Question: What happens when you get hungry in the metaverse?
The metaverse is not a “pure virtual world” so services and partners are still needed as a bridge to real life, a digital asset company chief told the “Thailand Metaverse Expo 2022” in Bangkok on Saturday.
Nuttapong Tungdajahirun, CEO Sabuy Digital, a unit of SET-listed Sabuy Technology (SABUY), shed light on how to function between the virtual and real worlds in the topic "Connecting the Metaverse with Reality".
Just like opening a bank account, users are first verified via the Know Your Customer (KYC) process, he said. Next, to spend money in the metaverse, they have to exchange real-life currency for the cryptocurrency specific to the platform. All transactions in the metaverse are settled with crypto or digital assets.
However, Nuttapong pointed out that the virtual worlds of the metaverse still have their limits.
While users can touch, see and hear objects and products in the metaverse via virtual reality goggles, gloves, etc, they still cannot taste or touch them. So, in the absence of “full immersion”, users will experience a hybrid real-virtual world, he said. In other words, they can earn currency in the metaverse to spend on products like food and beverages in the real world.
Nuttapong said many activities in every metaverse are still connected with the real world. Sabuy Digital is offering infrastructure services that link the two worlds.
He explained that his company was filling this gap and other needs with a digital payment gateway, broker/dealer services, token issuance, and crypto fund management.
Sabuy is also building infrastructure to meet the metaverse demands of both large companies and SME partners. Some SMEs have found difficulties in utilising metaverse technology so the company is offering solutions tailored to their needs.
Nuttapong said Sabuy has more than 100,000 online and offline touchpoints and aimed to have more than 500,000 touchpoints this year where customers could exchange products or complete the KYC process.
He gave the example of the growing virtual sphere of gamification, which is connected to reality via Sabuy’s FIIT token. Users can play games or do virtual exercise to earn the tokens, which they can then exchange for products in the real world.
“Thailand Metaverse Expo 2022” is organised by Nation Group and runs at CentralWorld in Bangkok until Sunday (August 21).