New blockchain framework connects physical entities to the metaverse

After the hype fueled by Meta’s (formerly Facebook) pivot last year, the metaverse has found its way into several organizations and is steadily moving on an upward trajectory. With COVID-19 accelerating digital transformation, businesses are now more keen to adopt new technology, even a new technology like the metaverse. Having evolved from Neal Stephenson’s initial idea (from his 1992 novel Snow crash), Web3 and the metaverse today offer more immersive opportunities that brands are entering.

According to Gartner, “enterprises will experiment with the metaverse, connecting, engaging and motivating human and machine customers to create new value exchanges, revenue streams and markets.” The metaverse’s market cap over the next seven years is likely to be massive, with McKinsey estimating it will reach $5 trillion by 2030.

But what are the underlying technologies that will drive this new promise of a multi-trillion dollar immersive virtual world? Experts say it will be driven by a convergence of 5G, AR, VR, AI and blockchain – and many companies are looking to build into that technology stack.

One such company is MachineFi Lab – the core developer of IoTeX, a decentralized blockchain platform that enables human-machine interactions. Today, MachineFi Lab announced the release of W3bstream, “a blockchain-agnostic infrastructure with the power to disrupt the machine economy where innovation has so far stagnated,” according to the company’s press release.

Having previously built IoTeX, “MachineFi Lab is uniquely positioned to help connect the metaverse with real-world devices,” said Dr Raullen Chai, founder and CEO of MachineFi Lab. Chai said that “W3bstream connects the real world to Web3, acting as an open, decentralized off-chain computing infrastructure that sits between the blockchain and smart devices.” He added that W3bstream allows developers to connect Web3 token incentives with real-world activities verified by user-owned smart devices, extending the Web3 design space into the real world.

Built on blockchain

MachineFi Lab harnesses the power of blockchain with an end-to-end solution to deploy, orchestrate and monetize a large number of IoT devices as part of a unified machine network. The MachineFi platform is built to enable developers to connect billions of machines with Web3 infrastructure. By joining the machine economy, people can monetize the devices and associated digital assets globally. “Today, many machines have already begun to cooperate, produce and distribute, and they use information and resources collectively, forming a heterogeneous network of machines,” Chai said.

W3bstream provides cutting-edge tools and middleware that reduce development timelines and costs by at least 50% for builders, Web2 enterprises and smart device manufacturers, explained Chai. He claims W3bstream unlocks the $12.6 trillion reward economy for millions of people globally as they perform everyday activities – such as exercising, driving safely, sleeping well, being environmentally friendly, visiting websites and attending events.

“This real-world data protocol enables data ownership, reward systems for daily activities, and data sharing, and allows developers to build MachineFi applications very quickly and affordably,” Chai said. He added that W3bstream offers “x-and-earn use cases, including sleep and earn, drive and earn, and train and earn.” He cited as a good example HealthBlocks, a Web3 health app that has changed how users interact with and benefit from intelligent wearable devices and machines by motivating them to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Multiple use cases of W3bstream include “proof of anything, fast and easy migration to the blockchain, product tokenization, and verifiable transparency processes.”

Smart devices and machines connected to the internet will significantly affect our lives in the future. Experts estimate that by 2030, people, businesses and organizations worldwide will own around 125 billion devices, generating a $12.6 trillion machine economy. Machines could replace over 30% of the human workforce in eight years – and data, powered by artificial intelligence, could generate $13 trillion in global economic value by the start of the next decade.

Already designated as technology twins, IoT and metaverse have specific responsibilities. For example, the IoT will enable the metaverse to analyze and interact with the physical world. In turn, the metaverse will act as a 3D user interface for IoT devices.

With competition including Hyperledger, Azure Blockchain Workbench and the IBM Blockchain Platform, Chai claims W3bstream is differentiated by its framework that “binds users with their smart devices, and will rely on a decentralized protocol to reach a consensus on what has happened in the the physical world and [to] produce evidence that triggers token reward distribution to users in Web3, according to rules defined in smart contracts.”

He also clarified that W3bstream is under continuous improvement. “The W3bstream rollout is planned in four stages, starting with the release of V1.0, when all development tools become available, including software development kits (SDKs) and open source repositories for developers of all skill levels. It’s also when developers and enterprises can configure and deploy W3bstream nodes to build MachineFi dApps using the Web Assembly (WASM) language,” he explained. Among its competitors, Chai said MachineFi is the first to develop a product that connects the metaverse to physical gadgets using the IoT path. The lab has received support from investors including Samsung NEXT, Jump Crypto, Draper Dragon, Xoogler Ventures, IOSG, Wemade and Escape Velocity, all of which participated in the last MachineFi funding round.