How to find love in a virtual world

The metaverse is a series of virtual worlds you can explore on a VR headset, your phone or desktop, and it can take you and your avatar into lots of unexpected places.

CBC Ottawa explored five ways people are harnessing its power and possibilities for work, education and fun.

Fly through data visualizations in space | Dive into a new career as an underwater welder | Rock out at a concert in ancient Egypt | Dance in between classes on a virtual campus

Like many these days, 23-year old Anthony Tan met his current partner online. But whats unique about their relationship, is it began in a metaverse he helped to create.

VR has really changed our lives, smiled Tan, from behind his Flirtual avatar.

Flirtual is the name Tan and co-creator Kyle Farwell gave to the platform they built to help people find virtual love. Its one of many VR worlds referred to generally as the metaverse, accessible via a computer or virtual reality goggles, where you can experience everything from firing someone to going to a concert.

The two men, who live in Waterloo, Ont., dreamed up the idea in March of this year after 23-year-old Farwell also met someone special on an already existing VRChat platform.

I got into VR and kind of stumbled into a relationship there. I had a good experience that I wanted to share with other people, said Farwell.

The pair said they wanted to create a space where people could be connected based on personality and interests over looks, using avatars to interact with people around the world, instead of swiping left like on traditional dating apps.

Dating apps can feel really shallow and superficial. When youre limited to the real life location, you dont get to meet a lot of people you could have around the world. VR really lets you meet those people in a real way, said Tan.

Unlike other metaverse dating platforms, such as Nevermet and Planet Theta, they also decided to keep their code open source and open algorithm so users can see how they are being matched. That means it is also more independent from Facebook-run platforms (in fact, for that reason Farwell and Tan prefer the term social virtual reality to metaverse.)

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In Flirtual, users get to know each other by going on dates in a variety of virtual reality worlds. Couples could opt for a more traditional first date by watching a movie together in VR or feeding ducks by a pond, or they could do something off the beaten path like swim with sharks or blast off to space.

If all goes well, couples often move from Flirtual to a face reveal on Zoom, eventually progressing to a meeting in real life. Farwell himself followed this path with the partner he met in VR, and has since visited several times in Mexico.

Tan says since they launched in the spring of 2022 theyve been able to make over 70,000 matches among their 20,000 users. They also said it appeals to those looking for different ways to connect and to those who might have struggled to find love in other ways.

Some people arent mobile enough to get out and date. VR can be helpful for those people, said Farwell, adding many of their users identify as transgender, and have expressed a feeling of gender euphoria while dating in the metaverse.

I have friends who are gay in rural or closed-off areas. This is a way for them to freely come out of the closet and meet their community in a safe space, added Tan, explaining Flirtual has a strict code of conduct to protect people from harassment.

For Farwell and Tan, it was important to include tools to help users navigate unwanted advances. Besides blocking other users, they can also create a personal space bubble around themselves to prevent contact, and if need be, take their headset off if they are in trouble.

The trolls, the spammers, theyre out there. Were not afraid to ban people for bad behaviour, said Tan.

Tan is quick to point out that people tend to act differently when immersed in virtual reality instead of hiding behind an online handle.

It sounds like a paradox, but dating in VR can feel more human, said Tan.

Check out other ways people in Ottawa are experiencing the metaverse

Explore a new career on another continent | Practice firing a colleague over and over | Watch a concert from atop a virtual tree | Take a hike between classes on a virtual campus