At the end of 2021, Facebook changed the name of it’s parent company to “Meta”, making the term very popular. In line with that, the Community of Cataloniahas launched it’s own digital space, or rather a metaverse, which it has called CatVers.
CatVers is a free access virtual platform, which was launched with support from the regional government and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce.
With this step, the regional government has entered a field that was previously considered to be reserved for private-sector visionaries.
Metaverses are expected to become more popular
CatVers is monolingual. It is only available in Catalan. The organisers are clear that that its mission is to preserve Catalan language, identity and culture in the virtual world.
Organizations and companies which share the goals and mission of CatVers are able to access the platform by applying throught a form online.
Inside the CatVers which is available on any device which connects to the internet, organisations are able to create rooms and provide access codes to their employees or members so they can have virtual meetings.
Access to the CatVers is currently free but a charge for the service will be introduced within the next two months.
The project has a budget of between 10,000 and 20,000 Euro, but the developers, Catalan Blockchain Center (CBCat), expect it to be “economically sustainable” in just a short period of time claiming that the project is revolutionary and that the metaverse is expected to change the internet as we know it. They have also hinted that they may be introducing a virtual currency and have said that there are plans to expand the project later this year to create a virtual campus to be used by Catalan universities, art exhibitions, and festivals. Organizers also hope to set up “decentralized governance” of the metaverse, so that it can be run by the groups and organisation which register.
