独家优惠奖金 100% 高达 1 BTC + 180 免费旋转

Decentralised VR and its possibilities

With the massive shift of our life into the digital worlds thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, we have discovered new possibilities for our private and business interactions. But the long time at our homes nudged us for seeking new forms of experiences too. However, as we spend more and more time in this environment, new concerns started to be increasingly relevant — our digital privacy and data security.

Together with Pavel Přecechtěl, co-founder of VR Education and a crypto expert, we have deep-dived into the possibilities that bring rising technologies, VR and its decentralised form.

The main advantage of ownership is that it gives us the privilege to deal with our possessions as we wish. We can sell it, donate it or keep it and use benefits derived from it. However, in centralised systems, one can never be entirely sure that these actions will not be withheld from us one day. The answer to this problem might be a decentralised system without central points and authorities who can change the course of things according to their interests or forced to do so. Thanks to that, the transparency and fairness of ownership are achieved.

With the same thought in mind, decentralised virtual reality platforms offer their users certainty in ownership. Whenever the user buys a property, a car or local tokens, it is added to the blockchain, where it is noted forever. As soon as the assets are transferred to the user’s wallet, the possession cannot legally remove them from him.

According to Pavel, it is not only the matter of virtual houses or finance, it concerns all means of data and its ownership.

Authorship and originality are some of the heavily discussed issues, which are often imposed on fraud. The solution could bring the adaption of biodata which could, in Pavel’s point of view, make a new dimension of our existence not only to the virtual world.

Information as height, pupillary distance or colour of eyes or hair will together create our Bio ID, which is expected to be at the same identification level as our passport or driver’s license. To keep this data invariable, objective, but accessible, they should reside beyond any central authority. Again, the blockchain is the direction in which we should look at.

When authorised by BioID, we can easily and reliably check the author’s ownership of the piece of art, document or product.

In combination with VR, BioID can serve in two ways. It can help with the validation of authorship of digital artworks during VR auctions or for the purpose of collections in VR museums or those of private collectors. Regarding this matter, Pavel also commented on the current situation with NFTs (non-fungible tokens): “In these days, NFTs are not perceived as valuable as their ownership isn’t solved correctly. NFTs are usually kept in centralised servers. When this server stops exist, the saved NFT vanished as well, and only a note on the blockchain remains to its owner. Solving the portability and so the long-lasting ownership in its full form remains as a challenge also for decentralised VR platforms.”

As was already mentioned, this system of authorisation can be used in much more cases than in the art field. With its help, the authenticity of valuable products can be verified. “There is already a project called Origin, operating at the platform of Dfinity, which gathered detailed photos of products as luxurious bags, watches or sunglasses at the blockchain. When a customer buys a product, a QR code is delivered together with the product. By scanning the QR code, the record of the product appears on the customer’s smartphone as well as the photos of the product, so when you point the camera at the product, the app responds quickly if it is original piece or not.

In VR, it is the alike principle, just with a better customer experience. Thanks to that, customers can effortlessly buy the luxurious product with the possibility to try them on in the VR shop and check the authenticity at the same time. There is no need to travel to the shop or deal with delivering the product back in case of dissatisfaction. The business can also reduce the amount of money locked in reserves for returned items or decrease the expenses for building the shops at many places worldwide to increase their availability.

Moreover, BioID can contribute to enhancing the experience from the virtual environment itself. Thanks to the precise information about our appearance, VR technologies will represent us very reliably and so improve the interaction during business or personal meetings, which has to be held in digital form due to the geographical distance.

Mainly thanks to the pandemic situation and related restrictions, VR platforms became ideal for various events. According to Pavel, VR worlds are about to adopt the principles and habits which we experience in our physical world: “Festivals, podcasts, sports events will take place in VR worlds, but without risking any danger to its participants or performers and with the advantage of availability to anyone regardless of the location. Even here, it will be necessary to verify the authorship, which NFT could solve with the usage of BioID. Customers will receive one NFT as a ticket, and they can obtain another, for example, as a record of attending a workshop at the event, again accompanied with the BioID certificate.”

Decentralised VR brings companies the possibility to significantly lower their costs, save time, and ensure high security for their data.

One of the several usages is product presentation. Companies can show their potential business partners or clients abroad their new product without transferring it to them. VR environment enables the representatives of both parties to meet and see the product almost as they would in reality.

Similarly, launches of a new product can be organised. “Some companies opt for VR environment to decries their cost for this kind of events but also to increase their reach and make the launch accessible for a wider public. Both their PR and sales tend to benefit from it.”

To step even further and shift these events into the decentralised VR platforms is the absolute control, which it provides. Firstly, when the company own a property on a VR platform, it can be sure that it is always fully available to them. Secondly, they decide who will be permitted to the event or if they will monetise it. They can even divide the property’s space, so the wider public will be able to get some information, but the investors and other business partners can obtain more detailed insights in another room of the building.

The fact that the platform is not under the control of one authority or a company gives its users the certainty that the data will be delivered only to the trusted parties and not deposited within the platform without the awareness of the data owners.

The examples above described possibilities that companies can get for their external interactions. However, VR can be beneficial in the internal environment too. It can fasten its processes or automated their on-the-job training. Onboarding training is experiencing the highest popularity even in the company VR education. “Companies demanded it mainly in case of positions with high fluctuation. We prepare the training in the VR and the new employees can try and learn what will be required from them and how to do it correctly. All that is done without participation of the supervisor, so his time is spared.”

The advantage of decentralisation in this particular matter is mainly the conservation of the company’s best practice which are usually tied with people who have mastered their job but leave the company one day. Keeping the record of their skills in the blockchain maintains the competitive advantage solely in the company’s hands.

The third example mentioned is related to e-commerce, which can reach in VR an entirely new level of customer experience in Pavel’s words.

“I think that the connection between VR platforms and e-commerce will represent a tremendous business boom. We can expect the introduction of shopping centres where besides shops as Nike, the visitors will be able to use numerous services 24/7. It will concern not only DeFi. People will have the possibility to go to the doctor, psychiatrist o lawyer. In short, all the necessary visits which we have to make but we do not feel very comfortable about them so we would welcome if we can do it from the comfort of our home. Moreover, the providers can make the surrounding of their office or shop more bearable for their customers to experience the medical check-up at the bottom of the ocean or the top of Mount Everest.

Like we are used to from physical shopping centres, concerts or other events can accompany the shopping, but again, in the non-stop regime.

Companies can dramatically reduce their cost for personnel and numerous shops running and higher their exposure simultaneously as they will be open all the time.

These days, the ultimate winner of DeFi services and DAO is Ethereum, which is located more than 70% of all funds locked within smart contracts. However, some wonders if it will manage to keep their position as the fees are high and its capacity is limited.

Discussing numerous possibilities, for Pavel, the future of VR platforms lies at the cooperation of Ethereum and the new-old project Dfinity with a narrative of decentralised Google.

“Ethereum is a vast ecosystem tested by the time and attractive for most DAO and DeFi developers. But it has its limits, which Dfinity can perfectly solve.

The problem of platforms as Ethereum, Polkadot or Solana is that they use the cloud, usually from Microsoft or Google, for running their nodes. However, when something happens to the cloud, the servers stop working. As all the data of the websites and VR worlds reside there, users cannot access them during the outage.

To use the potential of VR worlds fully, we need to decentralised the clouds themselves. This is what Dfinity brings. VR platforms using such clouds will have all the layers decentralised and will be accessible at any time.

Ethereum wasn’t built for such things, and its capacity is not designed for such demanding operations. On the contrary, Dfinity was focused on the B2B market from its very begging. While running a database just of orders from the Czech market would be unthinkable at Ethereum, Dfinity can much more. It put itself in the position of Google, Microsoft, Azzure but even adds the possibility to build DeFi, DAP or website on top of it. It replaces the entire internet ecosystem from its roots. This is why the combination of Ethereum and Dfinity makes the greatest sense to me. The developers can program and access their apps from Ethereum, but the back-end and front-end will be placed on Dfinity. Thanks to the decentralised cloud, the deposited files and documents will be kept here for good.

There are already several decentralised VR worlds in different phases of their lifecycle, which can provide. However, before starting to build in them, it is wise the check the level of their decentralisation or the nature of their community: “The platform should be entirely transparent. When doing our research, we should start with its whitepaper and check the token distribution. At least 50% of tokens should be available to the community as a reward for interactions with the world. This should ensure that the community is involved in world development and can influence the direction in which is the platform led. If we find out that majority of the tokens ends up in the team, the project will be centralised, and its advantages vanish.”

The most famous project and its pros and cons

Decentraland is the very first decentralised VR world with Spanish roots. It is a 3D space with the possibility to build virtual worlds, play games, explore museums packed with NFT art, attend live concerts, or organise conferences. It is accessible either via VR headset or from the desktop.

Advantages

Disadvantages

Somnium Space is VR world with decentralised economics founded by Czechs. It is very similar to Decentraland by its functions but with 4K graphic design enhancing the customer experience. This world is also accessible from both VR headset and desktop.

Advantages

Disadvantage

The third presented project is Cryptovoxels, which is the second most popular VR platform. It offers the same functions and principles as Decentraland but with a more active NFT market. Its community is very open, and the development of the world depends very much on the agreement within the community.

Advantages

Disadvantages

Although VR itself has gained a lot of attention in recent years, decentralised VR worlds are still at their very begging. They face two significant barriers, an adaptation of VR headsets by a broader population and the development of a technology allowing its users 24/7 access, complete decentralisation and the ability to transfer their possessions from one world to another.

Even though several decentralised worlds exist, none of them is ideal and prepared for risk-free operations of businesses and other investors.

A milestone that we will soon experience is Facebook Horizon, which will probably attract most users and put decentralised worlds in the second position. This scenario doesn’t have to be perceived as unfavourable as both concepts have their advantages. While Facebook Horizon is ideal for day-to-day contact, decentralised platforms serve as an alternative for those who wish to have their business and investments under control.

Interview with: Pavel Přecechtěl, Author: Kristina Klaudyová

Add a comment

What is your view?

Send

Related posts:

An Unexpected Sight

I walked up the stairs of my apartment complex and peered down the hallway. Right next to my door sat a plunger; more specifically, it was the plunger my roommate and I had ordered. You know, it…

The Key to Controlling Every Situation You Find Yourself In

This is one in a series of essays that was originally conceived as a book for print publication. If you enjoy it and would like to read more from the collection, you can find a sort of Table of…

10 European alternatives to Amazon and eBay in Europe

Consumers purchased over $1 trillion worth of goods via online marketplaces in 2016, according to an Internet Retailer report. That was nearly half of all e-commerce transactions globally. As an…