Flights and firefighting: Companies push into the metaverse

By KELVIN CHAN
AP Business Writer

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The push is still on for the metaverse even as doubts of its viability have been creeping in as the initial hype wears off. Companies allowed people to fly over futuristic cityscape in South Korea, fight a fire or go inside a human blood vessels at demonstrations at MWC, or Mobile World Congress, the world’s biggest telecom industry trade show. As businesses tout their virtual reality experiences for work and play at the show this week in Barcelona, analysts say there’s skepticism about what role the metaverse will play beyond gaming. The metaverse exploded in popularity after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in late 2021 pronounced it as the next big thing for the internet.