his creative analysis of NFTs opens up engaging narratives. He strives to bring decentralized digital assets accessible to the masses.