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January 25, 2022

Norwalk company to build first metaverse dog park

PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED
By Liese Klein

Get Joy, an online dog food retailer based in Norwalk, announced Tuesday it was building the first dog park in the metaverse, the virtual-reality space touted as the future of human interaction.

The park, called the Get Joy Dog Zone, will open as a site to host virtual and non-profit activities that support dog wellness, according to the company. Users can interact with virtual dogs at the park using virtual-reality headsets. 

No word yet on the rules for leashing and disposal of virtual dog waste. 

Get Joy Founder and CEO Tom Arrix said, “We are turning to the metaverse to dramatize the fact that in most real-life communities, there is an imbalance between the size of the dog community and the available recreational space that exists for those animals.”

“I’m intrigued by the idea of tying together connectivity in person and in the metaverse, in a way that will positively affect dogs’ health and wellness,” Arrix added.

Locations in the metaverse are the future of branding and interacting with customers, said Arrix, a former Facebook executive. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg cited the potential of virtual reality and the metaverse when renaming his company Meta late last year.

Get Joy Dog Zone will be located in the virtual world of Decentraland and is being designed in partnership with M3taverse.io, a web3 engagement infrastructure. The park is slated to open its gates in April.

Tomas Siedleczka, CEO of M3taverse.io., said, “The evolving vision for the metaverse will continue to attract pioneering brands willing to find new ways to engage communities and lifestyles that transcend real and digital spaces.” 

Get Joy, which said it recently closed a $4 million seed round, offers subscriptions and one-time purchases of fresh meals, snacks and freeze-dried food for dogs on its website. A 16-ounce bag of the brand’s freeze-dried beef dog food sells for $35 for a one-time purchase at getjoyfood.com.

Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.

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