Traci and Dave Gagnon decided to get married by using their avatars!
A couple from the U.S. got married in the metaverse, by using a hybrid model of a wedding that combined VR technology with reality.
Traci and Dave Gagnon decided to hold their wedding at a venue in front of their family and a few friends. They also applied virtual reality technology and used the metaverse world, for those who couldn’t attend their ceremony.
The groom and the bride used their digital avatars, Traci and SuperDave, broadcasted their wedding in the metaverse via live streaming. The priest and some of the wedding guests also participated in the ceremony in avatar form.
The first wedding in the metaverse world lasted almost five hours, and the full video of the ceremony is available on YouTube.
Although this is the first wedding to take place in metaverse, several users of social media, and especially on Twitter, were upset claiming that VR weddings have been taking place for years in the gamers’ world.
“This has been possible in online video games for 20+ years without the need for a metaverse,” a user wrote on Twitter. Someone else uploaded a print screen of a VR wedding and said that “this is from my friends’ wedding in Final Fantasy XIV and look how much nicer it looks than whatever this is lmao”.
Traci and Dave Gagnon’s wedding sparked an extended conversation on Twitter, with numerous online gamers claiming that Final Fantasy XIV, Second Life, World of WarCraft, The Elder Scrolls Online, and Minecraft are only a few of the gamers where someone can hold a VR wedding.
The whole “metaverse world” discussion came to the forefront a few weeks ago, when Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is changing its name to Meta. He also introduced his plan for all the metaverse tools that Meta will provide in the future. Although Mark didn’t disclose much information, the metaverse become the talk of the town, and other companies started to present their plans for the VR world.
Right now, marriages performed exclusively in the metaverse have no legal force in any country. That’s why Traci and SuperDave except for exchanging virtual vows through their avatars, also held a physical wedding which legally bound them.
Avatars wearing Gucci and Dior
However, the interest in the metaverse is great. Several 3D, VR, and metaverse companies are already investing in creating digital items, which they will then sell to metaverse users.
A South Korean metaverse platform, called Zepeto, introduced the option for their users to buy global luxury brands like Gucci and Dior to dress up their avatars. Launched in August 2018, Zepeto is now one of the most popular VR and metaverse platforms among Gen Z users. There are numerous other platforms which are selling 3D and virtual buildings, land areas, or even world heritage sites, museums, and any other digital objects.
Metaverse companies even invite users to buy a field, a museum, or any other 3D and VR object and present this virtual purchase as an investment for the future.
