Become Your NFT 🪞 – by William M. Peaster
Metaversal is one Bankless newsletter for weekly levels on NFTs, virtual worlds and collectibles
Dear Bankless Nation,
I am my penguin, and my penguin is me.
Now a famous quote and copy paste in NFT lore, this rallying cry was born during a Twitter Spaces discussion in 2021 when a Pudgy Penguins NFT holder got emotional about his beloved pengu PFP.
Today, the humorous saying continues to resonate seriously, because at the crossroads of digital life and social media, an NFT can truly be a powerful way to express your identity and build a personal brand online.
Yet the PFP you use for say Crypto Twitter is a static 2D image. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could virtualize and connect with your NFT so you could assume its form in 3D video content, Zoom video chats, etc.?
Well, you actually already can does such virtualization for a handful of NFT collections and counting courtesy of Hologram Labs’ tools. Let’s get you up to speed on the basics of this technology for today’s post!
-WMP
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A VTuber is a “virtual YouTuber” or just a virtual video streamer in general who uses a digital avatar with motion capture technology (mocap) to interact with the audience.
The popularity of these virtual entertainers has skyrocketed in recent years, especially in Japan, as creators have flocked to the anonymity and opportunities for self-expression of such avatars, as well as to the new types of metaversal experiences they open up, such as virtual events and virtual. goods.
All that said, VTubing has been around since the early 2010s, but the rising modern NFT ecosystem is similarly charged with enormous potential at this same crossroads of digital identity and virtual presence, and it’s there Hologram comes in.
Created by Hologram Labs, Hologram is a young but growing technology stack designed to help people adopt the forms of their favorite NFTs for their video content needs. You don’t have to take my word for it either, you can go over to Hologram Web App right now and use a webcam to test out the mocap avatar system for yourself:
To go deeper, Hologram currently offers two main downloadable products: Hologram expansion and Hologram Studio. As the name suggests, Hologram Extension is a Chrome browser extension that you can download to easily receive calls on Discord, Google Meet, Zoom, etc. with face tracking mapped to your chosen NFT.
Since Hologram is still relatively early and needs to develop case-by-case integrations, note here that you can’t just use any NFT you own for face tracking just yet. However, Hologram already offers support for a number of partner collections, and the team has many additional integrations in development. The projects that are compatible now or coming soon include:
For example, StarCatchers support was almost finished when this post was written, but if you have any of the other projects above, you can already dive in with the Hologram Extension today. I tested the flow with a Chain Runners XR NFT and found it easy to get everything going and set up.
If you are interested in diving here, I recommend checking it out Hologram Expansion Quick Start Guide to learn the basics of changing your avatar’s location, background, and voice. But maybe you’re more interested in creating your own VTuber-style video content rather than taking calls. For this you should check out the other main product, Hologram Studio.
To put it simply, Hologram Studio is a desktop app that makes it easy to create general videos or live streaming with your PFP NFT. For example, check out this short informative video about Cool Cats Fractures made by Hawkward in Cool Cat form via the Studio app:
So whether you want to create similar educational videos, live stream a playthrough of a new NFT game, or create personalized promotional content, Hologram Studio is certainly one of the easiest NFT mocap tools out there right now, and its capabilities are ready to grow further from here.
Looking further ahead, the Hologram team is planning the next rollout of Hologram hub, which they aim to become creators’ “home base in the metaverse” where it will be possible to “access your digital closet, customize your hologram, create PFPs or stickers with your latest look,” and more. Sounds interesting, so be on the lookout for this in the coming months.
Meanwhile, if you do have an NFT from one of the already compatible collections, consider testing out the Hologram Extension or Hologram Studio apps in these early days to get a leg up. Why? Because these VTuber-style systems are all set to become much more popular in the future, and you can easily experience them now!
William M. Peaster is a professional writer and creator of Metaversal– a bankless newsletter focused on the rise of NFTs in the crypto-economy. He has also recently contributed content to Bankless, JPG and more!
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Not financial or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell assets or make financial decisions. This newsletter is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
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