This unique one-off VR space is up for auction with bidding starting at 30 ETH ($60K).
Swedish VR developer Fredrik Ekholm has partnered with one of Sweden’s biggest interior designers to create a high-end VR experience that will be auctioned off on Opensea.io as a one-of-a-kind NFT collectible.
Built using Unreal Engine, this VR project will look and feel like a cozy modern studio filled with unique collectibles and stylish furniture. You will be able to move around freely in the room while you listen to your favorite music or watch a video on your TV. You can also interact with some of the objects in your one-off NFT luxurious VR digs. That is if you’re the highest bidder.
Bidding will start at 30 ETH (around $60,000) on April 12th and will run through the 26th, unless the secret reserve price is met before that date. We tried to find out what the secret price is but as you know, loose lips sink ships, and Ekholm is one hell of a captain.
On top of the VR studio space, Ekholm has also created a few paintings and toys inside the VR studio which will be available as separate NFT collectibles in 3D at a later date.
For those who may be out of the loop, NFT’s (non-fungible tokens) are a part of the Ethereum blockchain, one of several popular cryptocurrencies. In the past year, NFT crypto art has become incredibly popular, with millions having already bent spent on exclusive digital content. Because Ekholm’s digital studio is an NFT, only one copy will be made, meaning no one but the owner will have access to the VR studio.
VRScout spoke with Ekholm about the ambitious project: “From my perspective, NFT’s are really interesting, partly because you can now own a ‘digital original’ with a proof of authenticity that can not be forged – compared to IRL proofs of authenticity, that can actually be forged – and also that by the provision model, an artist gets a piece of the bigger profits that his/her art will bring if he/she gets famous and the art is resold at higher prices,” Ekholm continues, “This was not the case with physical art, where someone could get rich off of someone else’s art, while the artist didn’t get a single penny. So this seems like a much fairer system.”
From Ekholm’s perspective, “I think the future of this will become a BIG thing. There are practically no limits to what you can do in VR, and I think the idea of owning a home that can be customized to your exact liking will be very interesting to many people,” adding, “I think as VR headsets and computers become more powerful, we will be able to have fully dynamic worlds where you could import and move around any furniture you like, repaint your walls when you want, change the time of day and season, etc. You could also build experiences that could be linked to each other, so you may for instance invite your friends to visit your VR home, and vice versa.”
What Ekholm is really excited about is the growth of VR technology alongside NFT’s, a combination he feels as though could have a major impact on the future of art and digital ownership.
“Since this kind of thing, combining VR with NFT collectibles is a new world, we don’t quite know yet where this will lead us, but it’s quite exciting to see where it goes, and hopefully this will be popular, in which case we will produce more works like this. I think this is a market that will get quite big in the future, and we’re just right at the start of it now,” said Ekholm.
Ekholm’s NFT VR experience is designed to be used on the most common VR headsets, such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Oculus Quest via Oculus Link.
Bidding starts April 12th over at Opensea.io.
Feature Image Credit: Fredrik Ekholm
