Not everyone believes that the metaverse (virtual reality-focused social worlds) has staying power. But MeetKai is among the staunch optimists. Founded in 2018, the startup initially focused on conversational AI, with the goal of creating cutting-edge, top-of-the-line speech recognition and speech synthesis technology. It soon broadened its focus, introducing products to help developers build components of metaverse worlds, including “smart” NPCs and (less exciting) advertisements.

This year at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show, MeetKai will launch several new platforms aimed at metaverse creators and users, including a way to digitize spaces and buildings in 3D using any internet-connected device with a camera.

The 3D scanning service, called MeetKai Reality, can bring various objects and…