Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata says it has added a café to its metaverse platform “Futureverse” via a collaboration agreement with Sri Lanka’s largest café chain Barista.
Under the deal announced on Monday, the Dialog Futureverse platform will launch a virtual Barista Café where users can meet friends, drink virtual coffee, and earn complimentary coffee vouchers redeemable at real-world Barista outlets across the country.
According to Dialog, the linkup with Barista is partly about Futureverse’s business model of "creating unique brand engagements" with businesses. But it also positions Barista as the platform’s first Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) partner, which Dialog says is the first in a series of "future collaborations designed to enrich the user experience and expand Futureverse’s offerings."
Dialog Futureverse was launched in January 2023, just before the hype bubble around metaverse technologies popped. However, metaverse developments have continued post-hype.
Since its launch, Dialog Futureverse says it has hosted a variety of events, including Google I/O, the Da Vinci Art Gallery, Sri Lanka's first metaverse music event in collaboration with Bathiya & Santhush, and celebrations for Vesak, Christmas, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day.
