The technological breakthrough of the metaverse was produced by a combination of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technology, familiarly known as Extended Reality (XR). With the breakthrough, metaverse becomes a major trending topic globally. That was a statement from Ir. Galih Wasis Wicaksono, S.Kom., M.Cs, the Chairman of Informatics department, Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM). Due to the rapid technological advancement, UMM visited MIXPRO to develop the UMM Metaverse project.
Galih mentioned their visitation to MIXPRO was for a good reason. It aimed to know more about the entertainment company that owns a specific division to develop metaverse technology. “On this visitation, besides developing the UMM metaverse project, we also plan to initiate the Center of Excellence (CoE) establishment for Metaverse Academy,” Galih said.
Furthermore, Galih explained that in short, the UMM Metaverse project would be developed by two departments: Informatics from the Engineering Faculty and Communication Science from the Social and Political Science Faculty (FISIP). The implementation involves the lecturers and students from both departments. “Basically, the Informatics department will develop metaverse software, including unreal engine or the programmer supports. Meanwhile, the Communication Science department will create metaverse narration, scenario, concept, and the 3D artist. But we are not limited to the other department to collaborate,” he said.
He also expected the UMM Metaverse developmental project could be demonstrated in the 48th Muktamar (National Congress) in November, 2022. The project was expected to attract good energy for the further projects. For the CoE Metaverse establishment, Galih explained that it could be a complementary competence for students interested in developing metaverse projects. “We planned to conduct a short term training (one semester) to comprehend the programming, virtual reality, and augmented reality knowledge known as Metaverse Academy. Afterward, the students will also follow a metaverse internship program collaborated with MIXPRO. Shortly, the students with those experiences in metaverse or other projects, like SandBox can be absorbed by industrial enterprise, even before they graduate,” he said in a statement. [] CHERD
