Arizona State University joins the Metaverse

Arizona State University (ASU) - one of the largest public universities in the United States by enrollment may be planning to launch virtual classes in the Metaverse. It also plans to launch NFTs for authenticating university event tickets, diplomas and other documents. 

A series of trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, on June 7 and June 8, the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University shows ASU filed seven applications for its names, including ASU, Arizona State, Arizona State University. The applications also included its football team - the Sun Devils and its pitchfork symbol and logo for use in ‘virtual environments in which users can interact for recreational, leisure or entertainment purposes’.

The trademark applications show the university will release virtual lectures and NFTs in the future. The NFTs would be issued as event tickets, sports highlights, artwork of campus landmarks, banners, and university certificates. ASU has previously implemented Blockchain technology to track the spread of COVID-19 in November 2020 and share data from its students’ academic records in 2019. 

In addition, the university also intends to offer virtual lectures, meetings and other projects in the Metaverse. 

ASU is home to almost 150,000 students, with 77,881 students enrolled at physical campuses in the U.S. and 57,848 students passed their classes and exams via ‘digital immersion.’ ASU senior director of strategic learner and program mobilization Casey Evans said digital immersion coursework was the university’s ‘best tool to enable students to continue learning during this time of physical separation,’ in reference to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In May, Brazil-based University of Sao Paulo announced plans to conduct research on the effectiveness of virtual and augmented reality and its impact on human behavior, as well as its plans to build a virtual headquarters in the Metaverse for its students.

At the same time, Italy-based University of Bari Aldo Moro has also recently launched an initiative to promote Italian culture with NFTs in the Metaverse. 

Photo: Facebook