The Real Form of Crypto in the Metaverse
Last week, New York-based company Republic Realm announced that it had spent a record $4.3 million to buy digital land The Sandbox.
The transaction follows a US$2.4 million purchase of land in late November by Canadian crypto firm Tokens.com on competitor site Decentraland.
Sandbox and Decentraland are prototypes of the metaverse, which is a virtual world where users can chat with friends using virtual reality technology as if they were face-to-face.
Metaverse has become tech industry jargon for the past few months. Interest in the metaverse exploded after Facebook changed its name to Meta with a focus on the metaverse.
"Facebook's transformation introduced the term metaverse to millions of people faster than I thought," explains Cathy Hackl, a technology consultant for companies entering the metaverse.
For Hackl, the booming metaverse market that gave birth to the virtual property ecosystem is no surprise. He sees the metaverse as an attempt to translate physical goods into the virtual world.
Although metaverse sites have not yet become fully real, the digital land is already functioning as a physical land according to Hackl. This is because the land can be built, leased, or traded.
Tokens.com purchased strategic land in the fashion hub of Decentraland which will be used to develop virtual stores for leading fashion brands.
The CEO of Tokens.com, Andrew Kiguel, said if he didn't do the research and understand this land is valuable, it would seem crazy.
Kiguel insisted the Decentraland estate had the same business potential as in the real world, namely a strategic location in a popular area with high traffic.
He explained that the land was used as an advertising space and an event space for people to gather. Land can make money by putting up billboards or opening a shop with full staff.
In Decentraland, everything from land to virtual art is in NFT form. Kiguel predicts that digital ownership through NFT will be more widespread in the future because it is supported by blockchain technology.
"I can see the history of ownership, how much the transaction value and previous movements," concluded Kiguel.
What is Metaverse? This is the explanation of the experts
Siberkreasi together with Facebook, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, WIR Group, and Shinta VR held an online discussion with the topic 'Metaverse of the New Era of the Digital World' last week.
The discussion discussed about what the Metaverse was recently promoted by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
In the discussion, there were at least three speakers present, namely the Group Chief Innovation Officer & Co-Founder of WIR Group, Jeffrey Budiman, VP of Marketing at Xendit/Co-Managing Director of Girls in Tech Indonesia, Nafinia Putra and Managing Director of Shinta VR Andes Rizky.
The webinar opened with a discussion about the announcement of Facebook's rebranding by embracing futuristic ideas through Metaverse.
Then, what is the Metaverse?
Metaverse can be defined as the real world on a whole new level, built on the convergence of the virtual and the real world.
Metaverse itself is a revolutionary step after internet technology and social media came into people's lives, which can change the way users connect to the internet, as well as what users connect to the internet.
Responding to this, Jeffry said that the pandemic required anyone to adapt to technology faster to survive.
That is the reason why there have been many new innovations that are useful to replace direct interaction activities.
Jeffrey also continued his discussion regarding the definition of Metaverse and what it will be used for in the future.
"Metaverse is a virtual space that can be used together, where there is a new world where users are represented through avatars to carry out activities, interact like in the real world," said Jeffry in a written statement, Sunday (11/07/2021).
He explained that the concept of science fiction has been introduced in sci-fi literacy since 1992, promoted through films and is now present in our midst.
Reaching the point of Metaverse as a new digital world ecosystem requires a process, just like WIR's journey to introduce Augmented Reality technology since 2009.
Jeffrey then demonstrated the Augmented Reality technology directly, which was used in the education sector to make the learning process more interesting.
It also shows Augmented Reality technology which is specially designed for marketing purposes.
It was all made because he believes that various things and efforts to meet needs can still be done during the pandemic, it just takes understanding and readiness to innovate to make it easier for users to experience the services offered or the products being sold.
Meanwhile, Nafinia Putra explained how Girls in Tech encourages the role of women as technology players to be more prepared to be creative and innovative, in order to maximize their great potential.
He explained that since the establishment of Girls in Tech in Indonesia, tactical programs and collaboration with technology stakeholders have continued to be carried out. Like one collaboration with Facebook created a program to encourage women entrepreneurs to develop businesses.
"During the pandemic, there was an activity entitled Digital Arisan with a duration of 2 hours with technology practical skills material that taught women to maximize their abilities in the field of technology," added Nafinia.
Like learning to start Facebook ads, making Podcasts and coding success tips from simple learning. Not only to encourage as many women as possible to enter the world of technology, Girls in Tech is here to build inclusiveness in making products or innovating to create balance in the world of technology.
Nafinia also believes that Metaverse is a great opportunity for girls in Girls in Tech to be able to develop their own abilities so that they can keep up with changes and survive in the digital era.
Furthermore, Andes Rizky said that Metaverse is actually very closely related to emotional connection, because with Metaverse users can socialize, interact, transact, as well as for human resource development training.
He also said that Shinta Virtual Reality (VR) has conducted socialization and education related to VR content creation and has trained approximately 5,200 teachers throughout Indonesia to be able to create learning content.
"It is also believed that VR technology will make it easier for facilitators to provide a forum for human resource development with freedom of access to carry out various practicums needed and effectively have a big impact on better human resources," Andes said.
In the end, the three interviewees agreed that Metaverse was the first step full of opportunities to create a more comprehensive and inclusive digital world. The discussion continued with a question and answer session until the event was over.
