Arizona State University Plans to Jump on Metaverse Bandwagon

Arizona State University has filed several metaverse-related filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, according to a tweet posted by trademark attorney Josh Gerben.

The educational institution intends to launch non-fungible tokens for event tickers, the artwork of the landmarks that can be spotted on its campus, banners, gonfalons, and even university diplomas.   

On top of that, the university also wants to offer NFTs for videos of sports highlights and other activities.  

The recent filings also show that Arizona State University plans to go as providing lectures, workshops, and meetings in a web-based virtual environment. Apart from that, the university plans to host athletic events, music concerts, and art exhibitions in the metaverse.

Virtual reality is gradually becoming more attractive for educational institutions since the technology helps to enable more immersive digital experiences. Due to the growing popularity of remote learning, students have to find viable alternatives to Zoom, and the metaverse may be an attractive option.     

Last month, Brazil’s University of Sao Paulo announced its plan to build a virtual headquarters in the metaverse, allowing students to interact in a virtual environment.

Meanwhile, Italy’s University of Bari Aldo Moro recently launched an initiative to promote local culture with the help of NFT, metaverse, and virtual reality.
Despite gradually becoming part of the mainstream culture, there’s still plenty of confusion about the meaning of the latest tech buzzword.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently mentioned that there was no coherent definition of “metaverse.”

For now, it seems like replacing lecturers with avatars won’t be an easy feat.