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Unlike some other metaverse projects, which create fantasy virtual landscapes, MeetKai has a different vision.
The project is mapping the actual world, to offer it as an augmented doppelganger, complete with heavily AI powered features.
Among other things, users will be able to create games or brand-connected real estate populated with entities that aren’t NPCs (Non-Player Characters).
Instead, AI will allow those entities to have utility and intelligence of their own, in order to interact as part of the immersive experiences people design and inhabit.
While MeetKai hasn’t launched yet for end users, it’s a project worth tracking, due to the names already involved with its development.
Huawei, Nvidia, Vidio, Futurewei, Liputan6 and KlikDokter are all currently on the list.
Huawei might raise eyebrows for those who recall controversies surrounding the giant Chinese government connected tech company during the Trump presidency, and even during Biden’s time in the White House.
The Trends Journal has highlighted Huawei’s intrusive surveillance tech and other checkered activities in articles such as:
- “MYANMAR PROTESTERS FEAR AI FUELED CRACKDOWN.” (23 Mar 2021)
- “BIDEN BARS U.S. INVESTING IN 59 CHINESE FIRMS” (8 Jun 2021)
- “BIDEN LETS CHINA SPY TECH EXEC OFF THE HOOK” (28 Sep 2021)
- “BELGRADE BLANKETED WITH HUAWEI BIOMETRIC CAMERAS” (13 Jul 2021)
Those controversies noted, MeetKai has attracted interest from major tech media, as well.
A LifeWire story quoted MeetKai CEO James Kaplan in a May 2022 article suggesting that the VR platform might offer “dating” experiences offering more security verification possibilities than many current internet alternatives.
“I believe that Web3 will offer some interesting ways to get around the ‘just create a new account’ problem by implementing new verification practices and requiring users to have a real stake in their profile. [The end result could be] that if they lose it, they get punished proportionally,” Kaplan added.
Of course, Kaplan is assuming a lot, considering many people use current gaming and fantasy play technology very much wanting anonymity as part of the experience.
But there’s no question that via apps like Flirtual, metaverse dating is already a reality.
The Trends Journal also previously covered AI girlfriend chatbot technology like Replika, which allows users to spin up customized virtual companions, and meet them in the metaverse; see “YOUR AI LOVER DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOU (AND THAT’S WHY IT’S SO SEDUCTIVE).”
Kaplan, who studied Computer Science at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA, believes that MeetKai can leverage real world virtualization together with AI, a personal passion of his, to open up metaverse experiences people would otherwise not be able to have.
Speaking to medium.com, Kaplan explained his company’s vision:
“We’re building a metaverse product because a lot of real-life experiences people have now are cost prohibitive or simply impractical due to a whole suite of reasons for people. Apps, which did democratize a number of them, are fundamentally limited in what they can do given their constraints of form and function. An XR metaverse on the other hand allows us to deliver not just replacements for many real-world experiences, but also fundamental improvements to them too. But our goal is not to develop something that is purely the virtual — our metaverse is rooted in reality. There is already a real world that is very interesting out there, it is just not being exposed to enough people.”
Asked what experiences the metaverse might be able to “do better” than is currently possible in the everyday world, Kaplan ticked off several interesting scenarios.
He said the metaverse would bring distant people together to share and relate in a space, in a way that will make zoom calls seem quaint.
Shopping experiences would be customized so that people no longer had to browse the same “fixed space.” The environment of the metaverse could be customized to present a space and items and options that will be very specifically tailored and unique to individual preferences and tastes.
The metaverse would also offer options for trying out items and experiences, without risks or costs. For example, before going on a cruise or jetting to a Caribbean island, potential travelers could preview their vacation via a metaverse trial.