How far Somnium Space and the community of creators have come was clearly demonstrated during the Somnium Space Creators Fund 2022 pitches, which were held on July 19th and 20th, 2022.
People went down the rabbit hole to join an event that was a celebration of the great strides immersive, spatial computing in general – and the open, persistent Somnium Space platform in particular – has made. In a spectacular venue developed by Oasis Meta Games, we witnessed how real virtual reality – the Metaverse – has become. Not only from a technical, immersive perspective, but especially for innovators who understand that the Metaverse is a new frontier for business.
Somnium Space Creators Fund 2022
This year there was a new setup for the Somnium Space Creators Fund. It’s a “Shark Tank” meets “Late Night Show” where community members have the opportunity to pitch business ideas in VR before a jury.
In 2021, Somnium Space funded projects for a total of $60K. For this year however Somnium Space partnered with a number of companies and people, allowing them to raise a Creators Fund budget of around $1M.
Partners include Gemini, GSR, Polygon, ISG, Chris Bell, MOCA, Admix and Vinny Lingham, true entrepreneurs and some of the absolute frontrunners in the blockchain and crypto space.
The Venue
Oasis Meta Games is a household name when it comes to developing amazing immersive experiences. They’re the developers of the OMG Engine, a layer 2 solution based on the Somnium WORLD NFTs, allowing people to create and deploy immersive “pocket universes”.
One of those pocket universes was dedicated to the Creators Fund 2022 venue. And the results were mind blowing: A grandiose, royal arena, with classic elements and sharks swimming under the high ceiling. Intimidating and at the same time welcoming. Who didn’t want to be on stage, and give it their very best in a setting like this?
The Pitches
There were 21 pitches spread out over the two nights. And after Artur Sychov – founder and CEO of Somnium Space – had announced the jury in front of 30+ creators and visitors, the pitches began. And it went smooth. Very smooth.
A nifty technical VR solution by OMG allowed presenters to take control of a huge browser and present their slides. They could also display the slides on a – floor to ceiling – screen behind the jury, only visible to them. With simple clicks they could move between the slides. At times it felt that the experience was smoother than presentations in physical reality. Who doesn’t remember issues with projectors, cable incompatibilities and more last minute problems when having to present something? We saw none of that in Somnium Space in VR.
The Verdicts
The July pitches are over, and it is now up to the jury to decide what projects will be funded by what amounts. Nerve wracking days for all the presenters for sure.
Having said that, we spoke to several of the presenters who were unanimous and said they were honored to be part of the Creators Fund in Somnium Space. It is bigger than the pitches.
History was being made those two nights in July in Somnium Space.
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