US Air Force Files Trademark For New ‘Spaceverse’ Metaverse Technology

US Air Force Files Trademark For New ‘Spaceverse’ Metaverse Technology

The US Air Force appears to be attempting to take advantage of the blossoming metaverse technology sector.

First shared by trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis on Twitter, the Air Force filed a trademark application for a “spaceverse.” According to the attorney, the spaceverse aims to be a metaverse that primarily:

• Converges terrestrial and space physical and digital realities
• Provides extended-reality training, testing, and operations environments

According to reports from Breaking Defense, weapons and military contractors have been eyeing up ways to incorporate the metaverse into their trade for some time, and expect it to eventually be merged with modern warfare.

Defence contractors have also reportedly been meeting via virtual reality (VR) goggles in digital conferences to discuss the metaverse, and Military simulated training investments are characterized as metaverse research.

“It’s not clear that you’re even going to get really widespread adoption of this idea in the next year or two. Everyone’s talking about it, [but] I’d say right now the metaverse is a corporate fad, not a user fad,” said Palmer Luckey, founder of defense startup Anduril Industries and the creator of the Oculus, perhaps the most popular VR headset. Eventually, however, Luckey said, “the metaverse is definitely going to happen.”

Breaking Defense also spoke with Pentagon officials and other industry experts who say there is a “growing agreement” in the space about how the virtual world will greatly benefit American warfighters, in ways such as immersive combat planning to hyper-realistic virtual training.

“This really does force us to open the aperture of analysis when it comes to defense, not just in terms of how these virtual worlds could theoretically impact battlefield effectiveness, but also in terms of how the military provides for and supports its warfighters as a bureaucratic and social organization,” said Jennifer McArdle, head of research at distributed simulation software firm Improbable U.S. Defense & National Security.

While much of the metaverse’s implications on the world remain unclear and its fruition likely many years in the future, some of the biggest industries have been working hard to research it.

Last week, banking behemoth HSBC announced a partnership with leading virtual world blockchain The Sandbox. The bank acquired a digital land that it said would be “developed to engage and connect with sports, esports and gaming enthusiasts.”

The video game industry has also put a heavy focus on metaverse-related investments. Gaming giant Epic Games received a $2 billion funding round from Sony and KIRKBI, the company behind LEGO.

“As we reimagine the future of entertainment and play we need partners who share our vision. We have found this in our partnership with Sony and KIRKBI,” said Tim Sweeney, CEO and Founder, Epic Games. “This investment will accelerate our work to build the metaverse and create spaces where players can have fun with friends, brands can build creative and immersive experiences and creators can build a community and thrive.”