Sony & Theta Set to Launch ‘3D NFTs’, Eye Tie-in with its Spatial Reality Display

Adoption Metaverse NFT Non-fungible tokens South Korea

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked...

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June 26, 2023 06:58 EDT

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Non-fungible tokens (NFT) are going 3D – and Sony wants to be the firm that takes them into a new dimension.

In a press release shared with Cryptonews.com, the firm’s partner in its initiative, South Korea’s blockchain network operator Theta Labs (THETA), claimed that the new 3D NFTs had been designed to be used with Sony’s Spatial Reality Display, a display unit that features a high-speed vision sensor, which follows users’ eye movements to create 3Ds based on eye positions. The device does not make use of goggles or other eye-related accessories.

The device went on sale in late 2020 and retails for around USD 5,000.

Theta explained that in an initial “pilot project,” the parties would serve up a scenario whereby NFTs “representing any in-world digital item, avatar or collectible can be visualized and displayed in glasses-free 3D mixed reality form.”

The move, the South Korean company stated, will bring “a new reality and a physical presence to the metaverse.”

The project will include a “Theta-powered” NFT – ten copies of a token named “The Tiki Guy.” The Sony tie-in comes with the fact that these ten tokens will allow owners with United States shipping addresses to redeem a Sony Spatial Reality Display device.

The NFT’s design is a nod to the Tiki masks that originated in ancient Polynesian and Hawaiian cultures: hand-carved, wooden decorative masks that represented deities and were intended to ward off evil spirits.

Theta claimed that Sony’s Spatial Reality Display would provide a “whoa, baby” experience for NFTs, and would “showcase NFTs and virtual experiences in a whole new way.”

The mask-themed NFTs will be designed “to showcase the next-generation capability of Sony’s Spatial Reality Display,” Theta added, and will let “collectors” view their “digital metaverse assets” in what the company called “a truly 3D accessory-free way.”

For those without access to 3D display units, the company said that “users will also be able to purchase 2D versions for viewing on conventional displays.”

Theta added that the collaboration would allow NFTs “representing any in-world digital item, avatar or collectible” to “be visualized and displayed in glasses-free 3D mixed reality form,” helping to “bring a new reality and a physical presence to the metaverse.”

Sony, meanwhile, was quoted as stating that the NFT project was “just the latest way” it could showcase its “rapid adoption of metaverse-friendly technology.”

Sony’s music and entertainment arms have previously been active on the NFT front, with tie-ins ranging from a “Baby Shark” token issuance with the viral video’s South Korean creator Pinkfong to “Spider-Man”-related NFTs. Last month, both Sony and its rival Universal announced they had partnered with Snowcrash, an NFT trading platform affiliated with the veteran rock superstar Bob Dylan.

Theta, meanwhile, teamed up with the smartphone-making team at Samsung back in February this year to launch a range of NFT digital collectibles to mark the launch of two new Samsung smart devices, the Galaxy S22 and the Tab S8. Customers who pre-booked and pre-ordered devices in South Korea were granted access to commemorative NFTs.

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