The concept of the metaverse and virtual reality (VR) are closely intertwined in the minds of the public. Platforms like Somnium Space, Crypto Voxels, and Meta’s Horizon Worlds have already embraced this technology. However, Decentraland, a browser-based 3D metaverse platform, despite describing itself as a “decentralized virtual reality platform” on its website, is yet to include VR.
Sean Ong, the founder of XR Dev Studio, a company specializing in extended reality, is part of a team that has developed an “alpha” version of the VR platform for Decentraland. Ong explained that although VR has always been part of Decentraland’s vision, the Decentraland Foundation has been prioritizing the implementation of core features before VR.
Ong, who is a member of Decentraland’s DAO, and his team received grants after submitting a proposal to introduce VR to the platform. Unfortunately, the funding only allowed them to create an alpha version of the VR client, which lacked stability.
According to Ong, the challenges in bringing VR to Decentraland stem from its fundamental incompatibility with VR. Porting VR involves modifying the original code to make it compatible with another platform. While this saves time and effort initially, the developer would need to make changes to the port whenever the main project is updated. Building a dedicated VR client would take longer, but it would ensure the client’s resilience in the long run.
Ong and his team requested an additional $240,000 in funding through a proposal on December 14 to develop a dedicated VR client. Unfortunately, the vote failed, with more than three-quarters voting against it.
Cointelegraph also reached out to Sébastien Borget, the co-founder of The Sandbox, a blockchain-based metaverse, to get his thoughts on VR in the metaverse. Borget stated that while metaverses will eventually exist in VR, The Sandbox’s focus for 2023 is on mobile, and they have no immediate plans for VR. According to Borget, VR technology is not yet mature or mainstream enough, so they are concentrating on making the metaverse more accessible to all.
Regarding recent criticism of Decentraland’s 8,000 daily active users, Ong acknowledges that these numbers are relatively low and believes the platform should aim for millions of users. He also emphasizes that in today’s context, the metaverse and VR are synonymous. Ong believes that Decentraland could attract many more users if it incorporates virtual reality support, stating that VR must be a significant component of a fully-featured metaverse.
In response to an email, Agustin Ferreira, the executive director of the Decentraland Foundation, stated that the DAO could eventually take over platform development, and the foundation’s goal is to support community development and provide incentives for developers to enhance the entire ecosystem.