The rise of the Metaverse has resulted in an entirely new digital economy, one defined by virtual experiences and interactions. In turn, metaverse ecosystems consisting of avatars are also emerging, allowing individuals to express themselves through digital customizable 3D characters. This idea was recently broadcasted to the mainstream when Facebook’s parent company, Meta, introduced a series of inclusive avatars. While the Metaverse may sound futuristic, recent findings from technology research and consulting company Gartner predict that 25% of people will have spent at least one hour per day in the Metaverse by 2026. Gartner vice president Marty Resnick has also …

NFT platform HeyLayer has partnered with the Stacks Foundation to host an event in the vSpace Metaverse to celebrate International Women’s Day. The ‘HerNFT’ event will feature the work of more than 30 women nonfungible token (NFT) artists, including Goldy Succi, Mother Pop, Kaylee Hawley, and others. Their work on the Stacks blockchain will be on display in a virtual gallery curated specifically for this event which starts on March 8. Participants in the event will be able to purchase NFTs on the HeyLayer Marketplace. 2.5% of sales from the event will be donated to the Just Love Film Academy …

Will the Metaverse(s) change humanity as we know it? Will the Metaverse(s) be the ultimate augmentation of human perception? Will it become an agora for our dreams (and, of course, nightmares), able to transform human perception entirely? Has it already started? To start with the latter question: Yes, the groundwork has already been laid. Sensors from our smartphones, social media, digital devices, and the digital data-driven companies that top the Fortune 500 comprise the new cathedrals, religions and tribal spaces for humanity. These technologies and the onset of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, or 4IR, and the AI-driven Society 5.0 …

The Korea Digital Asset Industry Committee comprising of leading Blockchain experts in South Korea has called for the formation of a government committee dedicated to helping and advancing digital asset businesses in the country. The group of experts gathered on Thursday to discuss various ways in which Korea could become a leading digital asset market and what role the should government play to achieve that. The experts believed that blockchain and cryptocurrencies would become pivotal tools for the fourth industrial revolution. The blockchain experts called upon the government to support the nascent cryptocurrency industry along with other emerging use cases …

While the worldwide search interest for the keywords “metaverse” and “NFT” boomed in the last quarter of 2021, Google Trends data shows that the hype may have passed since February 2022. Google Trends shows that in the last twelve months, searches for “metaverse” gained traction within October to December 2021. However, since the beginning of 2022, the search interest continues to drop, hitting its lowest point for 2022 in March. Apart from the keyword “metaverse,” the data shows that the worldwide search for “NFT” has also started its decline this year. However, the drop for NFT is more noticeable as …

The Sandbox metaverse game owned by NFT investment giant Animoca Brands has surpassed 2 million registered users amid its play-to-earn season 2 alpha launch. The crypto game backed by NFTs and its native SAND token has been in the works for roughly four years, and the latest preview into the game comes just a couple of months after its long-awaited season 1 alpha launch in late November. Season 2 officially went live earlier today and any user is able to freely explore 35 different virtual experiences including a sneak peek of the “Snoopverse” in partnership with popular rapper and new-found …

Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent has filed for a virtual concerts patent with the Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) according to business data-tracker Qichacha. The application comes as Chinese companies race to secure Metaverse trademarks. Even though the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) took a strong stance against the Metaverse and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) in November, stating that it would track them with Anti-Money Laundering tools, more than a thousand Chinese companies have submitted over 16,000 metaverse-related trademark applications according to a report from Chinese news outlet, The Paper. Despite the warnings, the Chinese multinational technology and video-game colossus Tencent, …

The metaverse still sounds like a concept straight out of a science fiction novel to many. But many are shaping the development of this online realm without even knowing it, through their participation in immersive video games like Fortnite. On a larger scale, over the last two years, the world has witnessed entirely new communities moving to online interactions, including work, socialization and exercise in a hybrid experience. These early online activities were later met by gamers and blockchain leaders working together in strategic alliances. The intention is that rather than disjointed online and offline experiences, the world will become …

Dutch artist Dadara and digital rights management platform RAIRtech have developed a collection of 7.9 billion identical nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The collection, named CryptoGreymen, is on the Polygon (MATIC) Ethereum scaling network. Although each NFT is identical, they will be assigned a serial number of up to 7.9 billion to reflect the number of humans currently estimated to be living on the Earth. The collection is designed to be a social experiment that Dadara hopes “can rattle the cage of consensual reality and elevate conversation.” He said in an official announcement that the social experiment is simple, “No one specific …

South Korea’s Ministry of ICT, Science, and Future Planning pledged 223.7 billion KRW ($186.7 million) to create a broad Metaverse ecosystem to support the growth of digital content and corporate growth within the country. The Ministry wrote in an official statement on Feb. 27 that funds will be spent on completing four main objectives in creating what appears to be an all-encompassing Metaverse ecosystem titled the Expanded Virtual World. The government agency intends on using its Metaverse as a platform for expanding the virtual industrial growth of cities, education, and media. Content creators will enjoy support on multiple fronts to …

ourtesy of Kat Taylor Cattytay, digital fashion appeared in 2017. However, we began to talk loudly about it only in 2020. It all began five years ago when Kat first made an Instagram post with the caption “Virtual Clothing!!!” Then, there was a collaboration with Adidas, Off-White, Vetements and Balenciaga. These brands were interested in introducing fashion digitalization even before it blew up in the mass media discourse. Note that the COVID-19 pandemic had yet to happen and people were not stuck at home. Thus, there was no need for digital clothing at all. Nevertheless, it happened and fashion digitalization …

Real estate in the metaverse is booming, but will it last? It’s no secret that investors are spending millions on metaverse real estate. But one must wonder if these investments are based on a fad. While there has always been speculative interest in metaverse properties, since projects like Decentraland launched, interest shot up upon Facebook’s name change to Meta. The social media entity has certainly faced some controversy, but there’s no denying its potential easy access to metaverse content with its consumer-priced Oculus VR headset. In November 2021, the Metaverse Group, an NFT-based real estate company, invested $2.43 million to …