At a time when a large slice of the general public are still not familiar with digital assets and even some hardcore crypto-enthusiasts would struggle to define a non fungible token (NFT), David Gabeau at venture capitalist firm Union Square Ventures (USV) is searching for the next stage of NFT evolution.
The analyst believes the new arena for NFTs could surpass the current virtual reality (VR) worlds – such as those on offer in Decentraland which rely on a simulated landscape – and be grounded in an augmented reality (AR) where visual and audio elements of a game are integrated into a person’s physical environment in real time.
Such a gaming platform could be similar to, but an improvement upon, the likes of Pokemon Go.
Investible Time and Assets
While Pokemon Go as a concept was popular and came close to reaching 45 million users worldwide at its peak, the game itself disappointed many and received some negative feedback.
Commenting on his own Pokemon Go experience, Gabeau says he found the idea initially exciting but the novelty soon waned and so did his engagement with the game. As a result, he was left wondering if he would have stayed active on the platform if the Pokemon collected were uniquely and verifiably his – such as in the form of an NFT.
Gabeau suggests that the AR game experience and the reach of a product can be improved by incorporating NFTs because the scarcity of the tokens would generate value and users would soon realise their time and assets were investable meaning, “The “real world” element of AR gaming through a cell phone would be accessible to the non-gamer.”
Union Square Ventures recognise the value offered by NFTs and have already backed Dapper Labs who are looking to put NBA trading cards onto the blockchain. The company were also early investors in Twitter, Etsy, and Tumblr as well as blockchain names such as Coinbase, Algorand, and Blockstack, so they have a track record in trend spotting.
With legacy companies being slow to commit and move their assets to a blockchain, Gabeau believes the space is ripe for new startups and says “… while there are many projects using NFTs for desktop and virtual reality – I believe an augmented reality mobile-first experience would be an awesome mainstream use.”
