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#48 | Who is VIPE, and other Avatar news

#48 | Who is VIPE, and other Avatar news

June 09, 2023

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This is a weekly newsletter brought to you by a former fashion editor, aka me, Lina. I will cover digital wearables and their role in gaming and fashion.

The Wearables Daily feature and acknowledge all industry talents and tell their stories.

Introduction

Here we are at our 48th issue - can you believe it? I'm Lina, your navigator in this expansive digital landscape, and today, we're turning the spotlight on the hottest talk of the town: VIPE, also known as Virtual Persona.

It's my absolute pleasure to share a recent conversation with Cynnx, the influential COO at Polygonal Mind and Crypto Avatars. He shared fascinating insights into the origin of the dynamic VIPE Heroes and the 'rerolling' mechanics that have intrigued users around the globe.

And what would this issue be without a roundup of the freshest avatar drops in the metaverse? Get ready for an overview of unique digital personas, each one a vibrant statement of individuality in our ever-growing online community.

Whether you're a long-time digital explorer or a newcomer finding your bearings, I've filled this 48th issue with insights, updates, and curiosities. The future isn't just out there. It's unfolding right here, with each click and scroll.

MEET VIPE

The lines between the real and the virtual are becoming increasingly blurred, and avatars emerge as the new face of self-expression. Meet Cynnx, the COO of Polygonal Mind and Crypto Avatars, the dynamic powerhouse behind the hottest topic on everyone's lips: VIPE (Virtual Persona).

This avatar-creation platform is more than just a new trend; it's a bold new frontier in our quest for digital identity. Cynnx reveals exclusive insights into the making of VIPE, the inspiration behind the vibrant VIPE Heroes, and the unique rerolling mechanics that make the platform as engaging as it is.

From the captivating art and gamification elements to the unfolding narrative behind the VIPE Heroes and the promising road ahead, we delve deep into a metaverse that empowers individuals to take control of their digital identities and offers an opportunity for unlimited self-expression and creativity.

VIPE hero

Who is behind the VIPE?

VIPE, or Virtual Persona, is our latest product by the team in Polygonal Mind, a creative studio that has been developing metaverse experiences since 2018.

How did you come up with VIPE heroes?

Together with the launch of our platform, we wanted to take the opportunity to create a limited-edition avatar collection to showcase what our character art team can do and what our technology is capable of. The VIPE Heroes can be used in all metaverse platforms that support the VRM file format, a file format that is getting adopted faster and faster.

Tell me more about the ART.

This collection features 5,000 Genesis avatars with unique traits and customization levels. Polygonal Mind designed these anime-style 3D models to have a 2D appearance with bright, vivid, highly saturated colors, angular forms, stylized features, and exaggerated expressions. The avatars are genderless and wear outgoing, exaggerated clothing. There are 11 trait families and five mood options to choose from, making it easy for users to create a unique representation of themselves in the digital world.

Rerolling is such an engaging feature. How did you come up with the whole mechanics?

In the end, we’re gamers, and we try for our developments to be fun to use, so gamification is something we try to keep in mind at all times. For this mechanic in particular, we didn’t want to go for a blind mint where you have to mint without knowing what you’re gonna get. In our case, you get presented with the 3D avatar and the trait combo, and you can either choose to mint it or reroll to get a new trait combo and avatar! But with a little cooldown, so you can’t spam it!

VIPE hero

What can holders definitely expect from the VIPE project?

Right away, you get access to the 3D file in VRM format, which you can use in many, many metaverse platforms. On top of that, the metadata structure we have for the VIPE Heroes allows us to “upgrade it,” meaning we can add more files to that same NFT. We’ll be using that to add more file formats and versions of the identity of the avatars people end up minting. So basically, we’ll be adding more and more value over time to the NFTs that way. On top of that, the VIPE Heroes are not just some avatars we give you, and that’s it. We’ve been building up a story or lore behind them, and we want to keep on expanding it. Feel free to check on the lore channel on our discord or watch the trailer of the VIPE Heroes!

What is the future of VIPE? What is your vision?

We’re building a digital identity platform for you to find and get the most out of your virtual self. We want to be the place where everyone goes to find out about all the possibilities that having an avatar grants you. We’re all about building bridges with metaverse platforms, games, apps, creators, and users.

VIPE is more than Avatar or PFP - the Alright cult is gaining momentum. Was it intentional?

That’s a funny one. When we started our discord channel and for a while, it was completely private, invitation-based only, and we didn’t want to show the branding for VIPE just yet. So as a placeholder, we grabbed that emoji that you’re referencing and used it as the first discord server icon, and it was also our first emoji. People started to use it a lot in our only text channel, trying not to break the chain and always have everyone drop the alright emoji. Given that we like creating engaging mechanics, we created a discord bot for the new alright channel at the time where dropping that emoji gets you some experience, you can level up by maintaining your streak, and those levels have been used to grant minting spots for the VIPE Heroes. We’ll be using it for rewards and benefits on our platform too! People love games!

Tell us one secret all should know by now.

The VRM format is gonna be adopted big time, this is a standard that is being used by so many platforms, and just that helps so much with interoperability. Having one file allows you to represent your identity in many, many places.

What is the utility of Vipe heroes? (For those who need to become more familiar with a project.)

Instead of owning a jpeg and creating weird mechanics for utility, we’re offering something very simple to understand. By owning a VIPE Hero, you get a 3D avatar ready to be used across many platforms and the commercial rights to build up your brand around it or anything you wanna do with it!

What is the future of digital avatars and the metaverse?

I believe, from my own experience diving into these platforms, that hanging out and socializing in virtual 3D spaces is getting more popular and engaging. In the same way that people use many social media platforms (that’s the 2D world), they care about how people perceive them or how they represent themselves through their nickname, bio, or profile picture. A 3D avatar is how you represent yourself in 3D spaces, and if you start joining these places more and more, you’ll probably care about finding that identity that you feel the happiest with. In the end, in a virtual space, you get to choose how people see you. You’re in control. So I definitely see the metaverse becoming so big and familiar that we won’t even use that word. We’ll just socialize online in a more immersive and engaging way.

UNION AVATARS launches collaboration with Tangpoko, Fabeeobreen & Low Poly Models

A new avatar collection is now available on the Droffo platform to buy. 4 exclusive items was created by three creators - Fabeeobreen, Tangpoko (BabyDolls), and KJ from Low Poly Models. They all created a skin, that is compatible with the avatar creation system - Union Avatars. Skin goes with your realistic head, which is generated from your picture, and be customized by various accessories. All created avatars can be downloaded as VRMs and be used in different games and virtual worlds.

Shop the collection here.