The intersection of Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality with blockchain has created a new movement in the tech world. Tech-driven industry and non-tech-driven industry are being and will be further impacted with several use cases coming up.
According to research carried out by Alberto Cannavò and F. Lamberti, titled “How Blockchain, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are Converging, and Why”, some use cases were mentioned.
From virtual experience marketplaces, monetization of AR/VR games, e-commerce to advertising, tourism, and universal file formatting, Somnium Space represents an example of the monetization of AR/VR games and more.
What is Somnium Space?
Somnium Space is a blockchain-based video game built on the Ethereum blockchain with VR capabilities where players can buy or import utilities like land and avatars, monetize them while having an immersive gaming experience. It’s available as both a 2D and VR experience game.
“Virtual Reality and digital ownership bring the next level of human interaction,” said Artur Sychov, Founder and CEO of Somnium Space. “Soon, humanity will be spending the majority of its time by living inside virtual reality worlds such as Somnium Space, and I believe that digital art with proof of origin and ownership will play a huge role in shaping the look and feel of those environments.”
Team Behind Somnium Space
Artur Sychov is the founder and CEO of SomniumSpace. A lover of Tesla, VR evangelist, angel investor, and poker player. He’s skilled at commodity markets, trading strategies as well as portfolio management. Artur has an MBA from the City University of Seattle, Washington.
Tatsiana Sychov is the money woman acting as the Chief Financial Officer. Her experience cuts across the oil and energy sector with good exposure to Group Financial Reporting, SAP ERP, Foreign Languages, Critical Thinking, and Energy Economics. Tatsiana has a Master’s Degree focused on finance as well.
Sasha LeBaron is the Community Manager for Somnium Space. He has vast experience in the Virtual Reality space writing about it for more than four years and loves Online Community Management. Sasha is the founder and CEO of LeBaron Group that specializes in Community Management.
Fernando Gonzalez serves as the Lead UI Designer. He is a Graphic Artist and Designer, VR Avatars designer, and a 3D Artist with vast experience in the space.
The other team members that we couldn’t find their profiles online are Vadim Kupchinsky, the Lead Blockchain Developer, and Alexander Isaev, the Lead VR Developer.
Unique Features of Somnium Space
Every project has inherent elements that make it exciting for the users. Somnium has such features which will be utilized by players of the game to further develop the entire ecosystem. These features include but are not limited to:
The Somnium ecosystem is accessible through all major VR headsets. This gives users a unique advantage of using a wearable of their choice and still having access to enjoy the experience of Somnium.
Users have the option to time their space or environment to the outlook they desire. The goal of this is to boost creativity and bring about flexibility to what anyone can do in the Somnium Space.
According to the website, this is an “Automatic recording mode of yourself on your property for future AI analysis to bring your avatar to life.” This can help to create a sync between your personality and whatever avatar you represent yourself with in the space. It’s also connected to data illustration and analysis.
This is where DeFi functionalities come into play. In the Somnium platform, true ownership of digital goods, avatars, items, and virtual land is allowed as well as other monetization structures for all creators. So the experience is not just immersive but economical.
There is a programmatic VR advertisement plugin that users can use to make more money in Somnium Space. Just like is seen in the real world where billboards and buildings are used for advertisement, the Somnium ecosystem allows users to do the same – the new face of marketing.
This is where items can be traded without leaving the environment. Utilities in form of NFTs that are used can be traded for something else like the token of the metaverse or other NFTs.
- Variety of creative tools: SDK…
SDKs (Software Development Kits) are a combination of software tools made for creators to use in any platform to create different objects and experiences.
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Tokenomics of Somnium Metaverse
Blockchain tokenization has opened limitless possibilities for projects using the technology. The dynamics are now focused on helping users turn their assets into tokens that can be monetized. This is the foundation of the tokenomics of most blockchain platforms including Somnium Space.
“As an Ethereum application, Somnium Space allows players to tokenize their in-game assets such as land parcels, avatars, collectibles, and wearables,” says Cryptopedia. The Somnium Space is made up of three different token assets:
- Somnium Space’s Cube Token (CUBE)
This is an ERC-20 token and the native token of Somnium Space. Players can buy and sell in-game items using the CUBE. Any ETH wallet like Trezor One or MetaMask can store the CUBE token.
- Somnium Space Land Parcels (PARCELs)
Somnium Space launches two Initial Land Offerings (ILOs) to issue Land Parcels (PARCELs) to stakeholders of the platform. These PARCELs we’re given on the OpenSea NFT marketplace. With these PARCELs, players can build a mini world of their own in Somnium Space.
- Somnium Space Avatars (AVATARs)
The team behind Somnium Space introduced avatar (AVATAR) in November of 2020 as a token to allow players to “mint their own full-body VR avatars onto the blockchain using CUBE,” says Cryptopedia.
“To participate, players purchase an avatar using CUBE and it becomes part of their inventory. These avatars are compatible with virtual worlds across major digital platforms.”
Somnium CUBE is trading at $5.52, with a circulating and maximum supply of 12,500,000 CUBE and 100,000,000 CUBE. Its ATH and ATL are $69.07 and $1.74 having a market capitalization of $69,018,387.32.
Roadmap of Somnium Space
The major description of the future development of Somnium Space will be the introduction of earning systems that allow users to use their Karma levels to earn CUBE. For example, Karma rewards will be received when active users in the community services others as tour guides, instructors, greeters… the rewards can be converted to value instantly.
Looking at the virtual world from the website, the future of Somnium is so promising with the development done so far. The partnership is strong with other blockchain platforms and tech firms including OpenSea, Microsoft, and Oculus.
Challenges of Somnium Space
The three major challenges of Somnium Space are competition, negative effects, and adoption of VR. The big names in the world of the metaverse, for now, are Sandbox and Decentraland. There are others but Somnium despite being so immersive and promising will have to fight for a share of that market.
Metcalfe’s Law reveals that the value of a network is affected by the number of users of that network. Since the rate of usage is still not as high as expected, the effect on the network, for now, is not truly positive. The more users come into the space the more valuable it becomes.
VR has been with us for a while but the adoption is still very low. One of the major reasons is the cost of VR equipment. A lot of users might not be predisposed to make such investments now until the market becomes mainstream and cheap enough for purchase.
Somnium Partnerships
Thanks to this list of partners that Somnium is building with. Here lies an advantage to overcome the challenge they are facing in the market:
High Fidelity & JanusVR will help bring about interoperability of the gaming structure in Somnium. They are a VR-focused company.
OASIS is known for teleporting between VR worlds. Somnium incorporates this in the architecture of the platform. OASIS will open ways for this to happen. VRBA (Virtual Reality Blockchain Alliance) can provide the community needed to sieve such innovation.
Sony has been in the entertainment industry for a long and understands how it operates. Sony created a Sony VR store in the Somnium Space giving the project a huge boost. Polygon & OpenSea brings in one of the latest and richest blockchain metrics to power Somnium… speed of transactions and marketplace for DeFi activities.
BGA (Blockchain Gaming Alliance) combination is a good deal for global exposure in the industry. With Gemini, Somnium is open to one of the biggest exchanges in the world. That’s an addition to the users of the ecosystem.
Somnium Space in partnership with Holaplex resulted in the release of its first NFT store on the Solana blockchain. For FTX, it is another vast entrance into one of the most celebrated exchanges in the blockchain industry.
Remember, it’s accessible from PC, desktop as well as mobile devices. Here’s a tweet on the development.
By area, Somnium Space is the second largest of all virtual blockchain worlds (VBW), according to NFTplaza. This is a good start and can drive Somnium Space to global relevance in the “blockverse” world.
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