Spatial Newsletter™ #016
This week we have primers on digital fashion, AR NFTs, proof-of-work vs proof-of-stake, and VR for education!
Welcome to the 16th episode of Spatial Newsletter™! This week we're taking it back a bit to help our readership get a better understanding about some of the technologies and concepts that we go into, will go into, or have gone into in this newsletter. Yeah, I probably should have done this awhile ago but better late than never. If you’re too cool for school and already know this stuff, then consider it a refresher.
“Make pacts, not war.” -Joh Orengo (hey, that’s me!)
What is Digital Fashion?
Digital fashion has been a big part of the metaverse hype with Balenciaga and Gucci collaborating with Fortnite and Roblox, (respectively), Adidas setting up a virtual store in The Sandbox, Nike acquiring RTKFT, and digital fashion houses like The Fabricant rising to prominence. Here is a primer on digital fashion, how it works and what are its use cases by “fashion futurist” Amanda Cosco to get you caught up if you aren’t already.
Spatial8 has a digital fashion studio in the ecosystem as well, and we’re welcoming more to join the community. Read more about Scopus Studio in our Spatial Spotlight.
How to Create, Showcase & Trade Augmented Reality NFTs
Content creators and aficionados have been leveraging AR to bring their NFTs into the real world. Check out Spatial8 ecosystem member Overly’s blog that explores the basics of NFTs and their potential in combination with Augmented Reality for immersive and phygital experiences.
“Marker-based augmented reality can present an opportunity for those creators who offer a real-world physical counterpart to their virtual asset. One of the prospective avenues is bringing to life geotagged non-fungible tokens. When geotagging became a thing in the world of NFTs, artists started to attach geographic coordinates to NFTs street art across the globe, which allowed fans to own both a virtual and physical artwork[…]
Alternatively, the NFT content could complement the actual artwork/location and let owners put the reality and virtual pieces together like a puzzle.“
Deloitte Canada: Flow’s More Energy-Efficient for Minting NFTs
According to a new Deloitte Canada study (though it apparently isn’t out yet ‘cause I can’t find it online), minting NFTs on Dapper Labs’ (of CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot fame) Flow blockchain consumes less energy than a Google search or Insta post.
Flow and similar blockchains like Solana and Polygon utilize the Proof of Stake rather than Proof of Work (such as Bitcoin and Ethereum) method to verify the authenticity, via consensus, of the transactions on a blockchain’s digital ledger. This short Youtube video provides an excellent explanation of the two methods. For faster consumption, this infographic shows some of the main differences between the two:
Proof of Stake systems like Flow are moving in the right direction energy-wise. At the same time, POS coins are still mostly unproven and community builders need to work harder to build communities around their coins. Let’s see where the POS goes.
Money in the Metaverse
“Could I make this my life? Banking dashboards, cryptocurrency wallets, ledgers and spreadsheets. I tried to imagine myself in a corporate-owned and venture-funded metaverse: a virtual axolotl in a virtual sweater, writing for a virtual magazine in a virtual office, hemorrhaging virtual money. I might covet the Gen Z copy-editor’s avatar, and hope that readers would invest in N.F.T.s of my work. I could be paid in CondéCoin, with a cut going to Meta or Minecraft or Microsoft, whatever corporation or game was my virtual landlord. Weekends would be spent at the arcade, or the casino. My husband and I would go on virtual vacations to virtual worlds, stay with virtual hosts who played virtual games set on virtual farms. I could play to earn—and earn, and earn. I could have everything I wanted, and nothing at all.”
That’s the end, but it’s worth starting this well-written and hype-free article from the beginning.
VR in Education Webinar
Last but not least, tomorrow (the 15th of this month), Futuclass, another Spatial8 ecosystem member, will host their free webinar "Virtual Reality in Education". Everyone who registers is also granted access to the recording.
The topics covered include:
* What is Virtual Reality?
* Teachers share their experiences in classroom use
* Which subjects have educational VR content
* What does science say about the effectiveness of VR
Join the webinar to learn more.
Before then read Spatial8’s Spatial Spotlight (formerly Citizen’s Spotlight) on Futuclass here.
Thanks for joining us again this week, Spatialists! Peace be with you, and remember, you are spatial!
Joh, piece-maker