<p>In a first, the Durga Puja festival of Kolkata is entering the world of Metaverse – a computer-simulated 3D environment – which will enable people to virtually tour four big-ticket community pujas, communicate with other such ‘pandal hoppers’ and even click photos.</p>.<p>The 3D platform created for this purpose, xpand-land.com, will allow visitors to enter a shared social space where people from across the world can come together from the comfort of their homes.</p>.<p>This is an initiative of Indian start-up XP&D, its group company Metaform and another firm, Spatial. This year, there will be no fee to enter the platform which will be thrown open on Thursday.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/one-durga-puja-pandal-in-kolkata-is-commemorative-of-last-year-s-post-poll-violence-1148800.html">One Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata is commemorative of last year’s post-poll violence</a></strong></p>.<p>The visitors will be able to enter two north Kolkata puja pandals - Ahiritola Sarbojanin and Tallah Prattoy – besides two from the southern part of the city - Deshapriya Park and Ballygunge Cultural Association.</p>.<p>“This is the first time in history that such a massive festival of devotion has been twinned in the Metaverse. We are piloting it with four pandals this year,” XP&D Co-founder Sukrit Singh said.</p>.<p>He said they have plans to work with over 100 puja pandals next year and, “in the near future, every single pandal on the ground will have a metaverse twin for people to experience and enjoy”.</p>.<p>Users can voice chat with each other and make a meta-realistic avatar of themselves in minutes on the platform which can be accessed by smartphones, tablets, and wearables. VR (virtual reality) headset wearables will give the optimum experience.</p>.<p>Suveer Bajaj, co-founder of Metaform, said the project will also help popularise the new Web 3.0-based technologies like blockchain, virtual reality and NFTs (non-fungible tokens).</p>.<p>NFTs are unique cryptographic tokens that exist on a blockchain and cannot be replicated.</p>.<p>“This year, we are keeping it free from charges but monetisation will happen from the next puja,” Bajaj said.</p>.<p>Ashish Sen, an Indian software professional working in Germany, expressed happiness that Durga Puja is becoming part of the meta world.</p>.<p>“I am unable to come to Kolkata this puja. But this will provide me a great opportunity to connect with my family and friends on a metaverse platform for a near real experience,” he said.</p>.<p>Metaform had earlier created a dugout experience for Gujarat Titans, the first IPL team to have a metaverse presence.</p>
<p>In a first, the Durga Puja festival of Kolkata is entering the world of Metaverse – a computer-simulated 3D environment – which will enable people to virtually tour four big-ticket community pujas, communicate with other such ‘pandal hoppers’ and even click photos.</p>.<p>The 3D platform created for this purpose, xpand-land.com, will allow visitors to enter a shared social space where people from across the world can come together from the comfort of their homes.</p>.<p>This is an initiative of Indian start-up XP&D, its group company Metaform and another firm, Spatial. This year, there will be no fee to enter the platform which will be thrown open on Thursday.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/one-durga-puja-pandal-in-kolkata-is-commemorative-of-last-year-s-post-poll-violence-1148800.html">One Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata is commemorative of last year’s post-poll violence</a></strong></p>.<p>The visitors will be able to enter two north Kolkata puja pandals - Ahiritola Sarbojanin and Tallah Prattoy – besides two from the southern part of the city - Deshapriya Park and Ballygunge Cultural Association.</p>.<p>“This is the first time in history that such a massive festival of devotion has been twinned in the Metaverse. We are piloting it with four pandals this year,” XP&D Co-founder Sukrit Singh said.</p>.<p>He said they have plans to work with over 100 puja pandals next year and, “in the near future, every single pandal on the ground will have a metaverse twin for people to experience and enjoy”.</p>.<p>Users can voice chat with each other and make a meta-realistic avatar of themselves in minutes on the platform which can be accessed by smartphones, tablets, and wearables. VR (virtual reality) headset wearables will give the optimum experience.</p>.<p>Suveer Bajaj, co-founder of Metaform, said the project will also help popularise the new Web 3.0-based technologies like blockchain, virtual reality and NFTs (non-fungible tokens).</p>.<p>NFTs are unique cryptographic tokens that exist on a blockchain and cannot be replicated.</p>.<p>“This year, we are keeping it free from charges but monetisation will happen from the next puja,” Bajaj said.</p>.<p>Ashish Sen, an Indian software professional working in Germany, expressed happiness that Durga Puja is becoming part of the meta world.</p>.<p>“I am unable to come to Kolkata this puja. But this will provide me a great opportunity to connect with my family and friends on a metaverse platform for a near real experience,” he said.</p>.<p>Metaform had earlier created a dugout experience for Gujarat Titans, the first IPL team to have a metaverse presence.</p>