Last decade was probably one of the most interesting periods in the history of the metaverse. A bunch of thrilling projects have been created, which managed to drive its community to absolutely new level of satisfaction. So, let’s go!
High Fidelity (2013)
High Fidelity is a virtual reality platform for users to create, deploy, visit, and interact with virtual worlds along with other users. These virtual spaces can host up to 500 people at once. The software is free and open source. It can be used with most VR headsets or a traditional monitor in desktop mode.
In November 2018, High Fidelity hosted FUTVRE LANDS, the first music and entertainment festival hosted completely in VR. The four-hour event brought together 466 avatars from 47 countries and included live entertainment from actors, artists, and musicians across multiple stages in a virtual festival venue. High Fidelity advisor Thomas Dolby performed a live concert set. Other attractions included live art, bingo, trivia, and limited-edition festival merchandise to buy and download from High Fidelity’s marketplace.
In May 2019, High Fidelity announced it would focus its efforts on an application for remote and distributed teams. The yet-to-be-named application, accessible through both desktop mode and VR, provides a virtual space where people can collaborate using High Fidelity’s spatialized 3D audio and realistic avatars.
AltspaceVR (2015)
It is a common mark that altspaceVR is a social VR platform that was founded in 2013 and launched its initial product in May 2015. In 2017 it was acquired by Microsoft and is now part of the Mixed Reality division (alongside notable products like HoloLens and HoloLens 2) within the Cloud and AI group. Some elements of the platform appear in Microsoft Mesh.
In the end of the day, the platform is regularly home to a wide variety of events from VR church and LGBTQI+ meetups to large business conferences and magic shows.
Sinespace (2017)
Sinespace is the one worth trying even now. It is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online Unity 3D-based platform created and published by Sine Wave Entertainment. It enables users to create and sell 3D content and interact with others as 3D avatars. It was beta launched in November 2016 and teamed up with Unity to make its SDK available in the Unity Asset Store in March 2019. It supports Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality headsets, but is also accessible through PC, Mac, Linux, and Chrome web browsers.
Sinespace’s usage is similar to that of multiplayer virtual worlds. Players can create and customize their own 3D worlds and 3D content such as vehicles, mini-games, avatar clothing and gestures, and sell them for real world money. Players can also customize the shape and appearance of their avatar and buy avatars from third party developers such as Daz 3D. Content is created through a Unity 3D-compatible SDK, and in-game through building tools.
Facebook Horizon (2019)
The game may be played with an Oculus Rift (S) or Oculus Quest (2) virtual reality headset and uses full 3D motion via the motion capture system of the headset and two hand-held motion controllers, which are required to interact with objects in the game. Players can explore the space around them within the confines of their physical floor-space, while roaming further by using controller buttons to teleport a short distance or to move continuously through the virtual space. The hub world (also known as “plaza”) includes portals to featured user-generated worlds, which are created by players using an integrated game creation system.
Epic Games (2021)
That list would not be full without an Epic Games company. Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents’ house in Potomac, Maryland. Following his first commercial video game release, ZZT (1991), the company became Epic MegaGames, Inc. in early 1992 and brought on Mark Rein, who is the company’s vice president to date. Moving their headquarters to Cary in 1999, the studio’s name was simplified to Epic Games.
On August 13, 2020, Epic released a version of Fortnite that included a permanent discount on V-bucks across all platforms, but for those on iOS and Android devices, only if they purchased directly through Epic, bypassing Apple and Google’s storefronts. Both Apple and Google immediately delisted the game for violating the storefronts’ terms of service by including their own storefront, which led Epic to file lawsuits against both companies the same day, accusing them of antitrust behavior in how they operate their app stores.
Bit.Country (2021–2022)
Finally we are here to read about the top cherry on the Metaverse pie — the Bit.Country project. It allows non-technical users to build their own metaverse. Developers can use Bit.Country’s API to develop their games and smart contract dapps. Metaverse.Network is the blockchain network of Bit.Country application framework. NUUM token is the fuel that powering the entire ecosystem.
Each participant has a chance to start its own bit country metaverse for its community, engage members with games & opportunities. Also they can attract more people to join using the rules and policies they can set by their will! Grow their metaverse and tokenize the community in multiple ways in Web3!
It sounds like tons of fun to me, so I’m definitely in! Are you?
