Solana Spaces to Close Down Stores

Solana Spaces has decided to close its two Solana (SOL)-themed, community-oriented retail shops in New York City and Miami at the end of this month. These stores are situated in both cities respectively. This decision was taken as a result of the fact that the physical shops did not bring in as many new users as was first anticipated when they were first opened.

Solana Spaces announced the news through a tweet on February 21, which also contained a message from the shop’s founder, Vibhu Norby, explaining the many factors that contributed to the decision to close the stores.

Norby, who founded Solana Spaces in the early part of 2022, explained that the company had reached a “inflection point” with the stores, which prompted them to shift their investment focus to “DRiP,” the firm’s brand-new nonfungible token artwork airdrop platform. This move was prompted by the fact that the company had reached a “inflection point.” Norby also said that he was the one responsible for establishing Solana Spaces in the first place.

“While our stores onboard between 500 and 1,000 people per week, DRiP onboards that same number EVERY DAY,” Norby noted, explaining why the firm opted to shift its investment priority. “While our shops onboard between 500 and 1,000 people per week, DRiP onboards that same number EVERY DAY.” “While our shops bring on between 500 and 1,000 customers every week, DRiP brings on that same number every single day,”

Norby stated that the decision to close the stores, which are located in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami and the Hudson Yards neighborhood of Manhattan, was made “a few weeks ago,” and that they would “sunset” at the end of the month of February. Both of these neighborhoods are in the city of New York.

Because the two stores in New York and Miami did not open their doors to the general public until the end of July and August, respectively, the ambitious endeavor was only operating for a relatively little period of time.

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South Korea embraces the proto-Metaverse

The South Korean people and an increasing number of major companies in the country have begun to embrace and integrate the Metaverse into their everyday lives in new and unexpected ways.

Two major retailers in the country have recently introduced Metaverse and AI elements to shoppers to enhance their shopping experience.

GS Shop introduced home shopping via the Metaverse on Nov. 16 by showing the inner workings of a food production facility. It aimed to reassure customers of the quality of the facility and the food that was for sale.

GS Shop turned scans of the physical facility into 3D representations. This way, customers who had augmented reality (AR) devices, similar to the haptic gloves Meta previewed this week, could tour the facility in the virtual world to see the conditions under which their food was being produced.

Jason Ye, the co-founder of multi-chain ecosystem developer DeSpread, has noticed the explosion of companies joining the Metaverse in Korea. “It seems like every company is diving into the Metaverse and Play to Earn these days,” he told Cointelegraph.

“Korea has lots of huge IPs. If you can combine those IPs with great content around them, you can build a great business model. Attractive contents are the basis for entering the Metaverse.”

Metaverse and AI (artificial intelligence) avatars are popping up in several industries including retail shopping, finance, and even public services. 

Lotte Home Shopping, which topped $14 billion in sales in 2020, introduced Lucy, a virtual model to help promote the brand’s products. Lotte will use Lucy in future video content and on social media since the avatar has its own Instagram account. It is also highly likely that Lotte will integrate Lucy into its Metaverse-based virtual store.

The deployment of virtual reality has also extended to the public sector. The Seoul City government announced on Nov. 6 that it planned on building its Metaverse platform by 2023, where residents can file civil petitions.

Related: ‘We are building for the metaverse,’ says Meta VP Nick Clegg

The tentatively named ‘Metaverse 120 Center’ will handle virtual visits that do not require the visitor’s physical presence.

On Nov. 10, the Korean military announced that it would phase in Metaverse applications to soldier training programs by the 2030s.