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Metaverse July 6, 2022

BuzzAR advances its metaverse space

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BuzzAR, a Singapore-based startup that focuses on the development of virtual worlds, recently debuted its face-to-avatar “Pop-Up Metaverse” in the real world (IRL) at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London, England. There, hundreds of attendees had the opportunity to have their likenesses transformed into avatars in real time.

The event, which took place during London Tech Week 2022, was called “Minting Good,” and it was organized by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), SGInnovate, and the Singapore Global Network (SGN) in an effort to promote the use of technology for charitable purposes.

Bell Beh, CEO of BuzzAR and co-founder of the company, was one of three people who talked alongside Bettina von Schlippe and Bernard Toh, co-founders of Brytehall, on the topic of reimagining brand experiences in the metaverse. Both of these companies, which are closely associated with the Metaverse, gave presentations at the London Tech Week 2022. According to the findings of a recent study conducted by the American financial services company Citi, the metaverse may have a digital population of as many as five billion people and an economy of up to $13 trillion by the year 2030.

The IRL pop-up metaverse initiative has tight ties to the debut of Bae, a virtual commerce infrastructure

Bae is now a smartphone app that is exclusively available to users who have been invited to download it. Bae, the first virtual avatar created by BuzzAR, is a character with her own individual history and identity. “That we are free to be whoever we want to be is the message that is made very apparent to everyone by Bae, and especially to women. You have the ability to be brave, creative, and fun “said Beh.

Ken Lim, CTO of BuzzAR and one of its co-founders, claims that one of the organization’s primary goals is to have a constructive effect on the businesses it works with. “We are aware that this is a difficult time for many businesses to maintain their market presence, but we do not want them to only maintain their market presence; rather, we want them to grow. We are making all of our developments, technologies, and application programming interfaces (APIs) available to any and all brands. All brands that have been given the green light are welcome to enter the metaverse with free commercials and re-market their wares to our worldwide gaming audience, which comes from 191 nations “he said.

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Image credits: Shutterstock, CC images, Midjourney, Unsplash.

Cryptocurrencies

The Sandbox Unites with Ledger to Boost Metaverse Security

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The Sandbox Unites with Ledger to Boost Metaverse Security

The Sandbox, one of the most patronized decentralized virtual worlds, recently announced that it has teamed up with Ledger Enterprise, a company whose infrastructure solutions safeguard businesses’ crypto assets. As part of the deal, Ledger will provide security integration to all of The Sandbox’s enterprise brand partners. 

An ongoing collaboration

The alliance will enable brands to easily and simply secure their LAND, virtual parcels digital real estate within The Sandbox metaverse. LAND allows game designers create digital experiences such as dioramas or games and populate them with assets.

What’s more, enterprise brands will be able to secure wallets that house their Sandbox NFT collections. To be more specific, brands can add The Sandbox as a decentralized application (dApp) on Ledger Enterprise.

Additionally, users of Ledger’s live desktop application will see the integration of a widget for the Sandbox. The Sandbox will recommend Ledger Enterprise to clients, while Ledger returns the favor by recommending The Sandbox to those interested in breaking into the possibilities of the metaverse.

Lastly, with crypto hacks soaring by 15% from 2021 ($3.3 billion) to $3.8 billion in 2022, the alliance with enable clients to migrate all Sandbox NFT collections to a secure Ledger Enterprise wallet that benefits from additional security. 

The latest collaboration between The Sandbox and Ledger comes seven months after the two firms partnered to develop “Ledgerverse” in August 2022. 

Ledgerverse was created to educate people about the need for crypto security education, with detailed content on how users of the entire DeFi sector can protect their wallets from cybercriminals. 

Tommy Hilfiger partners with the Sandbox 

On March 28, Tommy Hilfiger announced via its verified Twitter handle that it has teamed up with several metaverse-related firms including Roblox and The Sandbox. According to the post, this will bring the brand’s lifestyle into multiple digital communities.

The Sandbox remains one of the most sought-after digital collections in the market. As of 09:30 UTC on March 29, the project’s highest seven-day sales ranged from $2,000 to $5,000 despite a sharp decline in the total number of sales, data from Nonfungible.com showed.

Sandbox token up over 60% this year 

Unlike other metaverse tokens that have seen mild gains in 2023, SAND is one of the cryptocurrencies that has brought multiple percentage returns to its holders. 

Following the market rebound earlier in the year, SAND soared by 114% to a yearly high price of $0.9365 on February 8 after opening the first day with a trading price of $0.3831 amid a substantial rise in investor demand. 

As of 09:30 UTC on March 29, SAND was exchanging hands for $0.6455. Overall, this brings the SAND gains year-to-date (YTD) to 68%, data from crypto price tracker CoinMarketCap showed. 

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Economy

Government-Backed NFT Scrapped By UK Treasury

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Government-Backed NFT Scrapped By UK Treasury

Government-backed non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were in the news last April, after the UK made a bold move to create digital collectibles to foster the country’s commitment to tech. While this was seen as a positive one year ago, a statement released on March 27 has thrown the once-innovative idea into complete disarray. 

The Treasury of the UK has nixed the idea of releasing a government-backed NFT which would have placed the country ahead of other crypto-friendly nations as a leading global crypto hub. 

Economic uncertainty across the entire decentralized finance (DeFi) sector due to a muddied regulatory picture was cited as one of the main concerns leading to the scrapping of the token. That’s according to statements made by Harriet Baldwin, Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, to the BBC. 

Current British PM proposed idea last year 

Last April, John Glen, the minister and economic secretary to the Treasury, told an audience at the Innovative Finance Global Summit that then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the current Prime Minister, petitioned Royal Mint to make an NFT before the end of summer 2022. 

According to Glen, the whole idea was part of the UK’s forward-looking approach towards utilizing the latest technology in the country’s development. 

While a government-backed “NFT for Britain” now appears off the table, economic secretary Andrew Griffith has made it known that the proposal will remain under review.

Shadow city minister Tulip Siddiq was quick to put the boot in, saying: “I’m glad the Royal Mint has finally made the Conservatives see sense, but we’ve been calling on the chancellor to drop this crypto gimmick for months.”

Global NFT market soars past $50bn in  sales 

Despite the negative market sentiment occasioned by the UK Treasury’s decision, the digital collectibles market remains the most profitable in the crypto-economy after the deepening of bearishness in the second half of 2022 due to the collapse of Terra and FTX. 

Global NFT sales in the past 24 hours stood at $41 million from the activities of 74,786 users involved in more than 180,000 transactions. Lifetime sales volume, meanwhile, has surpassed $50 billion.

Popular NFT project CryptoPunks holds the record for the four highest-selling individual NFTs, Axie Infinity remains the number one NFT collection by all-time sales volume with $4.2 billion, and Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum remains the biggest NFT blockchain by all-time sales volume of about $38 billion

NFT users are spread throughout the globe, with the majority hailing from the United States, Thailand, Brazil, China, Vietnam, India, Canada, Indonesia, Germany, and South Africa

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Cryptocurrencies

Disney Dismisses Metaverse Division, Polygon Feels the Heat

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Disney Dismisses Metaverse Division, Polygon Feels the Heat

Disney has announced that it is abandoning plans to explore the metaverse, and the news has vibrated through many parts of the Web3 industry including cryptocurrencies. 

The animator, together with major fashion brands (Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Yves Saint Laurent and Nike), automotive companies Mercedes-Benz and BMW, and fellow media company Warner Brothers, are the pioneer companies that have filed for NFT and metaverse trademarks with the United States Postal and Trademark Office (USPTO). 

According to the Wall Street Journal, around 50 employees in Disney’s metaverse division have been dismissed. The layoff in the AR and VR-powered division represents a modest fraction of the company’s downsizing that will see about 7,000 lose their jobs. 

While the mass media, multinational, and entertainment conglomerate has been experimenting with several technologies under the metaverse banner, including producing AR films, creating virtual stores, and integrating blockchain technology, the slow adoption of the virtual world has made the sector largely unprofitable for Disney and other firms. 

The latest development has not just affected Disney employees. Stakeholders of the crypto economy, particularly Polygon (MATIC) holders, have also seen a substantial reduction in their portfolios amid the layoffs.

Polygon (MATIC) is down by 12% in March 

In July 2022, Polygon was selected along with Red 6, Obsess, Lockerverse, Inworld, and Flickplay as the six participants for Disney’s Accelerator Program

The Program came with a vision of building the future of immersive experiences with a primary focus on artificial intelligence (AI) characters, NFTs, and ARs. 

As an integral part of the NFT industry, Polygon ranks 5th on the log of blockchains by all-time NFT sales volume with approximately $764 million from 1.05 million buyers involved in over 6 million transactions.

Disney’s association with Polygon at the time led to a 94% spike in the price of MATIC after opening and closing the month with trading prices of $0.4781 and $0.9283 respectively. 

Disney Dismisses Metaverse Division, Polygon Feels the Heat

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The opposite reaction has been felt in MATIC’s price due to the layoffs. MATIC is down by 12% in March after opening the month strongly at $1.1952 and declining to $1.0470, as of 09:30 UTC on March 28.

Disney Dismisses Metaverse Division, Polygon Feels the Heat

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NFT and metaverse trademarks continue to be filed 

According to USPTO data shared by licensed attorney Mike Kondoudis, a large number of companies have filed NFT and metaverse trademarks.

At a glance, these include Wynn Resorts, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, FUJITSU, Nissan, Fallout, Lucasfilm, Samsung, Shutterstock AI, Grammarly, Amazon, Lacoste, and General Motors (GM).

Other firms to have explored opportunities via trademarks are Walmart, Sports Illustrated, Death Row Records, American Music Awards, and Disney. The latter’s latest application is for the new Marvel television TV show.

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