Of all the things that have started to move to the blockchain, VR is perhaps, at first sight, one of the strangest. Yet once you start to think about it, it does begin to make sense. Most people when thinking of VR probably think of gaming. Virtual Worlds have been with us for years though, Second Life is probably one of the best known.
There are many regions in SL even a vampire land where your avatar is likely to get attacked if you’re not careful. There are ‘adult only’ spaces, game spaces, shops, venues, restaurants, cafes, parks and housing. Anything you see in the real world can be replicated here. There are people making a living buying, selling and creating many digital assets from homes to jewellery and custom avatars. You can even buy used items on SL.
I’ve asked them if they’re moving to blockchain because it would make sense for them. Will they answer? Only time will tell. If they do, it may affect every other platform.
Ceek VR
Who else is moving to blockchain? The first one I’ll discuss is Ceek VR a virtual reality company they have partnerships with Universal Music, Apple and T-Mobile already so a lot of exclusive content. Their token launch (ICO) is to raise money to build custom VR studios. The studios will then back the tokens, this is very simplified but you can read their excellent White Paper here.
Ceek have a very affordable headset, well two really as they have a cardboard model as well as a high end headset with individually adjustable lenses. They’ve chosen to go the ‘mobile’ route, that is, the headset is used with a VR compatible mobile phone. This means that Ceek headsets are compatible with other VR providers and also, if you have a mobile compatible headset, you can still watch Ceek by downloading the app.
Ceek VR is a simple idea to allow artists of all kinds, including teachers, musicians, film makers and any other performer to reach a worldwide audience in a fully immersive world. Viewers can participate by curating and promoting their favourite content. Artists, no matter how small or new can create immersive content that can be shared on the platform.
The studios are for me, one of the main things that sets Ceek VR apart. Artists need a place to create their content, with ‘micro studios’ planned to reach other countries, it means there will be a dedicated, affordable studio for artists to use. Bringing more diverse content to the ‘metaverse’.
Decentraland
This is another new blockchain VR platform, built it seems along similar lines as Second Life but focusing more on advertisers and allowing content creators to ‘monetize’ their work. If SL do move to the blockchain, they have a very committed userbase which could adversely affect Decentraland.
I like the idea of a ‘virtual world’ to ‘live’ in when you want to escape for a while, but I’m not sure I’d want one that is so heavily into advertising. They say there may be places like a virtual Times Square and advertisers will be able to buy billboard ads there. Well, it may add to the atmosphere but that’s not necessarily what I want to see in a virtual world.
One of their ‘selling points’ is that land sales in Decentraland will be recorded on the blockchain so are not under a centralised control (unlike SL) The plots are small so that land is bought and content produced. Apparently you can build as high as you desire. So you could build your own equivalent of Trump tower, rent out the units, have stores and entertainment and make money that way.
You can make money on Decentraland if you provide content, but it’s not clear as to how a ‘viewer’ would do so. Which for those who just want to explore may turn out to be costly.
VibeHub
This VR company is creating ‘hubs’ where you can showcase your content monetize it and reach that wider audience. The White Paper says it’s in real time so you can interact with a teacher, artist etc. The problem I see there is that no matter what, if it’s in real time, and you have a thousand people attending, how do you get the personal interaction?
They talk about three ‘hubs’ Music, Teaching and Musical Collaboration. They pin consumers choosing them over other platforms because “We build the best virtual worlds.”
A very bold claim, and I wonder if the other companies would agree? Once again though, there seems to be no way for consumers to participate and earn Vibe’s. Maybe I missed something?
Spective
This is another VR offering that targets advertising. Talking about ‘The Attention Economy’ because as we all know, there’s so much content out there vying for our attention.
Spective is going to stream live VR, just as all the others. It offers decentralised communication between publishers, viewers and curators. Publishers provide content. Advertisers may or may not buy ad space on that content. If a viewer interacts with an ad, the publisher rewards the viewer with tokens. A curator can also earn tokens, first they must generate their own SIG link, that link follows them around and, as the share, they get rewarded.
In Conclusion
Of the four detailed here, Ceek VR seems to have the advantage. They already have unique content, they are an established VR company with many iconic artists onboard, Lady Gaga, U2 and Elton John to name just three. They have exclusive VR rights to live stream World Of Dance in 2018. They already have the Megadeth Dystopia event (which enabled Megadeth to reach a much wider audience) available on the platform.
Ceek City is available now as is the theatre where there’s already a lot of content. Ceek does also seem to be the one focusing on user experience rather than advertising. Allowing content creators to sell digital assets to fans and users, giving the buyers the luxury of owning that asset and have ownership recorded on the blockchain. A rare digitally signed album cover now has real value with immutable proof of ownership and provenance. Think how much an original digital album cover would be valued at, if you could prove it was one of only ten and it was yours to sell.
It also allows users to buy in a digital setting, but getting the end product in real life. Have a T-Shirt digitally signed, then have the real thing delivered to your door.
After reading through this, I may have to become a ‘Ceeker’.