LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Virtual reality (VR) technology developer Engage XR reported "positive progress" on the development of its enterprise-focussed 'metaverse' platform on Thursday, as well as further growth of its proprietary software platform 'Engage'.
The AIM-traded firm said that ahead of the launch of its 'Engage Link' metaverse offering for enterprises in the fourth quarter, it could confirm both HTC and the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University as launch partners.

It said the two organisations would use the platform to build and design their own 'metaworlds', enabling them to interact with stakeholders, host real business dealings and professional virtual events within the Engage ecosystem.

The company said its metaverse platform was divided into 'plazas'.

HTC would be situated within the 'enterprise plaza', and the Virtual Human Interaction Lab would be part of the 'education plaza'.

Stanford's metaworld would be based on its virtual reality lab, and would provide visitors an insight into the "bleeding edge research" being undertaken at the university.

The group said it anticipated announcing further Engage Link launch partners in due course.

On the Engage platform, meanwhile, the company said it had secured a "significant" customer renewal with South Korean company D'Carrick Co, which signed a new deal worth €0.3m (£0.26m) over three years.

That would extend a successful three-year relationship, initially worth €70k per annum.

"Today's announcement is just a quick snapshot of what's happening at Engage XR," said chief executive officer David Whelan.

"We will have more news and updates in the coming months with the launch of Engage Link expected towards the latter half of this year.

With Engage Link, we are building a completely distributive economic environment for forward-thinking enterprises and individuals to build the future of work, commerce and communications."

Whelan said Engage Link would be the first time clients would have publicly accessible, always on, persistent locations to advertise their business and services directly to the general public and to potential clients.

"Clients can build out their own unique metaverse for private company use, or make it available to the wider world on Engage Link or via their own website using our deep links system.

"Just as the emergence of the internet changed the world in the late 1990s, the professional metaverse will change business practices globally with how we communicate with our employees, our customers and each other."

At 1207 BST, shares in Engage XR Holdings were up 8% at 13.5p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.

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