Somnium Space: A Deep Dive | The Metaverse World That Is About To Go Nova
Somnium Space, a Metaverse world that is expanding the boundaries of the decentralised metaverse. This post aims to achieve just one important goal: Create awareness about this extraordinary world space AND in turn, provide you with all the necessary information to take a full dive into this metaverse world.
The way things stand people are starting to dismiss the Metaverse as just a buzzword. Even the great Elon Musk, currently the richest human on the planet, rather dissed it in the latest Babylon Bee Interview. Given his huge profile, his words are bound to have an influence on a lot of people, at least among his millions of Twitter followers.
"Hey, he's the rich dude... He does know a thing or two about important technology."
I don't wanna delve into the pros and cons of the Metaverse as a Notion, that's better left for another post, but what I wanna say is this - If Sandbox and Decentraland have made it this BIG starting to colonise the Metaverse, then the Metaverse is a white dwarf that is about to go nova, or even supernova.
Somnium Space might not be the ultimate catalyst to cause that reaction, but I it will certainly make its mark and may even come to define many features of our future Metaverse world. You ought to take a look at this space, so let me show you around;
Somnium Space is an open and immersive VR World, which is being set up as an ideal Metaverse, where users can come together for gaming, social interaction, business initiatives, advertisements, and digital promotion. Being centered on the core idea of Metaverse, you can interact with its Ecosystem in three direct ways - as a Gamer, a Developer or an Investor. All these social groups have a special advantage to gain from the Somnium Space World.
The MarketPlace
Somnium Space is not fully developed yet, with core features of its ecosystem still in development and set to launch in the future. Looking at their roadmap for 2022 and beyond gives you a detailed idea of what to expect. A good example is the in-game Marketplace, which will kickstart the many transactions of buying and selling inside the Somnium Ecosystem, but for now players can make transactions through the dedicated Somnium Marketplace on Opensea where you can buy and sell the following In-world Items:
Land Parcels
Parcels come in different sizes (Small (S), Medium (M), Large (L), and Extra Large (XL)). Parcels are the basis for constructing buildings and performing other activities. There is a free parcel that Somnium space players can access to practice building, but to establish one of your own you'll need to have ownership of land.
Worlds
Worlds are Land Parcels that have been developed and already hold buildings or other physical assets. They also come in varying Sizes.
Teleportation Hubs
Teleportation is a Somnium feature that allows users to travel easily and quickly between worlds. The hubs are freely transactable on Opensea and builders can buy them to install when building their worlds.
Avatars
You can purchase custom avatars with special locomotive mappings. These have already been developed using the Somnium Avatars SDK and are pretty high quality.
This avatar is from Somnium Space and Planet VR and sold on Open Sea.
Random In-game Items
Developers and Artists can create random in-game items for any of their experiences or for builders to use. Examples include furniture, kayaks, etc. Basically, if you find you've got a river to cross, a kayak might come in handy, so you can get one and flex through.
Open World VR Space
Somnium Space is a huge Open Metaverse world. You can access this world in two ways, either through the Online Web Access or by Downloading the Official PC Client. There's just one main difference though: In the web portal, you can only be present in one world at a time. It is like you are in one Hub, although you can switch to another whenever you choose. The PC Client is an Open world adventure though, with the world squished together in one large map. You can think of it as an open-world game like Grand Theft Auto.
Open Avatars SDK
Like I said above, Developers can build Custom Avatars that anyone can utilize to interact within Somnium Worlds. This is made possible by the Avatars SDK integrated into the Somnium SDK for Unity Game Engine. From what I've read, it's very easy to create Avatars for Somnium Space because you are not required to model one from scratch (as I thought initially). You could, for example, download one from an external public 3d model site like Sketchfab Or you could create your own in a 3d modeling software like Blender (making you the copyright owner), but whatever path one takes, it's basically an import and initialization process.
Somnium's future plans on the roadmap for the Open Avatars SDK is to make it interoperable with other games and metaverses. So for example, you would be able to use your special Somnium mapped SDK in a world like The Sandbox, but of course, the counterparty games have to make that importation possible.
Here is a recent tweet from PlanetVR, creating a spacey Snoop Dogg avatar in Somnium Space:
https://twitter.com/planetvr_uk/status/1481746826227331076
This avatar below is sold among other on Open Sea, in a partnership of Somnium Space and Planet VR.
Crazy Open VR Headset - Somnium Space UPS?
One of the features that attracted me to Somnium Space deeply was the release (read showcase) of their OpenVR Headset at a recent conference that took place in Prague. In a way, I've thought of this ever since as their UPS, but then it could go on to be something else, so don't bank on that. With Somnium's VR Headset users have full control of their data and experiences and you can program it to work the way you want.
"To stay true to everything we stand for, the VR headset features specifications not seen in any headset on the market today. When you purchase a headset we want you to fully own it; it will be modular, open-source, modifiable, and programmable.""
--- Direct from Somnium Blog Reveal
I love this concept a lot and if done right, this could bring massive value to Somnium World. The first set of VR Headsets is planned to start shipping by 2022 Q4, which gives them plenty of time to make it even more fabulous.
Cube Tokens as Governance In-game Token; Utility and Usecase Values
CUBE is the in-game token of Somnium Space. It can be used to purchase all the other assets and utilities in Somnium Space like Cars, Parcels, Worlds etc. The 2022 Roadmap sees the Cube token having a lot more Utility, such as the following;
Minting Avatars and Items; CUBE would be the token you use for Minting avatars and other in-game items.
Staking CUBE: Somnium Space figures that not all players would have access to high-value assets like Parcels and s, especially since a large majority missed the previous land sale. The roadmap for 2022 states that players can stake CUBE tokens and gain access to other Assets like Parcels and Worlds. What that seems to mean is that, for a lesser value of CUBE staked, you can get a Parcel or World that has a Higher Value. Basically, staking makes CUBE tokens more valuable and increases scarcity, so I guess that works.
Reward Tokens: CUBE would also be used to reward creators and service providers, such as Avatar Creators, who currently, for the most part, sell their tokens on Somnium Space dedicated Opensea Marketplace, AND Teleportation Hubs (those providing Travel services). How sick is that? I expect we are gonna see a lot more service provider groups like Tourist Parks, Exhibition Centers, Entertainment Events Organises.
Analysing Key Focus: On Economic Advantage of Somunim Space (Trident of Metaverse);
I'm gonna be carrying out this exercise a lot more with other creative and exciting metaverse-ish projects popping up daily (at the current rate we really are talking daily). I think it's fun, and means I can reveal opportunities that I latch onto early on. What is this exercise though? I call it The Trident of Metaverse.
Literally, everyone is doing it, consciously or otherwise. It's only natural to analyze the ecosystem you wanna be a part of, whether it's in Axie Infinity or Splinterlands, but larger economies like The Sandbox, Decentraland and, yeah, Somnium Space have a more distinct spice to them.
Basically, what I'm exploring is this: Gamers, Investors, and Developers - how do they fit into this Metaverse? What are their Benefits? Is there an inbalance or rewards distribution in that Benefits system?
I feel that, for a Meta Ecosystem to become truly adaptable and mainstream, there has to be collaboration between each aspect of what I call the Trident of Metaverse. To whatever degree, the association of these three economies creates a truly sustainable, scalable and gametainment Ecosystem that drives immense growth.
From that perspective let's take a look at Somnium Space through the eyes of Gamers, Investors, and Developers/Startups
Somnium Space - Metaverse Dialogue Illustration
- Gamers
"I'm a Gamer and I wanna play some games the moment I get into Somnium Space" "I'm looking around once I spawn (read login) into the metaverse" "What's the nearest world where I can enjoy a good gaming experience?" "Oof! That one over on my left, it says - SplinterDungeon." "I head over quickly, drifting widely in the Maserati that I just bought for 50000 Cubes - that Developer sure made a chunk out of me (side chuckle)." "Once in SplinterDungeon Ecosystem, I purchase a scary-looking Dragon with Fire spitting out from its eyes." "I feel super satisfied, regardless of how much I just spent. I think I can make that back with some intense battle wins." "I check the Global Leaderboard, and that settles it, SplinterDungeon World has x2 Active players than other Worlds," "THAT should keep the Investors Busy. Now, Time to Brawllll"
- Developers
"SO many people ready to throw their money at me! What should I build?"
"Somnium Space gives me a lot of freaking options. I could go low-key and focus on Avatar creations."
"Just look at the sick amount of players in all these Worlds. If I create avatars for them though, doesn't some of my earnings go to the world's developers and investors backing them?"
"OR I could go high-key and build my own worlds."
"Yes! I'm gonna build something truly amazing for these folks, because suddenly I feel a great need to please and make them happy."
"To self - Of course, it's not because of their money.
"I'm gonna build a sick Dynamic Endless Runner Game in a world likened to Mars."
"Players would battle into the unknown, because no one truly knows what Mars holds."
"They would need to purchase my In-game Avatars, Kits, Swords, Backpacks, etc to survive in the Game."
- Investors
"What should I invest in?"
"These times are so exciting, it only just occurred to me that if I get it right this time, I could triple my investment in Somnium Space in 10 months."
"Metaverse News Telegraph Company just projected Somnium to attain Mainstream Adoption in 6 months, yipee!"
"Splinter Dungeon World Has been Truly active, it has x2 Active Players than the next game on that list."
"I could go for it, but then Mars Explorer is not all that bad either."
"It has way more items to purchase (Kits for Breathing, Kits for Hiking, Kits for Siting without being Scorched under the Sun?", Kits for avoiding Elon's Spaceships, whatever)."
"Okay take a deep breath."
"I'm truly not looking for a quick money grab."
"I wanna support the project I truly believe in and that I myself could try ."
"Mars Explorer it is then."
1 week later: Mars Explorer Economy explodes after Korean Investor pumps money in. All assets are now worth 3 times their previous value. --- Metaverse News Telegraph
The above is just to give an idea of how the Trident of Metaverse is truly effective for ANY Metaverse Ecosystem.
Without Creative Developers, Gamers have no Incentives to Play and Spend their money.
If there are no Investors pumping money in, growth rate might be slow (in this sense, the economy might survive, but it might also feel like a ponzi sheme).
If there are no Gamers, Well You know what Happens. Without gamers Developers are not as motivated to spend their time creating stuff.
It's a symbiotic system, in which each entity, group, community, play their part in keeping the system alive and thriving.
How does this relate to Somnium Space?
Somnium really caught my interest with their emphasis on the opportunities within their space for Developer and Investors, two important groups that do not get much focus from other gaming ecosystems that we've seen up till now. Could it be because the scalability of their world depeneds NOT in a small amount on the contibution of Developers? Or is this just a new trend that is set to kick off in the industry?
I'm gonna go with the former, because it's this kind of Special input that exemplifies what the word and concept of Metaverses is all about. Metaverse means dynamic, creative, evolving ecosystems - and that can only be achieved by pooling all the spects of creativity in one place, with the direct involvement of independent Developers and Investors.
As such, Somnium is well on the right track to becoming the next biggest Gaming & Lifestyle Metaverse there is, and I'm gonna bet you don't wanna miss it.
You really don't, and the best way to not miss out is to take that dive yourself.
Thanks for reading, Leave a Comment and Share your thoughts,
This article was written by @chel-koby, edited and proofread by @francis.melville and a cover graphic by @flauwy.
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