Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) — operator of Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport) — on Tuesday announced the first phase launch of the 'BLR Metaport'.

With this new launch, BLR Airport's T2 becomes one of the first terminals in the world that can be experienced on the metaverse, a BIAL statement said. Built in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Polygon, the BLR Metaport offers an immersive, three-dimensional (3D) virtual experience of the newly launched Terminal 2 at BLR Airport.

"Interested travellers and the public can log on to www.blrmetaport.com and virtually tour and navigate the new state-of-the-art terminal, using their smart devices", it said.

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The BLR Metaport is an outcome of the Joint Innovation Centre (JIC), announced in April 2022 by BIAL, AWS, and Intel. The JIC focuses on driving the development and adoption of digital solutions in aviation.

"For BIAL, the mission of the JIC is to leverage emerging technologies to build new business models and passenger experiences and be at the forefront of technology innovation in India's commercial aviation," the statement said.

The BLR Metaport is designed to deliver an enhanced digital experience for travellers. A 3D interface will offer customers new ways to interact with the airport, such as checking into flights, navigating terminals, shopping, and social aspects like connecting with other travellers, it was stated.

BIAL's Chief Strategy and Development Officer, Satyaki Raghunath said, “This is our first foray into the world of Web3 and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and we aim to delight travellers with a unique, immersive, and virtual experience.” BLR Metaport is built on the fundamentals of decentralisation, where control and decision-making are transferred from a centralised entity to a distributed network. It uses the 'Polygon Blockchain'. The BLR Metaport platform is built on AWS, the statement added.

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