‘Making the internet better’: experiencing the metaverse

• Utopia VR was formed 19 months ago
• Works on all devices including mobile and PC
• Meetings in a virtual 3D space

A local company is giving people a taste of the metaverse by hosting virtual meetings in their 3D world.

Utopia VR is a web-based audio and video conferencing platform that easily brings users of virtual meetings into a 3D space.

“The simplest way to explain the metaverse is it’s just making the internet better,” Stuart Gray, President of Utopia VR told Kelowna10 in an interview conducted over Zoom.

“Look at it like virtual Lego blocks where you’re connecting a series of rooms together virtually. Those rooms could be anything from a boardroom to a beach… we can design whatever you want.”

Since the start of the pandemic, working remotely and on virtual platforms has become more common. Gray said they are making virtual meetings a unique experience with personal customizations.

“Why VR and 3D environments like this? They’re far more collaborative than a typical Zoom meeting that’s in 2D, where you feel like you’re viewing a meeting and you’re not a participant,” Gray explained.

Space for NFTs

Gray said the company is looking to incorporate non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into the 3D spaces as it offers people a more in-depth look at virtual art and images. An NFT is a digital file that can be associated with a physical object and can be licensed to use for a specific purpose.

“We’ve already had some open houses with NFT artists… because this is such an amazing environment to showcase your NFTs, so they don’t get lost in some website somewhere,” he said.

Entering the virtual world of the metaverse and NFTs might sound confusing, but one team member said it’s not much different than using the regular internet.

“Everybody right now knows what a website is, and so what that means is that everybody actually has digital assets,” Dave Martin, Head of Global Operations at Utopia VR explained.

“What we’re talking about is the world making a shift to having three-dimensional websites.”

Martin said these digital assets include photos, websites, PDFs, and more. He said the transition from one-dimensional sites to three-dimensional is as easy as copying and pasting existing digital assets into the 3D environment.

The local company employs 12 full-time staff around the Okanagan and B.C. They also contract workers from around the globe.