The Immersive Wire - 7 March 2021 (Sunday read)

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Let's talk about whether people should invest in NFTs for VR spaces. For those who don't know, NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are a type of cryptographic token that represents something completely unique. The kicker is that they're not interchangeable, unlike bitcoin. So if you buy, say, an avatar as an NFT, it is completely and wholly yours because there is zero risks of duplication. You own the only asset of its kind.So how does VR relate to NFTs? The short answer is that it's a great way to own assets across an online space. On

CryptoAvatars

, you can purchase an avatar that can be persistent across virtual realities that you own. Or you can own your own land; in Decentraland, a VR world, an estate was sold for

over $80,000

. In virtual areas where market forces are different from real life, cryptographic alternatives help users to hold some value across multiple VR spaces. It's partially why conversations about the metaverse intertwine with crypto. Music artists are doing particularly well. Last year, Deadmau5 sold

6,000 collectables as NFTs

, with a combined value of $96,940. Meanwhile, Kings of Leon will sell some copies of its newest album as NFTs too, alongside

six lifetime tickets to their shows

. While Amazon, Apple, and Spotify are being

grilled by UK politicians

about the lack of money artists can make on their streaming services, NFTs provide another source of income. A powerful one, too. Sounds cool, but it's difficult to know their real worth because of the current gold rush. NFTs blasted into the spotlight this week riding the hype of explosive financial deals for art and the like. The inflated value is warping the market conditions, so the 'true' value of persistent avatars across VR spaces is hard to say. People are in it for the money, not art. Less Ludovico Sforza as a patron of Leonardo da Vinci, and more Scrooge McDuck diving into a pool of crypto for a quick buck. Will NFTs have a market beyond the rush? I think so. To own the only unique asset of its kind... it's a compelling proposition for avatars who hop from world to world, desiring to feel unique. The draw will be enough for some to buy personalised avatars. I can also see some users commissioning art as avatars, similar to how Twitter users pay artists to make their profile pictures. In the end, the strength of NFTs comes if virtual spaces support the technology. If there is no parity between virtual worlds, NFTs will shrivel away and lack enough weight as part of a future macro-metaverse. That's up to companies who want to build new worlds separately, or together.

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A persistent avatar across virtual worlds... make sure it actually looks good. Photo credit: CryptoAvatars.

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Q&A with... an expert on VR/AR in automotive

Timmy Ghiurau, Innovation Leader, Leading Virtual experiences at Volvo Cars.

What is Volvo doing with VR/AR, and why? Volvo Cars is using AR/VR technology to transform the whole pipeline from early design reviews, through R&D process, UX research, remote collaboration, and consumer-facing storytelling. The latest we have launched publicly is an automotive template in Unity for AR/VR.

What's been the most satisfying element you have worked on?

The most satisfying project was to be the first to drive with an MR headset on the road, and being able to drive our future concepts with the Varjo headsets.

What's one key piece of advice you would give to any developer? I would suggest that developers should focus on the user experience, engage with the growing community, and share ideas and use cases with friends and colleagues.

If you would like to learn more about their Developer Portal and public datasets, check them out here.

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That's all for this week! Want to have a chat, let me know about a news story, or talk business? Either reply to this email, or contact tom (at) virtualperceptions (dot) com. Have an excellent day!