The image is called "chorus" and it is located on thecdn.vox-cdn.com.
Spatial, an early player in virtual reality workroom apps, is changing its focus to virtual art galleries showcasing non-fungible token, or NFTs. A $25 million funding round was announced by the company yesterday. It could be an indication of where some "metaverse" tech might be going in the future, away from work-focused experiences and toward more entertainment.
The original pitch was for a virtual workspace where people could use virtual items to collaborate and talk. Over the past year, that has changed. The company says it has gone from 80 percent of its users wearing headsets to 80 percent accessing it through the web and mobile apps, many of these users are more interested in social experiences than work ones, and it is adjusting its priorities accordingly. It has ended its partnerships with major companies and has stopped apps on the Nreal Light and Magic Leap One.
Convenience is really everything in the world of work.
Spatial is focusing on collaborating with artists who want to show off their work. People can see a catalog of the NFT art they own with the latest iteration. Guests can chat with each other with live videos floating above their heads in the gallery spaces that they can place the images into. Spatial will allow artists to either sell NFTs directly through the platform or import 3D spaces and mint them as NFTs, which they could then sell. It could support others with a lower carbon footprint in the future. It is hosting a gallery and NFT launch today.
The idea that people will work in a 3D "metaverse" is one of the broader industry trends that Spatial could speak to. This year, Meta, formerly Facebook, has bet big on the idea and launched a Spatial-like service called Horizon Workrooms for the Meta Quest virtual reality headset platform.
The head of business at Spatial thinks that the world is a long way away. I think there will be a day when people are wearing headsets to work. He says that day is not today. The company has had success with NFT art, where it adds a sense of heft to something that is otherwise just a flat image. Art is a very interactive medium. You can't do that if you just throw something on a boring old web page.
It may be harder for a small company to compete with a product from Meta. Metaverse platforms are clunky and can make people feel frustrated if they are made use of for a required work event. When I entered Spatial for a meeting, I encountered a bug that forced me to drop and conduct part of the interview over Zoom, and I have had a similar experience with other people on Horizon Workrooms. In the world of work, convenience is the most important thing. Spatial is betting that people will be more willing to take a leap into its 3D world.
