Biggest News From the Metaverse in December 2022

December has been full of surprises and excitement for Metaverse enthusiasts across the globe. Let’s look at some of the biggest news from this month.

Like almost every other month in 2022, December has been full of surprises and excitement for Metaverse enthusiasts across the globe. Let’s look at some of the biggest news from this month.

Meta’s consulting CTO for Oculus John Carmack steps down

After a stint of 8 years, John Carmack – a pioneer of Virtual Reality Technology, parted ways with Meta on bitter terms. He felt the company was operating at “half the effectiveness” and had “a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort.”

In a Facebook Post, Carmack wrote “…It has been a struggle for me. I have a voice at the highest levels here, so it feels like I should be able to move things, but I’m evidently not persuasive enough.”

Explore Bengaluru Airport’s Terminal 2 in the Metaverse

The newly constructed Terminal 2 of the Bangalore International Airport has become the first airport available for exploration in the Metaverse. According to Bangalore Internation Airport Limited (BIAL), the 3D virtual experience was created in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Polygon.

BIAL called this the first-phase launch of its Metaverse experience and has named it ‘BLR Metaport’

“Metaverse” Grabs Second Place as Oxford’s Word of the Year

2022 was an excellent year for the Metaverse. With so many developments happening all around, the word ‘Metaverse’ was among the year’s most popular terms.

The word ‘Metaverse’ grabbed second place in Oxford University Press’ “Word of the Year”. According to their research, the usage of the word “increased almost fourfold from the previous year in the Oxford Corpus,” driven partly by Facebook’s rebranding to Meta in October 2021.

“Goblin Mode” was declared as the WOTY as it seemingly “captured the prevailing mood of individuals who rejected the idea of returning to ‘normal life'” after lifting COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions in many areas.

Celebrity Cruises Launches “World’s First Digital Cruise Ship Experience” In The Metaverse

Revered for it’s next-generation ships, Celebrity Cruises brings to life an unprecedented virtual experience with ‘Wonderverse’.

The travellers can now explore a hyper-realistic digital recreation of their newest ship in Celebrity’s transformational Edge Series, Celebrity BeyondSM, complete with the ship’s artful and inspiring spaces, entertaining signature moments like Celebrity’s famous Martini Bar Flair Show, and the ability to visit top destinations that Celebrity sails to – from Alaska to the Caribbean and Europe to Asia.

Blippar announces the expansion of Blippbuilder, a no-code AR creation platform compatible with leading AR glasses.

Blippar, the content and technology platform specialised in Augmented Reality, announced the expansion of it’s ‘No-Code’ Platform – Blippbuilder. The platform now allows creators to build AR experiences for AR headsets like Magic Leap 2, Meta Quest Pro and many others.

“Ensuring that the immense potential of AR remains accessible and in the hands of creators is of the utmost importance to us at Blippar,” said Preet Prasannan, CEO of Blippar. “From our position in the centre of the AR ecosystem, we value the creativity that stems from all levels of developer knowledge, and we’re proud to continue expanding our offerings and to be the only company to provide a no-code AR creation solution that is compatible with the world’s leading AR headsets.”

Meet MetaTor — A Mixed Reality Open Metaverse

MetaTor has announced it has released its MetaTor platform, a decentralized Metaverse powered by Ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana and Polygon. Metator welcomes people of all ages and spheres to enter the world of new opportunities and immersive experiences like never before. Metator eliminates all restrictions and limits, providing entry into the mixed reality world of Metator. Moreover, Metator is an open-source metaverse where professionals and experts from different fields can contribute by building their tools, providing everyone with the freedom to build in Metator. Metator has successfully launched an early developer access program, accepting applications from developers and technical experts. Applicants shall be shortlisted and invited to join team Metator to contribute and build.

Along with the happenings mentioned above, a lot happened in December and including all of it one article would make this really, really, really long! The Metaverse grew in 2022 with a great momentum and it is really exciting to see what’s in store in 2023 for the Metaverse!