- The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) has collaborated with Roblox to offer a virtual experience for young audiences.
- The offer allows users to acquire digital versions of famous artworks and artifacts for their avatars through the augmented reality app Replica.
- Developed with Verizon, Replica guides users through an interactive tour of The Met, unlocking digital wearables by scanning 37 selected physical artworks and imported into their Roblox inventories.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET) in New York has entered into a collaboration with the popular gaming platform Roblox to provide a virtual experience for its younger audience.
Roblox users can now obtain digital versions of famous artworks and artifacts for their avatars as part of this collaboration, including Van Gogh’s iconic straw hat.
These digital wearables and other items, such as suits of armor and Egyptian masks, are available through Replica, an augmented reality quest-based app.
Replica, created in collaboration with Verizon, takes visitors on an interactive tour of The Met, guiding them to 37 selected physical artworks positioned throughout the museum.
Users can scan the artworks with the app to unlock digital wearables that can also be imported into their Roblox inventories.
In a recent interview, Ken Weine, Senior Vice President of External Affairs at The Met, stated, “With Replica, we were able to use technology to reach kids and young art lovers in a space they’re already engaged with.”
The Met Set to Create its Digital Double in Sandbox
The collaboration includes a virtual representation of The Met within the Roblox platform, in addition to the app’s quest-based format. Users can interact with virtual versions of the museum’s Fifth Avenue facade as well as interior spaces such as the Great Hall.
They can curate exhibitions by combining the acquired digital wearables and photographing their avatars against historical backdrops.
The Met’s entry into the metaverse is part of a larger trend of cultural institutions embracing virtual experiences.
The British Museum, for example, has collaborated with The Sandbox Game to create its own immersive space within the platform, complete with a selection of NFT digital collectibles.
Also, Futureverse, a crypto tech and gaming startup, recently announced $54 million in Series A funding to support its expansion in the metaverse space.
It is worth noting, however, that there has been growing skepticism toward the concept of the metaverse, which has been all the rage in recent years. This is especially true given that many prominent supporters of the idea have recently scaled back their ambitions.
Disney announced earlier this year that it would close its Metaverse division as part of broader layoffs affecting up to 7,000 employees.
Furthermore, Microsoft has terminated its Industrial Metaverse Core team, a four-month-old project aimed at encouraging the use of the metaverse in industrial settings.
