Disney has plans to step into the metaverse, to garner more consumers and subscribers across the world for its services. Bob Chapek, Disney CEO, told reporters on Wednesday that the company was looking beyond Disney+ to the potential metaverse.
Giving no specific details, Chapek said the Walt Disney Company has a long track record as an early adopter in the use of technology to enhance the entertainment experience. “Our efforts to date are merely a prologue to a time when we’ll be able to connect the physical and digital worlds even more closely, allowing for storytelling without boundaries in our Disney metaverse.”
The metaverse – a new tech concept, blending of the physical and digital worlds where people can interact virtually, is becoming a multibillion-dollar fixation for Silicon Valley executives. The concept includes augmented reality, where elements of the digital world are layered on top of reality, such as the Pokemon Go game, which is played on mobile phones or Facebook’s recent smart glasses tie-up with Ray Ban.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, last month rebranded Facebook’s corporate name to Meta in an effort to align the social media platform with the ambitious metaverse plans. However, the company has made it clear that a fully fledged virtual world, where friends can meet to try on clothes or attend pop concerts, is a decade or more away.
For Disney, the metaverse might include visiting virtual reality versions of Disneyland or a metaverse Disneyland where you can experience different games, movies and presentations. Chapek, in an interview with CNBC, said he envisions it as an extension of streaming video service Disney+ through the three-dimensional canvas, he envisions for new types of storytelling.
Also Read: Greek government collaborates with Microsoft to digitally preserve Ancient Olympia
Tilak Mandadi, Disney’s former executive vice president of digital, wrote on LinkedIn in 2020 about creating a theme park metaverse, where physical and digital world converge through wearable devices, smartphones and digital access points.
