New metaverse city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

[Bitstar_coin]

Multiple emirates in the UAE are looking to the metaverse to boost tourism in their respective regions. Sharjah the second most populous emirate in the UAE, with roughly 1.8 million people now joins Dubai in broadening its Web3 ambitions. Through Sharjahverse, the entire emirate will be viewable to the public.
The new metaverse city is a “photorealistic, physics-accurate” metaverse that encompasses the emirate’s 1,000 square-mile surface area. The virtual city will support the local tourism industry and potentially create new metaverse jobs. The metaverse city is backed by the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, or SCTDA, which is the main government agency tasked with promoting the emirate’s tourism industry.



In addition to growing crypto and blockchain adoption at the emirate level, there are signs that UAE’s federal government is readying positive regulatory catalysts for the country. As reported by Cointelegraph in February, the UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority is developing crypto licensing legislation that would enable digital asset firms to establish operations in the country.



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[KaliLinux]

The UAE has been very forward-thinking when it comes to the development of the region with a view to attracting tourism which can be one of the biggest revenue generations and has also been very receptive to the Cryptocurrency/Blockchain ecosystem. I admire what the Government is doing there, first was Dubai, and now Sharjah. The UAE and most especially the emirate of Dubai is already a destination choice for most tourists, this will make it more exciting for tourists to see Sharjah in the same light and they rightly pointed out, create new metaverse jobs.   

[Dave1]

They are forward thinking indeed and I would say very open about the latest of everything, including crypto, NFT and now Metaverse.

And who knows, if they set a precedence in the middle east, and having a lot of money in the background, it easily be success for them in the future and all the neighboring countries that will follow them. And it's a ambition that can be achieved and unlocked by the country.

[Coin_trader]

To be honest, The graphics is looks like in the game of vice city. Using the google earth is far more attractive to use to have a 360 view on the tourist spot compared on the current graphics if they want to boost tourism. Don’t get the wrong idea on my statement, Metaverse is a good idea but the current technology is very limited to display almost realistic image inside the metaverse. It will take time and resources in able to produce a presentable metaverse that can the display the real beauty of those tourist spot.

I hope they have enough funds to continue the product development for long term until they have a good product or else they are just repeating the old version graphics design of old games like what I mention above.

[hugeblack]

It is just speculation and plans, but the general budget was issued for the next two years and did not contain huge investments in bitcoin. Therefore, the UAE government as a country will not invest in bitcoin and metaverse, but it may be done through investment funds.

So, in short, the news is inaccurate or very optimistic.

[yazher]

When we look at the United Arab Emirates in general, it is one of the richest countries in the world. They invest in every field and almost every sector. It is a very good thing that they invest in the crypto money industry and work on metaverse technology. In my opinion, they do this job very comfortably when there is money available in the united Arab emirates.

When they invested in something we need to understand that it is the best version of it. I wonder how would it look like and who will be the people that are allowed to test their metaverse city. Looks like it will be one of the best experiences to try it for the first time. If this is open for all, then we might not need to go there to have an experience of the country, even though it's just some virtual world, the experience is more likely the same and if you go there for the first time after getting to their metaverse, it would be like you had been there for long because of the early experience you had in the metaverse.

[el kaka22]

Is this productive or counter-productive? I am not saying that creating a VR version of a city is good enough, of course you would want to visit there if you like it enough, but if I could visit it, and not have to go there, do I even have to?

If you are rich enough you will want to go to Dubai, because you have the money for it, but if you are not rich enough, not only you will not be able to visit it, but you won't have to really grind to find the money for it neither, some people who would "barely" have the money for it, could use that to go to another city they want to visit, and instead use this with metaverse to visit UAE instead. Maybe it will trick people into wanting to see the real thing though, I don't know.

[abel1337]

Is this productive or counter-productive? I am not saying that creating a VR version of a city is good enough, of course you would want to visit there if you like it enough, but if I could visit it, and not have to go there, do I even have to?

If you are rich enough you will want to go to Dubai, because you have the money for it, but if you are not rich enough, not only you will not be able to visit it, but you won't have to really grind to find the money for it neither, some people who would "barely" have the money for it, could use that to go to another city they want to visit, and instead use this with metaverse to visit UAE instead. Maybe it will trick people into wanting to see the real thing though, I don't know.

You have a point, It's like seeing the photo of tourist destinations and wanting to go there to see the real thing. Though, there are some existing technology that can offer this just like google earth where it is far more immersive than photos or videos. As we currently see about crypto and metaverse today, We can possibly be at a metaverse world in the future near and normalize it just like having social media. Companies and countries are creating and jumping into metaverse because they know that the possibility of it becoming the future is high and with the interest of their own business just like what UAE is currently planning today.

[dothebeats]

Any city can claim that they are the center of a new technological advancement but not actually be the best at it. Just like Zuckerberg's own version of metaverse who turns out as bad as it is. Say, their application and implementation of the tech turned out flawless, would it even be within reach of us mere mortals anyway? Or would it only be available to the elites whose social status is extremely high and whose pockets are so deep they can do anything that they want. If we won't be able to get a taste of this experience, what's the point of them being the metaverse city at all?

[fvb]

This country always pleases with its innovations, and even more so in such an area as the metaverse. In general, this is undoubtedly a very developed country and it keeps up with the times. Judging by the articles, countries such as Japan, China and South Korea also do not stand still. I would like to quickly see what they will achieve in this promising area.

[Johnyz]

This country always pleases with its innovations, and even more so in such an area as the metaverse. In general, this is undoubtedly a very developed country and it keeps up with the times. Judging by the articles, countries such as Japan, China and South Korea also do not stand still. I would like to quickly see what they will achieve in this promising area.

This is how middle east growing especially with UAE, they are very innovative and they really trying to adopt technologies as much as possible. Though looking at the Metaverse city, it looks like another city and not the known UAE where you can see a lot of buildings but it's good for other emirates to follow the footsteps of the other emirate when it comes to blockchain adoption. This is indeed a promising project and a proof that Metaverse is not done yet.

[serjent05]

Is this productive or counter-productive? I am not saying that creating a VR version of a city is good enough, of course you would want to visit there if you like it enough, but if I could visit it, and not have to go there, do I even have to?

If you are rich enough you will want to go to Dubai, because you have the money for it, but if you are not rich enough, not only you will not be able to visit it, but you won't have to really grind to find the money for it neither, some people who would "barely" have the money for it, could use that to go to another city they want to visit, and instead use this with metaverse to visit UAE instead. Maybe it will trick people into wanting to see the real thing though, I don't know.

The project targets people who have the capability to visit the place.  So I believe it is productive and isn't a question of whether people have the capacity or not.  A platform is merely a form of advertising and promotion.  Besides, with or without the metaverse platform, a person cannot visit the place if they don't have money in the first place.  Metaverse is created to give at least a "first hand" sample of the environment around and entice those who have the capacity to experience and feel the place in real life.

Is this productive or counter-productive? I am not saying that creating a VR version of a city is good enough, of course you would want to visit there if you like it enough, but if I could visit it, and not have to go there, do I even have to?

If you are rich enough you will want to go to Dubai, because you have the money for it, but if you are not rich enough, not only you will not be able to visit it, but you won't have to really grind to find the money for it neither, some people who would "barely" have the money for it, could use that to go to another city they want to visit, and instead use this with metaverse to visit UAE instead. Maybe it will trick people into wanting to see the real thing though, I don't know.

You have a point, It's like seeing the photo of tourist destinations and wanting to go there to see the real thing. Though, there are some existing technology that can offer this just like google earth where it is far more immersive than photos or videos. As we currently see about crypto and metaverse today, We can possibly be at a metaverse world in the future near and normalize it just like having social media. Companies and countries are creating and jumping into metaverse because they know that the possibility of it becoming the future is high and with the interest of their own business just like what UAE is currently planning today.

I believe they do not want a third-party company to have control over their planned project which is why they try to recreate the place themselves.  Besides, I think the country may implement entrance/viewing fees to visitors of the metaverse after it is fully polished.

[goaldigger]

This country always pleases with its innovations, and even more so in such an area as the metaverse. In general, this is undoubtedly a very developed country and it keeps up with the times. Judging by the articles, countries such as Japan, China and South Korea also do not stand still. I would like to quickly see what they will achieve in this promising area.

That can be a good development and since UAE is very supportive when it comes to innovation, no wonder they will enter into this one as well. I think this is just a private company who created this metaverse but if their government supports this, probably this can be the next big thing. The hype for metaverse might not be here anymore because of bear market, but I’m sure it will come back again because Metaverse is still on its early stage.