3D platforms take centre stage

As hybrid meetings and events have taken off, so too has the technology to host them, with the Middle East region’s first 3D virtual events platform, eve, proving a big hit.

The brainchild of Mohammed Tayem, CEO and founder of UAE-based events and marketing agency, Entourage, and officially launched in July last year in response to the pandemic, eve is a customisable platform with integrated features such as video conferencing, live chat and e-commerce, live studio integration, one-on-one meeting rooms, backstage management and streaming.

More than 50 virtual events were executed on eve from September to November, including several that took place during the G20 Leaders’ Summit, which was staged virtually from November 21 to 22. It enabled high-profile leaders from across the global to connect to Riyadh where sessions were being live-streamed.

Eve has also successfully hosted the international WETEX conference for DEWA Dubai, the All Levels of Trauma Care of AOS USA, the famous music and creators experience Payne Play City, UK, and a major Arab concert attended by more than 200,000 people.

The platform translated WETEX – an events that has taken place physically for the last 20 years – to a 3D virtual world.

In an interview with AME.info, Tayem revealed this took three months of customisation, working with 385 exhibitors, four main stages, six live workshops, five live language translations and creating the exhibitor portal.

The platform has also been used to replicate the office environment of an international pharmaceutical company. Employees could attend work virtually in a 3D environment identical to the real-life set up. Each employee was invited to create his/her own avatar to attend meetings, return to their workstations, chat, share ideas and conduct business as usual.

Eve, which is now working with schools to create similar virtual environments, has already hit one million users.

Tayem says demand for 3D virtual concepts is rocketing, with malls, retail outlets and travel and tourism all reaching out.