New Experience And Innovation At This New Indian Airport Terminal. Read

This Indian airport terminal can now be experienced in metaverse

You can now experience the newly-launched Terminal 2 of Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport on the metaverse. 

The latest innovation – a collaborative effort between the Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Polygon – is called ‘BLR-Metaport’.

According to BIAL, Bengaluru’s Terminal 2 is one of the first terminals in the world to be on the metaverse. 

In the metaverse, travellers can virtually navigate the three-dimensional (3D) terminal via their smart devices. Travellers can check into flights, navigate terminals, shop, and meet other travellers on the metaverse. ‘BLR-Metaport’ will allow video conferencing, messaging and spatial audio, and avatar creation. 

“We also have several initiatives planned around the ‘BLR-Metaport’, which promise to increase ways in which we can engage with our global audience and enhance business impact over the next few years,” Satyaki Raghunath, BIAL’s Chief Strategy and Development Officer, said. 

‘BLR-Metaport’ is powered by Polygon blockchain, where control and decision-making are under a distributed network.

AWS’ computing, storage, and data visualisation services will likely help the project achieve high performance and scalability. 

“Airport lounges can be the perfect gateways for metaverse gaming and other leisure activities. Meta-commerce is a reality and offers the airport retail and food and beverages ecosystem to curate personalised offers for travellers,” says Sharat Chandra, Co-Founder of India Blockchain Forum. 

Bengaluru airport’s foray into the metaverse reflects the growing use of technology in the travel and tourism industry. Battered by the Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns and restrictions, global travel and tourism are expected to recover only by 2024. 

Metaverse, for the beleaguered industry, is part of the solution. According to one report, the use of metaverse in the travel and tourism industry is likely to grow by $188.24 billion between 2022 and 2026. 

While the growth of 5G technology is expected to aid the adoption of the metaverse, Mr Chandra opines that cybersecurity issues like hacking and identity theft will continue to be a hindrance for the next few years. 

He adds that we are still a couple of years away from experiencing a metaverse that mimics real-life environments.