Inside the sultry world of ‘speed dating’ in the METAVERSE – where avatars flirt by virtual candlelight

LOVE is in the meta-air.

Metaverse dating platforms are helping users find real connections in virtual reality.

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"I tried [the Oculus] on and was insanely blown away by how social it was," Marc Charlton, founder of metaverse speed dating platform , told The Sun in an exclusive interview.

Charlton grew close to a meta-friend and the two eventually met up offline - and now they're engaged.

Surely, it's one of the first meet-cutes to take place in the metaverse - but it won't be the last.

"We need to help other people make wonderful, meaningful connections," Charlton said, reflecting on the moment DatesVR was born.

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DatesVR is powered by AltSpace, a metaverse developer that hosts company events, digital fairs and more.

Avatars who attend DatesVR's private speed dating events are placed into "islands" where questions are posed on metaverse screens.

Real photos submitted by users are posted in the islands, giving truth to DatesVR's slogan: "match-based dating events where you meet and see the person behind the avatar."

DatesVR can also nudge parties who share dating profile interests, belong to the same communities or geolocation together.

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Meanwhile, others are touting the quality of interaction and anxiety reduction in the metaverse.

"It is so much more immersive than, say, texting or a Zoom call," Chris Crew, CEO of Planet Theta, a VR dating experience.

Crew said VR dates are like an "intermediary" to a traditional date where users can get a better assessment of whether they want to meet someone face to face.

In VR, "you still get a lot of the nonverbal cues, the body movement and the voice inflection and the timing," Crew told The Sun.

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Start-ups are racing to develop metaverse services with a speed not seen since the dot com boom.

With the online dating application market valued at and climbing, there's no telling what metaverse dating apps could be worth in the future.

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