- More and more companies will turn to metaverse dating as a way to reach new customers and to get better matchmaking, Co-founder says.
- Metaverse will continue to develop as more individuals start to date virtually to find a partner who shares common interests and values.
People have been exploring dating virtually with the development and growing acceptance of the metaverse.
Metaverse had made it possible to have a first date with someone sitting on another continent and have dinner on the moon or visit exotic places hand in hand as the saying goes “Love has no boundaries”.
There are more than 150 virtual reality dating apps such as Flirtual, Lonely Hearts, Nevermet, Planet Theta, Tinder, Bumble, VRChat, Second Life, etc.
A report from McKinsey & Company estimates that the Metaverse could potentially generate up to $5 trillion in value by 2030 due to its potential to be used in a variety of consumer and business applications.
According to a recent survey by Dating.com, many people are interested in using the Metaverse for dating. In the survey, one-third of singles indicated that they would be interested in dating in a virtual world.
An Indian company – Graphity – is making it more interesting and taking it one step ahead with its “OntheMoons” platform.
Set to launch on February 10, 2023, the platform has added a social media element into it to create more possibilities and opportunities.
Piyush Aggrawal, Co-founder of Graphity, speaking to TechChannel News in an exclusive interview, said that people don’t need a VR headset to experience their platform, it is also browser-based.
Even though the VR headset market is projected to grow rapidly, with gaming stealing the spotlight, statistics show that only one in 5000 people have a headset.
Aggrawal said that VR headset is a stumbling block right now and to make them more accessible to common people, Graphity made them browser-based and mobile-based so people can access them on desktop, laptop or smartphones and to give a more depth and chat experience.
Before launching the dating platform, Aggrawal used to offer NFTs for film artists and standup comedians.
Offering a personalised experience
“We realised that we should move to the metaverse as there is huge growth potential. Later we did a lot of fashion shows, weddings, exhibitions, award shows and product launches. Most of our clients are from UAE, India and Europe,” he said.
“People come to us with requirements and we make projects in metaverse on our platforms. We help our clients navigate through the virtual world – by embracing new technologies – giving them a competitive advantage.”
Moreover, he said that their platform is quite different as people need to express themselves more in other apps.
“In a chat, you cannot express more in a better way. We offer a personalised experience in a metaverse.,” he said.
On the platform, people can set different locations to meet, after creating a virtual avatar.
“In a dating app, nobody wants to show their real personality. On our platform, you can show your real picture or a virtual avatar. People can go to a bar, cinema or a club in a virtual environment to make life in the metaverse more fun than in real life,” Aggrawal said.
Target of catfishing
People are turning to dating in the metaverse because the male–female ratio is 70%-30%, he said and added that 70% of the data on dating apps are bots and fake.
“Most of the males on the dating apps create a female profile picture and with that, lots of frauds are taking place. We want to show the real data. Whenever there is matchmaking on our platform, we ask for a live picture to make sure it is not a bot or a Google image,” he said.
Florida State University research revealed that as many as 77% of women and 66% of men have been a target of catfishing.
“Moreover, half of online daters believe that many people set up fake profiles to scam others. On top of that, as many as 48% say that receiving sexually explicit messages and images they didn’t ask for, is very common,” the study showed.
To make it more stringent, Aggrawal said that all the data sit in a virtual private cloud and no criminals can break into it.
“Every metaverse session between a girl and a boy is valid only when they enter the platform and after that, it gets expired. Even for this purpose, we are not using AI right now but we may plan it at a later stage,” he said.
More companies to follow
More and more companies will turn to metaverse dating as a way to reach new customers and to get better matchmaking; he said that they are ready to go live on dating platforms and even in India, matchmaking apps are mushrooming.
“Parents are more supporting dating apps to know the boy or a girl better. To find a good companion you cannot sit at home, you have to put in the effort. To know a person on another continent, dating apps are the only way to get a good companion and are more interesting. Metaverse offers an immersive experience that is not possible in the physical world,” he said.
More singles open to dating
The McKinsey report said that the metaverse is simply too big to be ignored, highlighting the impact it could have on commercial and personal lives and estimates that over 50% of live events could be held in the metaverse by 2030.
“With advancements in dating app technology and the metaverse, more daters are open to making connections that span different cities, countries and even continents. With metaverse in the picture, singles are open to dating people from different geographical locations,” the report said.
Aggrawal said that the metaverse will continue to develop as more individuals start to date virtually to find a partner who shares common interests and values.
To make it profitable, he said that the first 10,000 users, it is going to be free.
After that, whenever there is matchmaking, he said that there is an option to meet in the metaverse and for that, they have to take a subscription and which is $29 per year.
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