According to Sebastien Borget, co-founder of The Sandbox, an online and virtual world based in Hong Kong, the Metaverse is an early move in Web3 for brands to reclaim customer relationships previously mediated by Web 2.0 platforms. shows opportunity. Unlike his traditional web platform, Metaverse allows a more direct and user-centric approach, allowing brands to bypass the platform and re-engage users via digital assets and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). make it possible.

Several brands are already leveraging the new digital economy to deliver successful NFT collections and digital experiences.

Forkast Labs NFT Strategist Yehudah Petscher sat down with Borget to shed light on the burgeoning metaverse, the myriad of virtual worlds accessible to everyone through digital identities and avatars. Emphasizing freedom of movement between worlds, Borget explained the revolutionary potential of the Metaverse to redefine digital life, ownership and commerce.

Regarding The Sandbox, Borget explained how the platform enables individuals to create, own and monetize 3D content and experiences. Bogett used the analogy of “digital Lego” to paint a picture of an accessible, user-driven platform where anyone can become a virtual neighbor to their favorite brands and artists.

In addition, Borge is optimistic about the future of the Metaverse and NFTs in relation to US tech giant Apple’s launch of the Vision Pro headset, a mixed reality eyewear device, heralding a major leap forward in technological innovation. stated to be.

The following Q&A has been edited for clarity and length.

Yehuda Petcher: Sebastian, what is the Metaverse?

Sebastian Borge: We see the Metaverse as a myriad of virtual worlds accessible to everyone through digital identities and 3D character avatars. Avatars represent ourselves in virtual worlds that are more social, more immersive, and more creative thanks to technology.

Avatars have the ability to move between virtual worlds without asking permission from the game, platform, or service hosting them. For the first time ever, our avatars and all our digital possessions, whether they are wearables, game items, virtual lands or homes, can be carried around in any world. You can trade with other users or start monetizing outside the platform by selling on the marketplace. This is the true idea behind the Metaverse, the beginning of the entire digital journey and the digital economy. There, we truly own all of our digital lives and digital content and can use it wherever we want.

Petcher: I’ve seen brands enter the space because of what the Metaverse has to offer. You work closely with these brands. What are they looking at in the Metaverse that has made them so interested in it that they have actually been gathering for years?

Borghetto: many brands have We missed out on the opportunity of technology and how to use it to engage with our customers, viewers and fans. Therefore, we were slow to introduce the first generation Internet and publish information online.

They were also somewhat behind in the areas of social media and Web 2.0, where they could interact with their audience by posting more user-generated content (UGC). When they actually got on board, they finally understood that they were gradually giving up their relationship with their users to the platform that owned the data behind that relationship.

For the first time, they are an early entrant to Web3. They understand that users own their data and that providing a community-driven, user-centric approach that is central to Web3’s value proposition is also a way to re-engage with your audience. When a user connects themselves to a wallet or receives a digital asset, it creates a more direct relationship of re-participating in the multiple experiences and multiple use cases behind it, allowing the user to take advantage of the opportunity. I feel excited.

We are already at the stage where brands are launching experiences. They launched an NFT or Digital Asset Collection. They have success metrics in terms of engaging with these communities and are already in the process of sharing those success stories.

Petcher: What is The Sandbox and what are brands currently doing in-game?

Borghetto: The sandbox itself is like a platform where anyone can create 3D content and experiences, truly own them, and monetize them any way they want. I chose voxels as representation. Think of it like digital Lego because it’s so simple and accessible. Anyone can know how to use it without reading the user manual. There are also no-code game makers where you can basically drag and drop 3D content and start creating immersive experiences. We offer the possibility of owning a digital real estate called ‘LAND’ within a finite map. There, you can become your favorite brand, music artist, or virtual neighbor in the Web3 community. It can also grow and leverage its audience as a platform for UGC-focused creatives.

Petcher: Apple has finally announced the Vision Pro headset. I know Apple hasn’t said anything about NFTs or the Metaverse, but I have to tell people that I think perhaps the most important thing to happen to NFTs since CryptoPunks is Apple’s Vision Pro. I did.

What do you think of this product, and will it also lead people to the metaverse?

Borghetto: This is a significant technological advancement with great computing power. It has the potential to trigger a new wave of innovation, a new wave of experimentation.

I believe this is a big step up for what could be the metaverse. It allows people to interact with virtual assets in the physical world, and the quality of graphics and quality of interaction make virtual assets part of reality. Our assets and our environment can benefit even more through highly seamless digital ownership.

Petcher: The digital ecosystem that is the Metaverse and NFTs now has all kinds of assets that people can invest in. It is interesting to say that Forkast Labs and The Sandbox have partnered to create a new Metaverse Index that measures the value of those assets that are part of the Metaverse focus, specifically his NFTs. Why is measuring these assets so important? What can the public get out of this new metaverse index?

Borghetto: It is very important to share as much data as possible. That’s one of the strengths of Web3. Data is published on-chain on a trusted public ledger that provides transparency and a level of trust, so no single party can change that data. There is no need to rely on APIs like the traditional Web, Web 2.0. Collecting data not just in one virtual world or sandbox-like platform, but across the entire Web3 ecosystem and multiple distributed virtual worlds in the metaverse is inherently irrelevant to what happens every day. It’s like helping brands and people. Get a more advanced curated view of your activity.

In order to grow the industry and the Web3 ecosystem, we need outside companies to analyze the data, provide an index for it, and provide this level of intelligence on top of the raw data.