0

Embracing the rapidly changing future of the internet

Tech conference draws industry leaders

  • What virtual real estate looks like
  • A whole new way of book ownership
  • Understanding the new buzz words around tech

Tech experts, as well as those who just want to know more about the future of the internet, gathered in Kelowna this week to discuss the new virtual reality facing society.

This was the first live tech event hosted in the city in two years because of the pandemic. Guest speakers came from across Canada and the United States, in person and online.

Over 100 people attended the Web3 Okanagan conference at the new Metro Community building, while nearly 70 tuned in online.

“What it’s all about is trying to bring together people from the local community to learn about this space,” Jason Siebenga, Chairman at Metro Community told Kelowna10. “We thought creating an event [would] bring people together to learn, and spark something in the Okanagan.”

The building was buzzing with activity as industry leaders came together to learn more about web3 (the new phase of the internet), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and cryptocurrency.

Ty Ward from BookCoin spoke virtually from Austin, Texas, about his company’s use of NFTs. They are reinventing how books are consumed in the virtual world by creating the first NFT marketplace for books.

Another virtual speaker, Lorne Sugarman, is the CEO of the Metaverse Group. His company is leading the way in virtual real estate. It works in a metaverse known as Decentraland, where they buy and sell property in the virtual world.

“We believe in location, location, location, like the real world,” Sugarman said. “We look at a whole host of criteria when we choose the location of our land.”

There are different districts within Decentraland, such as the fashion district, which has 165 parcels of land. Sugarman said they will be hosting a virtual fashion show there in the coming weeks, featuring a variety of big-name brands.

“I think what you’ll see is a change in how we use our ecommerce,” he explained. “Instead of going to traditional dot com sites, you’re going to use the Decentraland stores and other stores because it’s more immersive.”

Sugarman said that while the technology isn’t quite there yet, he sees a future where a variety of metaverses coexist in a way where people can switch between online worlds in an easy and immersive way.

“It’s up to us being companies like the Metaverse Group and the metaverses themselves, to create community, to create experiences, to make it engaging, to make it fun, to make it interactive,” he said.

Daniel Gray, CEO of Rufflife Rescues, took the stage to talk about the six-figure donation they made last week to the BCSPCA by selling virtual dogs as NFT art on the Solana blockchain.

The last speaker was Pela CEO Matt Bertulli. He spoke about web3 in general and how Pela will be trying to use the new technology in the future with products, such as their real world compost machine, Lomi.

“Real world utility, not just digital, metaverse utility. That’s what I’m interested in,” Bertulli told Kelowna10.

“How are people poking and prodding around in it, where’s the curiosity leading folks. It’s too new to be overly specific right now, at least from my perspective.”

Published 2022-02-16 by Jordan Brenda

Get a fresh daily look

See what’s happening in and around our city, and the people who call it home.

Our newsroom abides by the RTNDA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and follows the Canadian Press Stylebook. If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to send us a news tip, please contact us.

Kelowna10 is division of Pattison Media, and strives to achieve the highest ethical standards in all that we do.