Nissan, Toyota Announce Plans to Add to Japan’s Dominance in Metaverse With Visual Treats

Japanese automakers Nissan and Toyota have stepped into the metaverse and plan to treat their customers with immersive video experiences. The move will strengthen tech giant Japan's presence and work in the sector. As part of their metaverse roadmaps, both, Nissan and Toyota have decided to engage audiences with various kinds of virtual events. The automobile mammoths will also be working to establish and expand their showrooms and customer service offices in the digital world. The companies separately made the announcement on the same date of April 22.

As part of its metaverse debut, Toyota unveiled a virtual workplace with avatars of its team members walking around.

The company has assigned this metaverse office to its technical development and human resource teams.

“With more people working from home because of the Coronavirus, we are providing young employees and others communication options within the company,” Nikkie Asia quoted a company spokesperson as saying.

Nissan, on the other hand, launched a Virtual Reality (VR)-version of its iconic Nissan Crossing gallery in the metaverse using a platform of US-based startup VRChat. The original location of this gallery, Tokyo's fancy Ginza district, was created in the metaverse.

The VR space features the new Ariya electric vehicle and the showroom is intended to host vehicle launches and other events in the future.

This is not the first time however, that automakers have chosen to turn their vehicles on the route to the digital future.

Previously, German automobile major Volkswagen organised a treasure hunt of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the metaverse.

In January this year, Mercedes hired a team of NFT artists to reinvent its luxurious G-class series for the virtual world.

From India, Mahindra and Mahindra set foot into the NFT space in March, announcing offerings based on its iconic Thar sports utility vehicle (SUV).

Research reports expect the market opportunity for the metaverse to reach $800 billion (roughly Rs. 59,58,719 crore) by 2024.