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The Communiqué News

Beauty giant L’Oréal has announced a minority investment in metaverse platform and NFT marketplace Digital Village through its venture capital fund, Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development (BOLD).


Pritish Bagdi

ree

The investment will be the first of its kind by L’Oréal in the metaverse and Web3 space, as well as the first to be part of its recently launched BOLD’s Female Founders initiative.

“As L’Oréal continues to explore and define what beauty means in Web3, we seek to work with the most promising startups who adhere to the highest possible visual and technical standards,” said Camille Kroely, chief metaverse and Web3 officer at L’Oréal, in a release.

Kroely added: “We are excited to be partnering with Digital Village, whose solutions will be powerful enablers for our brands and whose ideals of sustainability, accessibility and interoperability in the metaverse or Web3 are ones we share.”

Launched in 2021, Digital Village is operated by an international team spanning the US, Europe and Asia, offering scalable technology solutions for the creation and interaction of digital identities.

Among its members, it counts founder and CEO Evelyn Mora, who was also behind the creation of Helsinki Fashion Week, as well as top executives from Pangaia and open-world platform The Sandbox.

Speaking on the investment, Mora said: "We are excited to be backed by BOLD and look forward to collaborating with L'Oréal to revolutionise the beauty industry through the creation of cutting-edge virtual experiences for L'Oréal's renowned brands.

“Together, we are setting the bar for beauty in the metaverse and Web3, pushing the boundaries of what is possible and setting a new standard for the industry to follow.”



Trends That May Rule the Non-Fungible Token Sector in 2023, according to the future of NFTs. NFTs are projected to become more widely used in the upcoming years.


Pritish Bagdi

ree

Since they can validate and safeguard digital ownership, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have attracted a lot of attention and are being used in a variety of applications. They are a type of cryptocurrency that shows who owns a particular asset. It might be anything, like a piece of music, a work of art, or even a tweet. These NFTs are becoming increasingly popular among artists as a way to market their digital collections more effectively than in physical form due to their ownership feature. People can, for instance, design their own, distinctive virtual world clothes in video games using an NFT. NFTs are being employed for a variety of reasons, such as the sale of digital collectibles and art, the development of virtual properties, and the representation of in-game objects. But what might the future hold?

Adoption by the general public has grown as a result of the increased awareness of NFTs among artists, musicians, and other content producers. This pattern has encouraged the production and sale of a wider range of NFTs, such as digital artwork, music, films, and other forms of media.

Usage of NFTs for gaming: Many gaming companies are exploring using NFTs for in-game items, such as rare weapons or characters. It allows players to own unique items stored on the blockchain that can't be duplicated.

NFTs as collectibles: NFTs have also been used to create digital collectibles, such as virtual trading cards or digital stickers. These NFTs are often bought and sold by collectors looking for rare or unique items.

Integration with existing platforms: Some platforms, such as social media networks, are exploring the integration of NFTs as a way to allow users to sell their content. NFTs also could enable users to monetize their creations and give them more control over how their content is used and shared.

NFTs for charitable causes: Some NFT sales have been used to raise money for charitable causes, such as the sale of an NFT artwork by the artist Beeple, which raised millions of dollars for Covid relief efforts. This trend has shown the potential for NFTs to be used for more than just buying and selling art and collectibles.

Today, NFTs are in use in a large number of nations. The United States, the United Kingdom, China, South Korea, and other nations have seen substantial growth in NFT use. However, only a few countries have begun experimenting with employing NFTs for administrative purposes, including West Virginia in the U.S., Ukraine, and Georgia.

What uses can NFTs have for the Indian government?

The Indian government may use NFTs in a number of ways, including:

  • Using NFTs to authenticate and safeguard works of art and cultural heritage could raise the value of these things and assist to conserve them for future generations.

  • NFTs could be used by the government to provide a safe and unchangeable record of land ownership, possibly lowering the likelihood of fraud and mistakes.

  • NFTs could be used to confirm people's identities and make sure that identity documents are authentic.

  • In the upcoming years, NFTs are projected to become more widely used, be integrated into current platforms, and experience ongoing market expansion. The potential for their use in several applications makes NFTs a promising technology at this moment.



Facebook has been Meta for well over a year. The social media goliath announced the name change amid a flurry of corporate crises and scandals, but primarily to position itself as a broad spectrum of technology applications rather than 'just' a social media platform.


Pritish Bagdi

ree

Courtesy: Meta corporate media


Meta promised to be a pioneer in the metaverse realm, where the near future of a more connected world would bring exciting new virtual environments where users work, socialise and play. Meta, in turn, would be in the thick of it, and a leader in developing new services and products for users.

In the metaverse, where fascinating new virtual spaces where users work, socialise, and play will soon be introduced in a more linked world, Meta promised to be a pioneer. In response, Meta would be at the forefront and a pioneer in creating new services and goods for customers.

Challenges to come

One year later, Meta has still not seen a return on the billions of dollars it has invested and is still investing. From virtual reality headgear, which have at best had mixed reviews, to the metaverse itself, which is still a long way from being widely used. Even after spending time in different realities, the majority of people are still unable to define what the metaverse actually is.

Many in its corporate hallways believe the firm is overspending for the modest aims it has achieved, which is why Meta's stock has fallen by 70% in the past year as a result of its investment plan in the metaverse.

In an open letter published last year, Meta's CEO Brad Gerstner said that the company "drifted into the region of excess - too many employees, too many ideas, and too little urgency." He additionally urged the business to cap spending on the metaverse at no more than $5 billion annually.

14 billion dollars in annual losses

Meta has a defined function and capability in creating new technologies, which is essential for the future to be enhanced and artificial intelligence to be more extensively used. However, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, the company's AR and VR development division, Reality Labs, is losing 14 billion dollars annually. The New York Times reported in October that Meta's employees were unhappy with the company's strategy change because it tied them "to Mr. Zuckerberg's whims rather than a cohesive plan."

Naturally, there are many long-term factors to take into account when reshaping a company that is on the verge of another technology revolution.While the metaverse, like Rome, did not rise in a day, it has made little, incremental strides in its invention, and its VR products and devices have not yet reached the general public.

In December, Meta reiterated that the shift is still in the planning stages. "We believe 2022 will be recognised as the year that developers and users first got their hands on the fundamental technological components allowing our vision for the future."

Nobody is certain of when that "first time" will occur for a larger audience.




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