Saudi Arabia's futuristic $500-billion new city Neom has announced that its key subsidiary Neom Tech & Digital Company has launched XVRS, a 3D cognitive digital twin metaverse platform envisioned to enable a ground-breaking ‘mixed-reality’ urban living model.

 

Combining digital and physical (Neom) architectures with hyper-connected technologies and AI features, XVRS will enable seamless integration of the virtual and real worlds, said the statement from Neom.

 

The project, whch was unveiled at ongoing Saudi Arabia’s flagship technology event LEAP in Riyadh, has the potential to fuel diversification and unlock significant economic opportunity for Neom, the Kingdom, its global partners and cities across the world, it stated.

 

Uniquely, XVRS aims to offer users ‘multiple points of view’ and the ability to feature in a variety of locations across the metaverse in real time (via teleportation) as an avatar, hologram or robotic avatar.

 

Its core features include:

 

*Dynamic digital twin: ‘It will be a mixed-reality twin’ with ‘live cognitive virtual twins’

 

*Immersive mixed reality: Enabling simultaneous physical-digital presence

 

*Digital assets marketplace: Built-in crypto and NFT monetization and transaction platform

 

The announcement from Neom comes as part of its digital unit’s investment of nearly $1 billion in AI-driven products and hyperconnected, autonomous solutions that will provide competitive advantage and enable the next generation of cognitive enterprises and cities, said a top official.

 

"The future will be defined not by megacities, but by cognitive meta cities. It is a vision focused on experiences rather than scale. XVRS puts human needs at its core," remarked Joseph Bradley, CEO, Neom Tech & Digital Company.

 

"XVRS is the only iteration of the metaverse currently in development that will be a mixed-reality, 3D digital twin of a physical place — in our case, the Neom community. It will be comprised of next-generation digital assets that users can interact with in the real world," noted Bradley.

 

"We are delighted to be announcing this unique metaverse at LEAP22, to share with the world how Neom and Saudi Arabia are using cutting-edge technologies to have a positive impact on our lives," he added.

 

Su Le, chief digital & strategy officer, Neom Tech & Digital Company, said: "Beside dynamic digital twinning and an integrated mixed-reality environment populated by humanoid robotic avatars, Neom’s ‘cognitive metaverse’ will offer a gamified experience with distinctive exploration and entertainment features, an instant language translation tool, a social platform that fosters interaction, and a full-fledged digital marketplace. These are all elements that make XVRS a truly ground-breaking innovation."