Overview of Metaverse, NFTs & Food
Metaverse is an interesting application of technology and is an extremely complex concept of the digital landscape, and offers an opportunity to billions of people. Although the exact definition of Metaverse is still under construction, it may be defined as a new internet experience wherein people use virtual reality to interact with people, conduct social events, and also to run businesses. The term Metaverse was first coined and used by Neil Stevenson in his 1982 novel, Snow Crash, wherein the characters could go into an augmented virtual reality space to escape their problematic totalitarian reality. No one singularly owns Metaverse but the technology is owned by various technologists and companies who work on the creation and maintenance of the technology. A major sway of which is pioneered by former Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who has changed Facebook into- Meta, which completely focuses on the Metaverse technology. The metaverse might be viewed as a world wherein there is an overlap between our physical and virtual worlds. Metaverse can be better explained by thinking of it as cyberspace. The technology that makes up Metaverse includes a combination of various advanced singular technologies such as virtual reality- which is essentially characterized by persistent digital worlds that exist even when logged off or not playing and augmented reality that enables a combination of digital and physical worlds. Augmented reality enables to overlay the of sound, sensory stimuli, and visual elements onto physical or real-world situations to enhance the user experience. To access Metaverse, there is no limitation that it should be only via AR or VR, but can also be accessed through PCs, consoles, and even mobile phones. The slow and steady growth of Metaverse will enable the creation of online spaces that could provide more multi-dimensional user interactions, than what is present today. In other words, users will be able to immerse their sensory stimuli in a world where the digital and physical world is converged expertly.
NFTs or non-fungible token is a non-interchangeable piece of information that is stored in a blockchain that can be sold, shared, or traded accordingly. To understand NFTs one must have a comprehension of blockchain, i.e. a system that records, information in a way that is almost unmanageable to hack, cheat, or be changed by anyone. It is typically a digital ledger that tracks transactions that in turn duplicate and distributes the information across the entire network of the computed system on the blockchain. NFTs are unique digital assets that cannot be changed with anything else, they can be a range of digital files, pieces of art, music, videos, or even an AI version of a downloaded brain. NFTs can be bought and sold with cryptocurrency, NFTs can be a part of the Ethereum cryptocurrency, as Ethereum is a cryptocurrency like bitcoins and supports such NFTs. Each blockchain can host and implement its version of NFTs.
The addition of the food industry into the Metaverse is of extreme significance as it allows multiple industries to expand their business and is not just an opportunity for the gamification of their food business. Foodverse could be a platform for people to order food, deliver it and experience new culinary experiences that are enhanced with the aid of virtual tools.
Foodverse can serve as a unique environment for various food enthusiasts, business owners, chefs, and companies to come together to explore different cuisines, dishes, and various food products. It also serves as a platform wherein businesses can come together to advertise or conduct surveys for their brands. Creating awareness and collecting funds for various social issues such as world hunger could also be conducted through Foodverse which could unite people from various parts of the world. Foodverse could serve as an excellent business opportunity for many restaurant owners the pandemic had a huge impact on these service-based sectors and the use of the same can positively impact such services.
OneRare (US)
OneRare is the world’s first Metaverse dedicated to food, called the Foodverse. OneRare aims to be a one for all platform for everything related to food, right from its production to its consumption. OneRare has four segregations within itself to cater to specific customers:
- FARM: The farm is a section of the platform that is dedicated to those customers who can play to earn land wherein they can farm
- FARMER’S MARKET: In this section, the players can sell their harvest to the collectors for a price
- KITCHEN: The kitchen is a space for those interested in recipes, they can read multiple recipes belonging to various cuisines and combine a variety of ingredients to create new dishes
- PLAYGROUND: Playground is platform wherein NFT owners take part in mini-games with food enthusiasts
OneRare owns many dish NFTs and the menu hosts a variety of dishes and recipes put up by various celebrity chefs and collaborators. The dishes are from all around the world or can be special diets such as vegan, Keto, or paleo. Any interested player can participate by following recipes, and dishes and then collecting such ingredients to make any dish. Once all of the tokens are collected by the user they can go into the kitchen section and collect their reward or claim.
ORARE is the native token of the OneRare platform. With its usage, the users can transact at the farmer’s market, participate in the games at the playground, unlock in-game upgrades, and participate in the governance of virtual restaurants.
OneRare aims to appeal to a variety of customers by adopting an easy food theme and gameplay that can be understandable to everyone. The company aims to create a global reach for the food and beverage industry through the use of NFTs. Partnerships with game characters and Web3 events. Swapping NFTs to real meals in restaurants, worldwide is something that the company aims to achieve. The end goal of the company is to use its platform to create awareness about world hunger and collect funds and donations for the same issue and alleviate the global concern.
The company has many angels and investors such as Polygon, Enjin, Chainlink Labs, Kangaroo capitals, ArkStream Capital, Trustpad, Thetan Arena, and more. Some of which is displayed below:
How does OneRare connect food with technology?
Food celebrates the global language of love, from being a major part of sustenance it is the object of conversations, travel, careers, and passion. It is thus natural for food to transition from the real world into the virtual world. The global food industry is valued to be about USD 6,196 billion in 2021. Food trends and transitions are based on consumers’ perceptions, preferences, and lifestyles. Food workshops, photography, baking, and food styling is how much food has been instilled in the life of many individuals. The Covid-19 pandemic additionally had a very significant role in spurring the need for food to be not just for nourishment but a major part of people’s social life. Food posts emerged as the trending element in social media. OneRare combines this reverence for food with technology by bringing various elements of food- from procurement to processing to Web3. Foodies and enthusiasts interact with the blockchain, immersive games, and a worldwide community of food, cuisines, and dishes.
To identify ingredients from dishes in the Foodverse world, NFTs that are circular are specific ingredients and those that come in squares are dishes.
OneRare’s gameplay includes a menu that caters to the types of dishes that need to be made by the player, wherein making each dish would fetch the player tokens or the NFTs that can be collected. It is segregated into types- Rare and rarest of all. With Rare the player has to collect specific ingredients to make a specific dish, for example, to make French fries the player would have to collect potatoes, oil, and salt. The value of each token increases with the amount of each digital entity that one collects. OneRare Dishes become more valued with every mint, as the minimum market range or value of the NFT becomes the last minted cost. The second category of the rarest of all dishes becomes those dishes that would be minted only once, this would allow the creator of the dish to claim rights for the dish. To do the same the players must follow the rules laid by the Foodverse, wherein they must adhere to time and money with the collection of the ingredients through the gameplay of the farm to the kitchen. This would allow them to attain a higher valued NFT.
Blocburgers -USA
Blocburgers hosts a range of culinary recipes with burgers that are hosted on the Metaverse as trinkets that can be purchased by enthusiasts and saved or sold respectively according to necessity. The blocburgers have a specific rate specific to the kind of burger that is valued with Ethereum blockchain. Blocburger has a collection of about 4200 burgers, each burger is unique and is valued at about 0.069 ETH. The company aims to use this project that can build a real food truck that can feed people in need in the real world. The project has been accepted into Decentraland and The Sandbox. Players can receive token as $BALONEY and it can be used to claim Profile pictures or PFPs, that can splurge on NFTs on web 3.0 assets.
Food Art NFTs – major players
Food art NFTs depict food in an artistic way that can be sold as a token in real restaurants for real meals. Additionally, the NFTs can be used to receive donations and funding for real-world issues. Multiple major food chains, producers, outlets, and giant players are investing in NFTs to keep them in vogue with the current trends and to improve their market. Pizza hut, Burger King, Taco Bell, and McDonalds have released NFTs in their marketing campaigns. These giant players have released NFTs of their menus and dishes to appeal to various customers regarding new launches and other product rebranding.
Beverage industries have also joined in the production of NFTs to market their products, and companies such as Glenfiddich, Hennessy, Bud Light, and Dictador are also using NFTs to market their products.
Panera bread has also applied for trademarks for its restaurant in the Metaverse, wherein NFTs can be used to buy virtual dishes, it is still unclear if these restaurants will be opened in the real world.
McDonald’s has filed about 10 trademark applications for a majority of their applications in the Metaverse to protect their brands from trademark infringement in the Metaverse. The trademark goes by the name of McCafe, wherein virtual events can be hosted, the tickets for which can be brought by NFT-funded cryptos. McDonald’s also has the McDelivery feature wherein customers can place orders in the Metaverse and deliveries would be made according to the location in the real world.
Foodverse and social causes
NFTs can act as fundraising devices for various social causes, the NFTs can be sold off to feed people in the real world.
Organizations such as PizzaDAO which has the Rare Pizzas, that has a range of about 10,000 baked pizza NFTs made in collaboration with 300 artists. The sale of this NFT pizza was used to buy real pizza on May 22 2021, which is the World Bitcoin Pizza day. For this event about $300,000 was spent on 300 pizzerias in about 60 countries. The organization is set to make this an annual event.
Foodchain global a decentralized organization is set to fight global hunger using its cryptos and blockchains to fight the issue. The project relies on merchandise, and play-to-earn games as a way to engage and appeal to more youths who can then participate in such social activities.
Foodverse Vision
Foodverse can be useful to various food industries, manufacturers, restaurant owners, and consumers as it expands the horizon. It explores and leverages marketing, and improves and elevates development. Business potential and development for the Metaverse platform. The Foodverse platform was created during the pandemic, and it opened up multiple opportunities for restaurant owners to connect with their clients and recombine and form new associates. Foodverse platforms aim to create and promote more blockchain implementation amongst its users, by the utilization of the food theme to ease the procedures and improve the usability of the platform. This could increase its worldwide adoption among multiple users. Accessibility to celebrity chefs, recipes, unique diet plans, and food brands can be through the use of NFTs. Companies can then allow the users to swap the NFTs for a real meal in a restaurant wherein they have a collaboration or partnership. Foodverse can be extremely pertinent in the expansion of the food community beyond different countries and can unite people from different religions, food habits, and geographical boundaries all on the technology and food front.
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