How many of us have spent ages crafting the perfect avatar to represent ourselves on Instagram? Quite a few, right? There’s something so satisfying about picking out the features that make us, well, us! We put so much time and effort into avatars. Why? Because, one way or another, these avatars represent how we want to be perceived. Whether we meticulously craft our avatars to depict how we actually look or we tweak them to show off our ideal selves, our avatars are how we portray ourselves.
Given that avatars are essentially us in a digital form, it makes sense that they are now gaining a tremendous amount of popularity. Right from bitmojis on Snapchat to avatars on Instagram, they are our mini-mes in the virtual world. With all this on the line, it stands to reason that people would want unique, one-of-a-kind avatars that represent them.
Enter NFTs. Being 100% unique themselves, NFTs offer users the privilege of creating avatars that are completely customizable and distinctive. You can stand out from the crowd once you establish your virtual presence with an NFT avatar. Several NFT trading platforms are already exploring NFT avatars with great success. With the Metaverse being closer than ever, NFT avatars are becoming the trend to watch out for. So how does one go about navigating the relatively new waters on NFT avatars in the Metaverse? Read on to find out.
Explaining NFTs
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are exactly what the name describes. They are digital tokens that are unique and cannot be exchanged for simply any other. To illustrate, you can exchange a dollar for a dollar or a bitcoin for a bitcoin. NFTs are different; they are more like physical artwork in that you couldn’t just trade a Mona Lisa for another Mona Lisa, could you?
NFTs can take any format from jpegs to gifs to audio files, and recently even books and albums! But you can always right-click and save images, right? So what do NFTs bring to the table? NFTs offer the holder complete and verifiable ownership. They also serve as something of a status symbol, making them coveted by several people.
The Metaverse: What’s all the hype about?
Understanding the Metaverse is a little more complex, seeing that the final product does not even exist yet. The Metaverse is projected to be a three-dimensional world that combines virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. People can lead a parallel existence in the virtual world, doing everything from shopping to gaming to interacting with friends. In the Metaverse, people can use unique digital avatars to represent themselves. This brings us to the subject of NFT avatars.
NFT Avatars
Despite the Metaverse being completely futuristic, it is still impossible for us to go fully into a virtual world. That is where avatars come in. Avatars are digital representations that can live within the virtual world, serving as virtual depictions of our corporeal selves. Sure, Instagram and Snapchat have their own avatars, but there’s always the possibility of someone having an avatar that is identical to yours. To eliminate this confusion, NFT avatars ensure that each one is completely distinctive in however small a way.
The level of customization that is possible with NFT avatars allows one to express themselves as they might not be able to in the physical world. The only limit is your imagination. Apart from representing a person or an organization, NFT avatars also have the potential to depict objects. For example, you could create an NFT avatar of a physical painting. This avatar can then exist in a Metaverse gallery and can be used to view the painting. Virtual items like in-game assets, too, are often represented by NFT avatars.
And getting your very own NFT avatar isn’t that gargantuan a task. You can always buy an NFT of your choice on an NFT trading platform like OpenSea, which has a wide array of avatars. Or you have the option of creating a new avatar. For this, you could use an NFT avatar generator or a Metaverse Avatar app like Zepeto or MiT Avatars.
NFT avatars can also be of different types. The first Metaverse avatars to come into play were 2D pixelated images. Now, they have been largely replaced by VR and full-body Metaverse avatars.
Playing Dress Up in the Metaverse
With many industries already setting foot in the Metaverse, it was only a matter of time before the fashion industry, too, made its mark. Some of the biggest trailblazers in fashion, from Gucci to Burberry, have already entered the realm of NFT and Metaverse fashion. One of the use cases with the greatest potential is wearables. A few NFT platforms already offer the opportunity to customize your avatar in a host of different clothes and accessories. However, fashion houses stepping into the Metaverse brings a layer of exclusivity to the whole enterprise.
Fashion titans have already launched their own lines of digital-only fashion. A few have also tried their hand at the customization of NFT PFPs. As NFT avatars pick up steam in the Metaverse, it stands to reason that this could be a big draw for the fashion industry. Imagine dressing your virtual self in an iconic, one-of-a-kind piece from a brand like Gucci! Who could pass that up?! Another argument in favor of NFT fashion is that they are way more sustainable – an aspect that is drawing Gen Z to the concept of Metaverse fashion!
The Bottom Line
It is abundantly clear that the Metaverse will be big in the not-so-distant future. With NFTs heralding their arrival, the virtual world is poised to encompass a number of industries. And to enter this virtual world, avatars are set to be the mode of choice. Lending their uniqueness to the Metaverse. NFT avatars are slowly becoming a trend and may soon be the norm in the Metaverse. Quite a number of NFT platforms already use these avatars for gaming and social networking. As technology grows, the use cases for these NFT avatars are only predicted to increase in leaps and bounds. With the customizability and personalization they bring to the table, it is safe to say that NFT avatars are here to stay in the Metaverse.
