On Sunday, February 5, India witnessed a first-of-its kind wedding.
Bhopal-based Abhijeet Goel, 33, and Dr Sansrati Jain, 34, tied the knot in a special ceremony to become India's first couple to get married on a Metaverse platform.
The wedding took place on February 5 between 8 pm and 9 pm on Yug Metaverse, a made in India metaverse platform.
What is Metaverse?
Metaverse is a virtual reality environment in which users can create their identity or avatar and interact with users from across the world in a simulated (graphic) setting.
Please click on the images for a look at the wedding.
IMAGE: Abhijeet Goel, a tech entrepreneur, and Dr Sansrati Jain, a pedodontist (dentist for children), met on a matrimony platform.
The Bhopal-based couple created a scenic beach side wedding environment which could be accessed via the Yug platform.
"Being a game developer and a tech entrepreneur myself, I have always been fascinated by latest developments in technology areas. When I came to know about YUG and the concept of metaverse from Utkarsh (YUG co-founder Utkarsh Shukla), I got interested and wanted my wedding ceremony to be the first ever to be hosted on his platform," Abhijeet tells Divya Nair/Rediff.com.
All photographs and video: Kind courtesy Yug Metaverse
IMAGE: "Both of us wished to have a destination wedding, but due to covid restrictions we were not able to plan a far-off physical event. YUG came to the rescue here and we were able to plan a beach side setting on the metaverse. We let our imagination run wild and planned all the seating, stage, banners, hoarding, dance floors etc," says Abhijeet.
IMAGE: The online 3D event was ready within a week.
"The execution was seamless and the immersive experiences which were created were the highlight," Abhijeet adds.
"Guests were able to enjoy unique experiences such as the dance floor, have Coke drinks through counters and even receive discount coupons from brands like ITC."
The actual wedding was showcased on the screen so users and guests could participate in the celebrations and bless the couple.
IMAGE: More than 500 people registered to attend the wedding where users and guests could change their avatars, walk through the event and even dance!
"Logging into the app was easy and seamless. Even elder members could join without any hassle," says Abhijeet. "Roaming around the wedding arena was super easy and they could also see the live stream of the entire real event on a big screen, inside the metaverse."
IMAGE: The dance floor and the gift counter was one of the highlights of the wedding.
"The dance floor gave a chance for people to interact and communicate along with performing different moves. Overall, it was a fun moment filled with laughter and everyone enjoyed to an extreme," says Abhijeet.
The association was conceptualised, organised and executed by the media agency Wavemaker India for ITC Ltd and Matrimony.com.
Although metaverse adoption is still at an early stage worldwide, Utkarsh Shukla, creator of the Yug Metaverse, is confident that the future is bright for India.
'We wanted India to lead and be at the forefront of this technology revolution, and hence we built a Metaverse Platform, YUG, in India,' says Shukla.
Watch Abhijeet and Dr Sansrati exchange vows in India's first 3D wedding showcased on Yug Metaverse:
