Samsung has partnered with Decentraland, an Ethereum-based virtual reality platform, to enter the metaverse world.
Through the partnership, the tech giant has opened up a virtual version of its Samsung 837X store in Decentraland. The virtual store will be open for a limited time and is a replica of the physical store located at 837 Washington Street in New York City’s Meatpacking District, Manhattan.
According to a statement from Samsung, its entry into the metaverse is one of the biggest land takeovers in Decentraland’s history.
Some of the offerings within the store include music celebrations through Samsung’s first-ever metaverse-mixed-reality dance party from DJ Gamma Vibes streamed from the physical store. It also has a wide range of digital adventures in-store through a “Connectivity Theater and Sustainability Forest”.
The Connectivity Theater involves showcasing Samsung’s products during the Consumer Electronics Show, while the Sustainability Forest allows guests to experience digital forests through millions of digital trees.
Samsung has been widely involved in conservation exercises in the real world. It has partnered with Veritree, a Cardano-based climate restoration platform, to plant two million trees through the first quarter of 2022.
Veritree allows users to donate Cardano tokens in return for virtual trees. The platform then plants a physical tree on behalf of the user for every Cardano token donated.
Samsung 837X users can also participate in challenges, with winners getting 837X NFT badges and some of the limited-supply wearables.
To get started on the platform, users need to enter Decentraland from their browser, then they can buy and sell exclusive digital assets like wearables and land. The user then chooses from the customisation, connectivity, or sustainability interior spaces from the lobby.
Top brands betting on the Metaverse
Samsung’s 837X is not the first time a major brand has embraced the virtual world. Earlier, Samsung had announced that its next round of smart TVs would support NFTs. NFTs being the driving force behind the metaverse, would be easily accessible for all the Samsung TV users, either for gaming or trading.
Facebook is another major brand that is focused on the metaverse. The company recently rebranded to Meta, in order to make the pivot to the metaverse official. It is embracing web 3.0, which is currently believed to be the future of the internet. The company is also looking to employ 10,000 new employees to achieve its virtual goal.
Other top brands like Adidas and Time Magazine are also raising their stakes in the metaverse. As NFTs become more accessible and several brands embrace the metaverse, it looks like this is only the beginning.
Even though Samsung’s 837X will be available for a limited duration, it’s a way for Samsung to cement its place in the digital space. The company is already investing in several crypto-related projects through its Samsung Next Project. Some of its investments include; The Sandbox, Dapper Labs, and SuperRare.