KT Targets Corporate and Public Metaverse Market with 'MetaLounge'

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] KT announced on the 21st that it will officially provide the ‘KT Meta Lounge’ for B2B and B2G customers such as corporations, universities and educational institutions, and public organizations and local governments.

KT Meta Lounge is a customized metaverse solution for corporate (B2B) and government (B2G) clients. It was developed in collaboration with kt ds, KT Group’s IT service specialist company. Customers can freely use the Meta Lounge’s spaces and functions, including AI-based specialized features.

The Meta Lounge differentiates itself from existing metaverse platforms by additionally providing customized spaces and functions according to customer needs. Since it enables tailored metaverse implementation, it can be used in various ways such as metaverse classrooms reflecting university symbols and local government resident communication events.

By providing customized spaces and functions on top of the spaces and functions KT has already developed, it reduces the time and cost required to plan and produce metaverse services. Moreover, it also creates the effect of having a unique metaverse space that stands out from others.

The AI-based specialized features provided in the Meta Lounge include automatic meeting minutes generation, real-time translation, avatar recommendation and creation, and in the future, AI NPCs (characters that users cannot directly control) that will act as assistants. Among these, the real-time translation feature was developed in cooperation with XL8, an AI-based machine translation startup.

The Meta Lounge is composed of three buildings?the Business Hall, Academy Hall, and Conference Hall?and outdoor spaces, based on the concept of sharing, communication, and flow. The Business Hall includes an MOU Room that can accommodate up to 30 participants and provides various functions necessary for events, as well as meeting rooms that support video conferencing, document sharing, and downloading.

In the Academy Hall, to facilitate smooth lectures, functions such as controlling attendees’ speaking, leaving, and seating, as well as announcements, chat, and real-time screen sharing are included. Additionally, the Conference Hall has a Conference Room that offers specialized features such as program guidance and AI real-time translation.

Furthermore, in the outdoor space, avatar-based proximity video chat enables lively communication. Along with this, users can check schedules, quickly enter, and customize avatars in My Room, and in the VIP space called My Lounge, video conferencing and document sharing like in a meeting room are possible. The Meta Lounge spaces were designed and planned by Tomoon Architects.

Meanwhile, KT is securing references by actually utilizing the Meta Lounge with various companies and institutions. In June, an MOU between the Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee GYCC and KT was signed in the Meta Lounge MOU Room. Also, Eduwill has been conducting lectures using the Meta Lounge for Korea South-East Power’s Yeongheung Power Headquarters since September. Furthermore, Shinhan Bank plans to use the Meta Lounge for its own meetings and client briefings in the future.

Kim Young-sik, Head of KT DX Platform Business Division (Executive Director), said, “The Meta Lounge is expanding its market targeting B2B and B2G customers and is conducting various collaborations to provide customized solutions for clients. Going forward, KT will continue to plan services and develop technologies for differentiated metaverse solutions that customers can conveniently use.”