The metaverse world is a hypothetical iteration of the internet as a single, universal and immersive virtual world.
Qatar Airways is looking to integrate new features to its metaverse platform, QVerse.
The Gulf carrier plans to introduce non-fungible tokens (NFT), ticket purchases, and more places to explore through the novel virtual reality platform.
In late April, Qatar Airways announced that through QVerse, users can virtually tour and navigate the Premium Check-in area at Hamad International Airport, the cabin interior of the airline’s aircraft, including the award-winning Business Class Qsuite, as well as the Economy Class cabin.
“With physical boundaries beginning to be challenged by the metaverse on an increasingly larger scale, it is exciting to embrace a technology that enables all travel enthusiasts to enjoy a unique immersive experience of our award-winning products and services,” said Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker.
It has been alleged that the airline said that in the future, QVerse may be accessed from other metaverse platforms and aims to make the experience sociable and accessible through the Oculus Quest VR platform.
“We [Qatar Airways] are currently focusing on creating our metaverse rather than investing in Decentraland or Sandbox. But we do not rule out this plan. We continue to explore how we can develop this area and strategically incorporate NFTs into QVerse.”
Reports also say Qatar Airways intends to include the purchase of tickets for physical flights and the choice of seats on real aircraft through its virtual reality platform.
The Qatar company said: “We believe that the future is virtual. The metaverse will empower human beings, expand their horizons and break their limits by challenging the most basic methods that were once limitations,” according to Qatar Airways’ statements to the Cointelegraph.
QVerse was created using Epic Game’s Unreal Engine, which is considered as one of the most advanced 3D creation tools.
The metaverse industry
Although Qatar Airways is the first airline to participate in the metaverse trend, the United States Air Force had filed in April to trademark the word SpaceVerse for use in metaverse-related goods and services.
Separately, the metaverse market has been expanding quickly and is expected to surpass $1.5 trillion by the year 2030, according to an analysis by P&S Intelligence, a market research and consulting services company.
Many companies, such as Facebook, have made it their mission to join the metaverse industry.
Facebook recently completed its rebrand to Meta, stepping towards becoming a full metaverse company.