Blockchain and NFTs in the metaverse (Part 58)
Welcome to the 58th part of th 100-part series on Blockchain.
To realize the potential and benefits of virtual environments, metaverse applications have to overcome various challenges such as data security, avatars security, and privacy, interoperability, etc. Blockchain technology has been considered to be a promising solution to address these challenges.
Blockchain in securing avatars
Avatars are the virtual embodiments of the users and has the same legal authority in the metaverse as one’s legal rights in the real world. Your avatars are responsible for performing all the financial and other activities in the metaverse. So obviously, there is a need to protect your digital identity to protect it from getting compromised in some way; criminals may use your digital avatar to perform illegal activities in the metaverse. Your avatars would be protected by creating an NFT of your avatar that is recorded on Blockchain and represents your ownership of your avatar in the Metaverse. An NFT avatar is inherently unique, and whoever owns it is the only one on Earth. The NFT, a digital property certificate, will certify that the NFT avatar belongs to its sole holder. It will also prevent anyone to use or clone your avatar.
Protecting avatars’ rights in the metaverse
It would be a challenge in Metaverse to protect the rights of avatars and impose liability using existing legal concepts. For example, if an avatar steals a digital ‘Gucci bag’ or threatens another avatar in the ‘metaverse,’ this would involve issues relating to property rights, theft, and intellectual property law, like in a real court of law. That avatar could be punished using Blockchain. Every activity of the avatar would be recorded as a transaction on Blockchain. The smart contract would contain all the legal rules. If the avatar is found to be performing an illegal activity, the smart contract will trigger, and action will be taken against it based on the conditions pre-defined in the smart contract.
Similarly, disputes may arise among avatars when they interact with each other on the metaverse. Again, these would also be solved through smart contracts on Blockchain.
Blockchain in ensuring data security and privacy
The metaverse collects vast volumes of sensitive information in order to present the user with personalized experiences. Organizations or applications need this data for the successful development of targeting systems. If the information is leaked into the hands of the wrong people, they might also target users in the real world. Blockchain, with its authentication, access control, and consensus mechanisms, provide the users complete control of their data, thereby securing data privacy of the users. The Blockchain uses asymmetric-key encryption and hash functions which ensure data security in the metaverse. Ensuring your wearable hardware is highly updated and free of all malware is also a step to protect your digital identity and information.
Blockchain in ensuring the quality of the data
The metaverse receives data from multiple applications ranging from healthcare to entertainment. The AI models in the metaverse rely on this data for making key decisions for its users. Creating the objects in the metaverse depends highly on the quality of data shared by the users from the real world. Blockchain provides complete audit trails of transactions, allowing individuals and organizations to validate all transactions. Furthermore, the data collected is secured in the blocks; each block containing a cryptographic hash of the previous block along with a timestamp and the metadata so that they are resistant to attack. Thus Blockchain technology will prevent manipulating and duplication of the in-process data. Thus, the data acquired with the help of Blockchain-enabled systems in the Metaverse will be 100% reliable.
NFTs and metaverse
NFTs serve as a key concept in the metaverse ecosystem, allowing people to own virtual goods in the form of real estate, items like cars, clothes, fashion accessories, in-game assets, etc., and even digital paintings. This is because NFTs are proofs/certificates of ownership given to their holders and are stored on Blockchain technology. For instance, if you own land in the metaverse, you get an NFT as the deed to the virtual property. This means you are the rightful owner, and only you have exclusive access to enter the location in metaverse alongside allowing access to others. NFT-controlled access could also help in ensuring VIP access to the events in the metaverse. Cryptocurrencies and NFTs have also made it possible to build a fully functioning economy inside the virtual world where you can buy and sell virtual assets, including virtual real estate, digital art objects, and so on.
Additionally, since NFTs are immutable, they are only owned by their holders, and nobody else can destroy, duplicate, or edit them. So, it is quite clear that the metaverse and NFTs are made for each other.
Blockchain in providing Interoperability in the metaverse
Metaverse interoperability is the ability for different virtual worlds and platforms to interact with each other. It would allow taking their digital identities or avatars, NFTs, and currencies across different virtual platforms. This means the avatar on one platform can communicate and interact with avatars on another platform, as well as share data and content.
Interoperability is essential as it allows individuals to be unconstrained and have a more unified experience in the metaverse, just like in the real world. Like the modern-day internet browsers, which can access any website, and several links are often linked to a single page. The creation of this globally interconnected and interoperable system is similar to the real world — we move from one place to another with our identity intact. Similarly, interoperability in the metaverse would authorize avatars to voluntarily switch from one virtual world to another, just like humans do in the real world. Avatars can also take their assets from one platform to another for different purposes, including gaming. One can use their in-game NFTs to play games hosted on different platforms.
For the Metaverse to be interoperable, you must choose to build it on an interoperable Blockchain ecosystem. Suppose two gaming platforms are build on different Blockchain ecosystems. If Blockchains exist in silos, they will not be able to communicate with each other. It means avatars on one platform can not communicate with avatars on another platform and can’t even have the gaming experience on another platform. But for both platforms to interact with each other, cross-chain technology comes in that facilitates interoperability. This is possible by special smart contracts that record and verify the events taking place in virtual world A, then mediate the communication with virtual world B and record these events.
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Happy learning!
