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International Tennis Hall of Fame and Infosys Launch Immersive Metaverse Museum Experience
Newport, R.I., USA – July 05, 2023: Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame today announced the debut of a dynamic Metaverse museum, bringing the ITHF experience to tennis fans around the world. In a Hall of Fame first, this deeply interactive, immersive offering brings the museum’s collection and the stories of its Hall of Famers into the Metaverse. The ITHF Metaverse is now available at tennisfame.com/metaverse, with a virtual reality experience currently in development.
In the Metaverse, fans can experience the hallowed grounds of the ITHF, combining real and virtual elements. They can view larger-than-life holographic statues of Hall of Famers and learn about the legends via their careers, stats, trivia and more. As a user navigates the Metaverse, they can browse through a number of different Hall of Famers and artifacts to find out more and answer trivia questions to earn points to claim rewards in the ITHF virtual shop.
Featured Hall of Famers include Martina Navratilova, Rod Laver, Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe and 2023 inductee Esther Vergeer, among many others. Fans can discover iconic items from throughout tennis history in the Hall of Fame’s collection, including an original pair of Stan Smith Adidas sneakers, a racquet used by Stefanie Graf during her Golden Slam in 1988, and a dress worn by Serena Williams at the 2018 US Open designed by Virgil Abloh.
“Infosys and the International Tennis Hall of Fame have embarked on a truly transformational process to take the physical museum into a 3D digital environment,” said Dan Faber, CEO, ITHF. “Induction into the Hall of Fame is the ultimate honor in tennis, and Newport is where a player’s career is cemented in history. This cutting-edge experience takes history beyond borders and provides an immersive avenue for fans of all ages to be inspired by the legends’ careers, accomplishments and stories.”
“Carefully crafted digital infrastructure is taking center stage, enhancing our understandings of and interactions with experiences,” said Sumit Virmani, Infosys EVP and Global Chief Marketing Officer, Infosys. “Through this Metaverse, Infosys and the International Tennis Hall of Fame are bridging physical and digital worlds to redefine the fan experience and bring fans closer to their favorite historical moments. It has created a strong digital foundation for the ITHF to experiment and engage new tennis enthusiasts with the history and heritage of the sport on platforms accessible to the millions of fans around the world.”
Within the experience, users can express themselves through many fun personalization options, including snapping photos to create and customize their digital avatars, chatting with friends, watching videos and feeling like they are truly on the grounds of the ITHF in Newport. Users can also step foot on the famous grass Horseshoe Court and play a game of tennis at the iconic venue.
The new ITHF experience launches just weeks ahead of the upcoming Infosys Hall of Fame Open and the Induction of wheelchair tennis legends Esther Vergeer of the Netherlands and Rick Draney of the United States, to be held Saturday, July 21 in Newport.
Beyond the Metaverse, the Infosys Hall of Fame Open hosted by the ITHF will also leverage innovations like the Infosys Match Centre, providing fans with rich AI-powered insights and new ways of following the tennis action during the tournament. Additionally, players will be able to record and offset their carbon footprint to Newport through the recently launched Carbon Tracker developed by Infosys in collaboration with the ATP.