Dubai metaverse panel spotlights gamified food brand experiences and virtual scents

27 Feb 2023 --- Gulfood 2023, hosted in Dubai, played host to a panel of advisors to the UAE’s metaverse strategy, particularly highlighting its role in evolving the food business landscape. FoodIngredientsFirst was on the show floor speaking to these presenters on dynamic developments within the fast-evolving “Foodverse,” which include technologies that allow users to smell scents created in the metaverse as well as participate in digital F&B brand experiences.

For pioneering food brands, restaurants and online retailers already looking into capitalizing on this movement, the metaverse is anticipated to drive a new era of heightened consumer engagement – coined the “Age of the Metapreneur” by the Foodverse panel.

“The important thing to note here is that e-commerce is going to be huge in the metaverse. It’s the largest segment in terms of adoption,” remarks Sharad Aderwal, chief metaverse officer at Cyber Gear, which builds digital twin projects and experiential shopping in Web3.

“Think of using metaverse as a new sales channel. As technology advances, actual transactions will start happening in the metaverse. The good thing is, you can create experiences in the metaverse and link them back to your Web2 e-commerce website.”

Smelling the metaverse
The metaverse refers to an alternative 3D environment that immerses individuals into a replicated version of the physical world. Accessing the metaverse is possible through a computer or smartphone, but a cryptocurrency wallet is required for active involvement. 

In certain cases, augmented reality glasses or virtual reality headsets may also be necessary for full participation in some platforms. 

Developing beyond these headsets, Alistair Pernigo, chairman and CTO at Auralink, is building the “Metaverse of Senses” which may one day allow consumers to smell coffee in the metaverse. “Auralink specializes in building advanced technologies to catch, analyze and reproduce any smell in the world,” he highlights.Advisors to Dubai’s metaverse strategy convened on the fast-evolving developments within the “Foodverse,” at Gulfood 2023 in Dubai.

“I think this is huge in this digital era, giving more refined multisensory capabilities to the user. We are creating clearer human-machine interfaces to open the door for more avant garde perspectives for wellness, health, education and consumption.”

Auralink is piloting a concept for a “microphone” for recording smells, which works conversely as an “iPod” – or “nose-pod” as Pernigo puts it – for smelling objects that are not physically in front of you through electromagnetic pulses. The idea was conceptualized when Pernigo was sitting at the airport with his parents, observing police dogs sniffing passengers. 

The societal impact of Pernigo’s technology is far reaching, as it can be programmed to analyze the state of soil health, plants and pest detection.

Gamifying the food industry
Supreet Raju, co-founder of OneRare, is scaling up its platform that aims to bring the global food industry into a gamified experience within Web3.

“We began our journey in January 2021. We started as an non-fungible token (NFT) project in the area of food,” she shares. “These are digital assets that can hold anything – a piece of music or art. We thought food is a brilliant message to send out, because even if we don’t understand blockchain, we all know what goes into French fries, for example.”

OneRare, dubbed “the world’s first food metaverse,” is introducing the global food industry to Web3 in a gamified manner through an NFT economy game that involves cooperation and trade between play-to-earn gamers and NFT collectors. 

The company has partnered with celebrity chefs, popular cooking shows, restaurants and food brands to mint NFTs for their signature dishes. 

Collaborations with chefs such as Saransh Goila and Zorawar Kalra, as well as Michelin-starred chef Anthony Sarpong, MasterChef Australia contestant Reynold Poernomo, and other chefs from around the world, have already been announced.

“We are live on OneRare.io where you can begin minting and bank chef-inspired NFTs,” highlights Raju. “In our gaming zone, you play food truck wars where you drive your food truck to earn more income. We are also about to release our first experience where you can take an NFT to the real world and swap it for a meal.”

“When we went into our fundraising, we met with chefs and restaurants who wanted to come onboard. Since then, it’s been a long journey and we are building metaverse experiences for our partners.”

Ordering burgers at a metaverse restaurantThe Foodverse panel, which included pioneering thought leaders on virtual dining experiences, digital scents and culinary classes in the metaverse.
Burger brand Pickl has unveiled the UAE’s first metaverse dining experience, where customers can create their own avatar and collect a token in a simulated Web3 wallet. Visitors can then navigate their way to the virtual Pickl counter to place their order, choosing from a selection of burgers.

After redeeming their token at the virtual Pickl register, an actual burger is delivered directly to them in real life. Meta Pickl’s virtual space spans 2,000 sq ft, offering enjoyable games and selling virtual merchandise, as well as Pickl-inspired NFTs. These NFTs can either be exchanged for tangible products or worn as virtual clothing to personalize avatars.

“It seems just over a year ago when the metaverse was becoming a hot topic,” Simon Ritchie, director of communications at Pickl.

“Someday, you might be sitting here in Dubai, and one of your friends could be in Abu Dhabi,” he remarks. “In the metaverse, you could meet up at the virtual Pickl restaurant and place your orders simultaneously through a delivery system. The food can arrive at your doors in real life simultaneously so you can eat at the same time.”

“Technology isn’t quite there for that to happen. You’ve got to have the integration of systems like Deliveroo in the metaverse, which doesn’t quite exist yet. However, the potential is there.”

Immersive virtual cooking classes
Another particular focus in the Foodverse panel was the application of the metaverse in making culinary classes more accessible to students in remote parts of the world. Ganesh Raju, CEO of Akshaya NFT and Metaverse, USA, spoke on this topic.

“We are exploring how chefs can take advantage of Web3, such as teaching classes in Web3. Certification process of that can be translated into NFTs and blockchain,” he says. “We have some experiences and spaces that you can check out, to showcase the potential of this.”

“You will be able to enable someone who is not able to afford a class here in Dubai – who is based somewhere else like South Africa or India – to participate in the same course. You can have a real-looking kitchen, with a fridge and utensils that you can interact with, allowing you to follow the same process as the chef teaching the course.”

“This helps you build muscle memory and eventually take that skill to a real life location,” he underscores.Burger brand Pickl unveiled the UAE’s first Metaverse dining experience, where customers can create their own avatar and collect a token in a simulated Web3 wallet (Image credit: Pickl).

Dawn of meta-food
Even more traditional B2B food ingredients suppliers have begun to initiate strategies around the metaverse. Earlier this month, Canada-based flavor house Foodarom, tipped the rise of this new digital universe with its latest flavor concepts, Electric Punch and Cyber Treat.

Among other recent F&B developments within the metaverse spotlighted on FoodIngredientsFirst, McDonald’s recently partnered with viral digital content creator Karen X Cheng to launch an interactive Lunar New Year campaign to honor the Year of the Rabbit. This marked another foodservice player leveraging digital experiences. 

Fast food competitors are months ahead in experience with the metaverse. Wendy’s launched its Wendyverse inside Meta’s metaverse Horizon worlds in April 2022. The company created a digital castle where one can reach the top through “teeter-tottering bacon bridges and flying biscuits.”

In-N-Out Burger also wants to provide online (but non-downloadable, as seen in the application form) virtual food and beverages for use in virtual environments. It also intends to protect its digital brand to build its online retail space.

Food giant Heinz has also moved to copyright a swathe of its brands in the digital spaces. The company is protecting the name Heinz from its ketchup, filing for similar protections as Moët Hennessy has – downloadable multimedia files, online retail services of NFTs and other virtual goods and operating virtual restaurants.

Gaming culture is also interlinked with the metaverse, with Coca-Cola unveiling “the first-ever Coca-Cola flavor born in the metaverse” in April 2022. Hosting immersive experiences on the video game Fortnite, the brand also created its own augmented reality (AR) minigame and has its own sets of NFTs.

By Benjamin Ferrer, reporting from Gulfood 2023 in Dubai

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