Valentine’s Day is officially upon us, which means giant teddy bears, roses, and usually having to book a table at restaurant months in advance. But for the first time in history, couples don’t have to sift through their wardrobe for the perfect date outfit. Instead, a fully-immersive virtual date night can be experienced from the comfort of their couch. You read that right. Thanks to the advent of the metaverse, romantic interests can now interact with each other on virtual dates from the safety and convenience of their homes; users can be in their sweatpants and the other would never know. From beaches in Barbados to virtual roller coaster rides, the opportunities for date ideas are endless. Since Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement in October that he was officially changing Facebook’s name to Meta, the metaverse, described as a “virtual online world where people can get together, work, communicate and play games from the comfort of their homes” has taken the world by storm. But while the technology is predominantly associated with gaming, it has also found its utility in the dating realm. Dating in the Metaverse The metaverse isn’t just offering new opportunities for gamers. It’s also disrupting the world of dating. In December, Tinder jumped on the metaverse bandwagon, with CEO Renate Nyborg announcing that it was exploring how to “blur the boundaries between offline and online worlds”, in an interview at the Reuters Next confe...
