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The startup is creating a space for museums in the metaverse, opening culture to a wider audience
Spotted: The virtual world is growing. Compared to June 2021, when only two mobile apps mentioned the word ‘metaverse’ in their name or description, as of January 2022, 27 included it as a keyword. One of these new virtual-reality-based platforms is Metaseum, which bills itself as the metaverse of culture. The startup is developing a fully immersive and interactive way to visit museums and collections virtually.
Metaseum plans to work with museums and individual artists, allowing them to purchase a piece of virtual land – chosen from pre-designed virtual buildings or a space created themselves – and host collections. Visitors will then be able to view and explore the collections in depth. The company is currently working to establish partnerships with museums and artists, prototyping a metaverse space, and developing NFT collections. They hope to progress to an Alpha launch in the second quarter of 2023.
Metaseum explains the benefits of its approach as a way to offer visitors a more immersive way to experience art. The company writes on its website that, “Without physical restrictions like gravity, there are no experience limitations for your visitors. Let them walk into the Mona Lisa and explore the landscape behind her, talk to the subject of a painting or the painter himself, bungee jump from the Eiffel Tower, get tactile with sculptures that are too fragile to touch in real-life and create a space where they can meet up with friends from all over the world.”
The metaverse is gaining speed and there is no shortage of ideas for how to use it. Some metaverse-related innovations recently spotted by Springwise include a metaverse marathon that promotes diversity and inclusion, and a virtual retail experience that allows gamers to open their own virtual stores.
Written By: Lisa Magloff