Taiwan-based consumer electronics company HTC Corp. said it it partnering with telecom operator e& in the United Arab Emirates to explore business opportunities in the metaverse.
In a statement released earlier this week, HTC said it had signed an agreement with e&, formerly known as Etisalat Group, on a long-term partnership that will bring to bear HTC’s Viverse technologies and e& Universe solutions.
The accord was signed at GITEX Global 2022, an annual tech exhibition in the UAE capital Dubai, which was held Oct. 10-14 this year, according to HTC.
HTC, which was primarily a smartphone brand, began diversifying its product portfolio in 2015 with the launch of its first VR headset — the HTC Vive — and has since been expanding into the virtual reality market.
Recently, the company has been exploring business opportunities in the metaverse, a term that was first used in the 1992 science fiction novel “Snow Crash” and has now become an industry buzzword for immersive internet technologies accessed through virtual reality and related devices.
The Taiwan-based company is now working to link its virtual reality business to the metaverse, via an operation called “Viverse,” which it describes as an animated virtual world.
At GITEX Global 2022, meanwhile, e& displayed a new platform, which allowed people to participate virtually in the exhibition and interact with each other.
HTC said that e& Universe facilitates innovations in a wide range of fields such as entertainment, education, production and leisure, and its personal spaces can be customized with artwork, while users can gather virtually to watch sports or movies and throw social events.
“Our work with e& is hugely exciting, delivering to consumers new worlds filled with immersive experiences,” Joseph Lin, general manager of Viverse, said in the statement.
“Through our collaboration with e&, our aim is to unleash peoples’ imaginations, helping them to enjoy new worlds, get work done in more engaging ways, learn, and relax,” he said. “This is just the beginning, and with e&, we can’t wait to show you the amazing experiences that are coming next in e& Universe,” Lin said.
In June, HTC unveiled the world’s first metaverse smartphone — the HTC Desire 22 pro — which can be paired with its VIVE Flow VR headset, allowing users to immerse themselves in the VR world.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel