VU Token — Key lessons from Consensus 2018
As part of New York City’s “Blockchain Week”, Consensus 2018 hosted by Coindesk gathered 8,500 attendees of digital economy enthusiasts all under one roof. Over triple the size of last year’s event which is indicative of the rapidly increasing interest in the crypto space and blockchain technologies over this time.
The incredible 3-day event was jam-packed with interesting and insightful talks by renowned figures in their fields — experts from Zcash, Coin Center, The New York Times, HTC and Cryptic Labs as well as several accomplished representatives from CoinDesk itself just to name a few.
It was refreshing to gain varied perspectives of the occurring widespread adoption of blockchain technology on different industries and quite happy to witness how it’s sparking innovations across the globe.
With over 250 speakers as well as the first ever blockchain job fair and an industry ‘Hackathon’ there was an endless supply of networking opportunities. We were able to connect with some of the top players in the VR and blockchain industries, garnering new interest for the VU project and exposing ourselves to a plethora of potential new partnerships and affiliations.
There were no major surprises, and a continuing refrain is that lack of U.S. regulatory clarity is stifling new and innovative business models, specifically fintech and banking. Many companies are simply leaving the U.S. out of the conversation.
On the flip side, there was good news in that some of the companies at the show had apparently succeeded in creating major links and partnerships with huge companies and are working on groundbreaking foundational technologies.
We had the opportunity to do a number of demos, all being received exceptionally well. Initially, a lot of people in the crypto space — not necessarily familiar with the current and future VR landscape — would initially compare us to other recent blockchain VR projects.
However, after further examination it’s easy to see how the VU approach is different — it’s not just a proof-of-concept tech demo or a dead world with simulated real estate, it’s an entire virtual world and gaming experience that is built around the single most important ingredient: FUN.They were quick to realize that platforms like VU which prioritizes audiences provide an excellent foundational development of a sustainable VR economy.
So, whereas others have concentrated primarily on selling intangible assets and foregoing virtual reality, we have done the opposite and now have a demonstration that allows people to see the magic of being truly immersed in these worlds.
I think this strategy will be a driving factor in boosting the VU project when we open for registration, something we’ll be announcing very soon.
Bob and I were thrilled to come away with new insights, ideas and a renewed excitement and energy to bring to the VU project. It was quite clear that a number of large and small businesses are now turning their attention to the crypto space to diversify their portfolios, and this is definitely something we will be benefiting from in the near future.
Generally, the world is attempting to figure out the next online economic model. In current models, there are providers of pipes, access to data, e-commerce or marketplace solutions, content and or community.
We think that Virtual Universe represents a mixture of many of these elements and that if you presume that virtual reality will one day become somewhat commonplace, our business model will stand above many others dominating such spaces today.
Ciaran Foley is CEO of Ukledo and Immersive Entertainment, Inc. a Southern California virtual reality software company developing a new virtual engagement platform called Virtual Universe (VU).
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Learn more about Virtual Universe and VU token by visiting our website and signing up for email updates, visiting our Github, following us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and Instagram, or being part the discussion on Telegram and Discord.
