Meta universe land: what makes digital real estate valuable

Since the early days of Internet chat rooms and games MUD（“ Multiplayer dungeons multi-user dungeons”） Since the birth of , People have been wandering in the digital space . But now , The digital world is taking an increasing share of our activities and time , And more substantial than ever .

A powerful recent example is Zoom Background map , It can distinguish the speakers in the video call from the surrounding physical background . This actually gives us the ability to create a private digital space . People quickly make these spaces their own , Use from Serengeti Vision to Ghibli Studio Movie And so on .

Now? , The meta universe platform can give the digital space a sense of physical structure and geography , So as to innovate the way of exploration and interaction .（ for example , I took part stay Gather.town Several meetings held on the platform , For the meeting Zoom Room and 8 Digital landscape connected , Participants can really meet in it .）

* How should we think about what to build for the metauniverse ？* The framework is actually very simple , Almost synonymous repetition ： Digital space , It means creating the real world “ External version ” There are no opportunities in . It means The value of these spaces depends on what people want to do there , And how the functional features of the digital space support these activities .

Extended reading ： Primordial 7 Basic elements

And then to Zoom For example ： You can use it more to make video calls with your relatives and friends far away , Instead of talking to neighbors （ At least in the period beyond the popularity of the new crown ）. Again , When working with friends or music artists （ Or both ） When it is difficult to meet , People are more likely to go to the metauniverse concert with friends . Although many people will soon be able to meet in the virtual conference room space , But no one wants to be in the virtual world for a long time 、 senseless “ Commuting to and from work ”, If they can “ Move in an instant ”(teleport), That is to say, if the position is moved instantaneously between digital positions . meanwhile , When the metauniverse can provide experiences that are not available in the real world , It will be a must go , Such as Legendary Adventures or exploring distant galaxies .

All this is still in its early stages , Therefore, it is difficult to accurately predict what will create great and lasting value . For all that , We can still infer that in the growing digital space , What can bring value to users .

Yuan universe land and real estate

For decades, , People have been talking about “ Digital real estate ” The concept of . historically , This phrase refers to a particular publisher's website （ Such as The New York times Home page ） A rare space on （ Usually used exclusively for advertising ）. today , People are used to centralized entities and attention platforms , such as Facebook And Google , They have a lot of such space , Then rent it out .

Digital real estate has always had value .Web3 The difference is that , Such as Non homogeneity syndrome ( NFT ) Digital asset paradigm , Enable people to have... In a unique way （ Not just for rent ） Specific digital real estate and the land and location of the virtual world , For private or shared use . Blockchain is Web3 Core technologies , It provides decentralization by 、 Tamper proof and publicly accessible records of who owns what digital assets to achieve this .

In view of the fact that the digital space can be expanded infinitely in theory , Skeptics therefore question “ Have ” Does the concept of digital land or buildings make sense .

But the metacosmic platform has its own rare form ： for example , There is only so much space on the walls of digital buildings ; For geographical reasons , Only so many buildings are close to facilities such as virtual concert halls or Vesper geyser （Vespene geyser） And so on .

But at the same time , Due to the possibility of rapid travel or blinking , Distance may not be a factor . therefore , Consideration of the value of land and real estate in a particular virtual world , What matters is how people's activities affect their use .

people （ Or rather , Their incarnation ） May walk out of the virtual concert together , Then it meanders down the adjacent virtual shopping area . Just like in the real world , The store closest to the virtual conference hall will get the most “ Visitors flowrate ”.

https://youtu.be/wMM9RvPqOpo

Decentraland  Of Metajuku Shopping area

This means that even in virtual space , Proximity is still important .

in fact , In a sense , Adjacent to activities and amenities in the virtual world , Sometimes it may be better than in the real world more valuable ： for example , The audience of the virtual concert is all over the world , In principle, this can arouse a lot of attention to the digital building next door .

However , On medium and long distances , Virtual distance is much less important . In the real world , Owning a house in the suburbs is of great value , Because the house area can be larger , At the same time, the owner can still work in nearby cities . however , When you can move to and from work in a blink , Your virtual “ home ” Whether located in the virtual world “ Work ” Near the location , Not important .

More broadly , In the virtual world , When you can choose to move instantaneously , People are less likely to travel long and time-consuming distances . One exception is that long-distance travel itself is a valuable or interesting activity —— For example, take Virtual ferry , People can explore and play games on the way .

All this , It means that the value of land and real estate in the virtual world to users may depend on the adjacent areas , Not in the full geographical location of the virtual world . We can look forward to seeing the booming shopping centers 、 Micro cities , Even the entire virtual world , They are a bit like islands in digital space —— All kinds of activities , So that people can travel locally —— But between them “ distance ” It's big , People need to travel in the blink of an eye .

It doesn't even matter whether these different activities are on the same platform . Like we might use in our work Zoom Opening meeting , Use Messenger or Snapchat Social , Someone might be Meta Of Horizon Workrooms Work in China ; And then in The Sandbox Play with friends ; And in Voxels Planning your own private art gallery .

The meta universe platform market is unlikely to be a winner take all . Besides , Even within a particular platform , There may also be many successful clusters of different activities , Entrepreneurs can try to launch their own activity clusters by developing new facilities or resources , As a hub to attract others to build other facilities around . This is the beauty of composability , It is Web3 The core characteristics of , So that people can build and adapt to the existing framework , Create new experiences .

Land division and planning of the yuan universe

The construction potential of the digital world is infinite , This means that we want to eliminate the frustration caused by zoning policies and other forms of structural geographic planning . But it is the same as the adjacent areas , In the virtual world , Planning sometimes becomes more important .

People may not want to open a shop next to something unpleasant , And with the power of digital construction , People can create ugly things 、 Dazzling things . If virtual space becomes unattractive , Then users can evacuate to other places immediately ; This has brought a great burden to the architects and builders of the meta universe platform , Space needs to be managed according to user preferences and expected application scenarios .

For the same reason , Higher level rules are often required to prevent yellow 、 Harassment and other demeaning uses of participants' digital experiences . In view of the importance of the proximity of the sites discussed above , Complementary types of activities （ For example, different forms of business activities ） Put together , It also helps maximize the user experience .

But at the same time , Beyond traditional design （ Even physics ） The creativity of boundaries is one of the greatest benefits of digital space . Some of the main advantages of the metacosmic world , It's about giving users the freedom to build whatever they want .

A natural compromise , It is a high-level layout and visual plan focusing only on the guiding space . This is it. White Sands The Baisha yuancosmos project is very important to the recent What luxury villas do ： Restrict people from changing the appearance of villas , At the same time, it enables the creator to redo the internal design . This reflects the regulations of local governments in the real world , While maintaining the external visual characteristics of the block and community , Allow the reconstruction and reorganization of the space inside the building .

 

Importance of micro level planning , Especially depending on the environment . Detailed zoning may be essential for creating high-end digital Street View , But it may not be that important in the game world where people fight orcs or goblins play . Again , Some types of development constraints we see in the physical world , For example, the height limit of the roller coaster , In the virtual world No need at all , Because digital space is not restricted by the traditional rules of geophysics .

But overall , It will be of great value to create a digital space that is consistent with the user's intuition , This means that a certain degree of planning is often crucial .

Digital assets and platform choices

In addition to the geographical value of digital and virtual worlds , There are also questions about which platforms are more valuable . ad locum , The classic chicken egg relationship that guides and establishes the trading market begins to work ： It is best to build on the platform with a large user base ; But at the same time , Users are more likely to join a platform with a booming ecosystem .

It means , When digital land is on top of the already popular platform architecture , It is especially valuable to users , As in the Minecraft Running on the engine NFT Worlds equally . Again , Join a virtual world that integrates many existing digital communities , It's like The Sandbox, as well as Otherside As implied , It may also have a great attraction to users and builders .

The source of these values , Or depends on the expected user activity ： The construction of some virtual world platforms , It is to support the digitalization of some daily affairs ; Some are more dreamy game worlds ; Others just invite us to explore and interact in the infinite wilderness .

If the meta universe platform wants to encourage users to customize their own space , And then run a business , Then the platform needs to provide tools to help achieve this . by comparison , If the digital space is only used for business meetings or medical treatment , Will pay more attention to platform stability 、 Security and privacy .

meanwhile , For artists 、 Game studio and NFT For creators of digital assets such as communities , It would be especially valuable to build in a way that supports cross platform interoperability and portability .Web3 One of the biggest benefits of , Is that users have the opportunity to carry their own digital assets with them , So as to accumulate personal identity 、 Status and other attributes . As users become more familiar with this pattern , May need it more and more .

Moveable 、 Decentralized identity can be applied to anything ： for example , Some people want to take away the weapons or amulets they use in the video game world , And use it as the decoration of the virtual office .（ for example , The author decorates his office in the real world with real objects of his favorite virtual works , Such as Hyrule Maps and Myst Of “ Link book ”, His digital office can be the same ？）

But in the meta universe , Even buildings can be moved from one place to another . People with digital architecture can create a real “ Belong to them ” Space , Put their favorite works of art inside 、 Furniture or temporary fashions , Then take them away when moving across platforms . such as , This is it. Far Of SOLIDS The theme behind ： A generative framework that can be used freely in different meta cosmic environments . therefore , Digital land in a particular metauniverse , Finally, the value created in dozens of other meta universes can be captured .

 

The framework described in this article shows , Think about what determines the value of digital land to users , It's not as difficult as it seems at first . What matters is how people will Use The various spaces of the metauniverse ; How well the digital space fits into these activities ; And the overall value of these activities to users .

This article focuses on intuitive user scenarios , And has appeared on various meta cosmic platforms . However , Many greater opportunities will arise in areas that have not yet been thought of , After all, digital space has increasingly realized experiences that the real world cannot compare . The expansion of the metauniverse is more and more beyond our easy imagination , It's important to remember , The value source of the new application , It was difficult to identify and explain at first , Even if the same basic principles apply .

however , We are working together to create a more innovative digital space for ourselves , The concept of digital and virtual worlds clearly means more than ever .