Watching Dermot Bannon’s Incredible homes series this week got me thinking. If I can’t have the dream home in real life, could I potentially design my dream home in the metaverse? The answer is, why not. Each metaverse platform available for the public to experiment with comes with an array of features that allows us to imagine buildings and interior design as never before. Having now latched on to this idea it is time to experiment with the concept. From a pixelated avatar in the Sandbox to a real plot of Porto in Upland to a wearable wardrobe in Decentraland, the opportunities are endless. There are many questions that come to mind as one considers a new digital home. Will it be a mirror of real-life dream homes? Will it be a deconstructed version of a home? Can I pick up a home and move it between virtual landscapes? Can avatars swim in infinity pools if my home happens to have one? The point is that this expansion of our virtual selves is only beginning. From the outset it is clear that events and gamification play two crucial roles in the current metaverse environments. Lets take a closer look at some of the metaverses encouraging us to explore. A playground for iconic artists to design the virtual world London based contemporary artist Jacky Tsai has teamed up with Upland to offer players and fans a unique opportunity to collect three different rarities of the iconic MetaSkull in the form of digital collectibles. The skull motif first rose to fame as part of Alexander Mulqueens collection back in 2008 and can be seen wrapped neatly around the necks of all fashionistas around the world. With this collection, you can potentially decorate your virtual home in beautiful skulls. This thrilling idea will not only enhance the visual aesthetic of homes in Upland but will also inspire artists to showcase their art attached to virtual living. Metaverse platform Upland taps into easy behavior mechanics to encourage a loyal fanbase of players and re-engage users with click-and-collect treasure hunts that keep people engaged. A gaming environment that allows you to colonize a planet Leading blockchain gaming platform, Alien Worlds is a great example of community-driven engagement in the metaverse via gaming. Using planets as metaphors for DAOs, the players in Alien Worlds can impact the governance of their very own planet. Designing a planet and interplanetary activities, now that is a fun idea. I could imagine any entrepreneur or scientist interested in Space Exploration wanting their very own stake in a planet. A pixelated world with some of your favourite brands Will the metaverse allow for closer connection with leading brands? Perhaps in The Sandbox a fan of Nike could decorate their home with Nike footwear with an ever-expanding footwear collection and quests to find matching pairs. Seems like a dream for a fashion brand and a fun way to spend some time as a player. Web3 metaverses continue to work on infrastructure, building out these epic experiences and leveraging blockchain technology to unveil the potential of these virtual environments. From decorating the virtual version of your city in Upland, to governing planets in Alien Worlds to playing with pixels in The Sandbox, users can begin to consider the design of their very own digital environments. Whilst I don’t own the coveted skull scarf as many of my friends do, I may own a MetaSkull NFT and decorate a piece of the virtual world for Halloween.
