How the metaverse is planning to augment reality — not replace it

In this episode of the Decoding Innovation podcast, Mathieu Nouzareth, CEO of The Sandbox, explains how a community-driven platform is shaping the future of the metaverse.

The metaverse technology creates a 3D virtual space on computers and phones to bring people closer. For organizations such as The Sandbox, the metaverse is a medium where users can meet each other, make friends and play games. According to Mathieu Nouzareth, CEO of The Sandbox, the objective of creating a metaverse is not to replace reality — it is only to augment it.

The Sandbox is a community-driven platform where creators can monetize their assets and gaming experiences on the blockchain. The organization has created a map with a finite amount of land that users can buy. Like real estate, the price of virtual pieces of land is decided by location. So, buying a piece of virtual land in a celebrity neighborhood will be more expensive than other neighborhoods. 

Mathieu also talks about the three early adopters of this technology: gaming, digital fashion and luxury, and entertainment industries. The Sandbox has partnered with several famous luxury brands because users are willing to buy digital accessories for their online avatars. Furthermore, some users want to extend the experience of a movie or a TV show by entering a virtual world.   

Web3 adoption will bring a whole new set of features to metaverse environments. Since Web3 is a nonzero sum game, organizations such as The Sandbox want to create value for the entire community — including their competitors — for long-term rewards.

Key takeaways:

• Users can create avatars, NFTs and items for the game, and publish on the marketplace. The Sandbox’s commission is very low — only 5% — compared with the commissions charged by mobile phone app stores (between 20% and 30%).
• Currently, the biggest market for The Sandbox includes the US, the UK, Canada, Western Europe, Korea and Japan.
• About 65% of the current user base of The Sandbox is male. However, the organization is partnering with a foundation that is working to bring women into Web3.