Durga Puja has not only gone global, thanks to the Unesco inscription, it is also entering metaverse, the network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection that is set to revolutionise the online experience.
Four puja pandals — Ahiritola Sarbojanin, Deshapriya Park, Ballygunge Cultural Association and Tallah Prattoy — will have their metaverse twins created which can be accessed in real time for an immersive walk-through by a visitor’s metaverse avatar.
The creators will visit the pujas once they are ready, take visual references and recreate a 3D version of the pandal on a metaverse platform. Only the deity will be livestreamed as creating its digital avatar would hurt sentiments.
The initiative is being taken by Metaform, a Delhi-based experiential and community management platform, which created a dugout experience for Gujarat Titans, the first IPL team to have a metaverse presence.
The company has chosen Durga Puja for its pilot project in the devotional space. “After the Unesco recognition, this will be another big step forward into the future for the Puja. Digital and real life are colliding and we will constantly toggle between real and metaverse worlds in future,” said Sukrit Singh, co-founder of Metaform.
The Telegraph was given a first-hand experience on Friday with a VR headset and handheld remote, but Spatial, the platform on which the pandals will come up, will allow the experience on a laptop, a tablet or a cellphone, too. One can move virtually inside the pandal by wielding the remote, the cursor or the touchscreen, depending on the device.
Other visitors can be spotted inside the pandal, if they choose to be visible, and talked to. “This feature will allow one to go pandal-hopping virtually with family and friends,” said Suveer Bajaj, another co-founder.
Visitors may register for non-fungible tokens (NFT) stored on blockchain, a digital ledger, that the creators will drop at each pandal. “It will be free this year,” Bajaj said.
“In future, we hope the tokens will have real-life benefits and become an additional source of revenue for organisers,” said Singh.
“NFT is the new digital currency and all big pujas would want to be present on metaverse to open another income source,” said Ballygunge Cultural president Amitava Sinha.
The links to visit the pandals will be activated on xpand-land.com on September 29.