In this insightful conversation during the hack season, Rev. Ignacio Sanchez, head of software engineering at Somnia, shares an innovative approach to metaverse. From interoperability challenges to AI integration, Sánchez offers a glimpse into the future of digital experiences and the role Somnia in shaping it.
Many entrepreneurs are drawn to their field by specific moments and events. What was your trip to Web3?
In fact, a particular moment that was exciting came when Beeple sold NFTs at Christie’s for $69 million. It was here in the whole news in Spain. I already knew about Bitcoin and was familiar with some cryptocurrency trading. But that was the moment when I thought, “Okay, this is interesting.”
Since then, I have started working on NFT projects in particular. My background is a lot, but I found it a bit frustrating as it was very difficult for companies to actually gather and provide the data they need to do their jobs properly.
Cryptocurrency was essentially a fast-moving and very creative industry. There wasn’t much red tape, so it was a great fit for me as a freelancer at the time. For example, Web3 was much more fun than machine learning.
Why did you decide to focus on metaverse rather than on finances like other companies?
Well, in fact, the blockchain side of Metaverse is a different kind of finance. It is primarily about creating a market for digital assets. However, most teams come from the video game industry, so they focus more on metaverse. Therefore, it is more obvious to focus on metaverse, dealing with what is bad about ownership of digital assets on these isolated islands.
I still think that finance is very related to metaverse. That means that the metaverse is more specific or concrete. Finances tend to be very abstract. With Metaverse, you know the digital assets we are talking about because you are familiar with it from the video game world. But you’re bringing it into finances of it, allowing users to actually own those assets.
Do you think there is a way to attract people from traditional industries to metaverse?
I think so, yes. It’s not that traditional, especially in the entertainment industry and of course, the video game industry. There are many possibilities for 3D experiences in traditional corporate education and training. For example, it is a simulation of an industrial environment in which metaverse can play a very important role.
I also personally feel that the logical evolution of these meetings we have will actually be similar to the 3D experience where you actually trick your brain into interacting with the people in front of you rather than the plain screen.
How does Somnia’s vision of “Metaverse Computer” differ from existing Metaverse platforms and what unique benefits will it offer?
With the Metaverse Computer, we focus on two areas. The first is interoperability. Today, all metaverse companies do things the way they do it. We are very focused on creating an open set of standards and creating other developers that can be used by other developers who are not associated with us.
The focus is then on providing the computing infrastructure needed for this type of experience. You can see that there is no solution in the market that has performance requirements that you think are actually needed.
So we provide the infrastructure to build on top of it, but we have an open standard. You don’t necessarily need to build these experiences, but they are open to other companies and developers.
What unique features does the Somnia Metaverse browser offer? And how do you enhance the user experience compared to traditional web browsers?
Currently, the current format of the Metaverse browser is basically a limited browser. You can go anywhere with a web browser. Metaverse Browser is a closed environment that abstracts the interaction of wallets from users. We generate a wallet for you and allow you to interact with the blockchain, but most of the time users are not aware of it.
Our paper was a bit scary and said that dealing with cryptography and metamasks from time to time is a high barrier for users. Therefore, it serves a dual purpose. You don’t need to actually interact with all the scary messages, such as “Do you want to interact with this?” As it is a closed set of applications we provide, it can be said to be something like a safe environment, so you don’t have to worry about going to sites or dangerous places where you could lose your assets.
Like you said, AI is overtaking the Metaverse, but if you combine AI with the Metaverse, do you think it will be a second chance for Metaverse?
Yes, I think Metaverse has a lot of AI applications. We are specifically looking to reduce the cost of creating new experiences. There have been many new developments in the 3D generation recently using AI. Essentially, asset generation is one of the highest hurdles to creating experience. You need to create a new one, but 3D modeling is not an easy task. I think that AI will be very useful.
AI can also mitigate and improve content security. Within the metaverse there are many applications where both technologies complement each other.
How do you imagine the future of cross-platform interoperability in metaverse? And what steps are you taking to achieve this vision?
I think that’s our ultimate goal. The idea here is that we want to have an open set of standards. It’s like how the EVM ecosystem was successful, because it can be successful in getting standards that everyone agrees with and building them in addition to those standards.
So you don’t really need to agree with a particular developer on how to do things. Just getting this standard, you can build on it. That’s how you look at interoperability. There is a baseline of standards that we all agree on, and then we can build on top of each other and compete in that field. However, it is important to ensure at least minimal interoperability.
Can you explain the most exciting metaverse experiences and applications currently being developed on the Somnia platform?
A partnership with hotshots of these editions and other metaverse experiences that bring together many people and play together has been a success. There is also an AMA. This allows communities to be put into these 3D environments. And it’s so curious, it’s fun. Even if you’re just looking at yourself in a 3D environment where you can travel and interact with people. It gives you a lot of sense of being more connected with people.
We are releasing a new project that I am very excited about. This is a Metaverse playground where you can create your own mini metaverse for your friends and get the same experience self-service. It’s very exciting and I think it will be very cool for users.
How do you envision the evolution of digital identity and avatar systems in Metaverse?
Basically, it is assumed as a network of different assets that connect to one person. So now you have an NFT that identifies you as part of a tribe or moonbird. Our idea about identity is to link all of these assets. I don’t care if it’s something like a different wallet, a different NFT, etc, but the idea is that it basically has a structure as a graph.
No matter where you are or what metaverse you go to, you have one entry point for every part of that graph, but we can track the entire set of your identity. We all have different identities, such as our professional self, our family self.
So the idea here is to create a relationship with all of those assets, even if you have different assets that identify you as an individual. We want a complete picture of you who are on the blockchain or metaverse. And of course, you can do it in a safe way, rather than exposing your assets.
Can we discuss the company’s plans to support and consolidate the virtual economy and market?
One of the advantages of having this open set of standards and partnering with other companies to allow creators to develop new assets is that they want to, of course, provide an incentive for these creators to create new assets that can be used in a variety of experiences. That is one of the key pillars of our products.
It provides a set of standards for allowing users and for users to create objects before they sell them. Or the right to use that object within a particular experience, not the object itself. It is also very important to cross-chain economic interactions with these markets. Because locking this economy within our chain is contrary to the spirit of Web3. So I’m really defending the idea that all of these markets should be cross-chain. You must have the right to do business anywhere.
How do you see the emergence of traditional industries, including real estate, travel, entertainment, and more in Metaverse?
Honestly, there are some traditional industries where metaverse makes sense, and some traditional industries where it doesn’t. For example, I don’t think there’s a need to translate real estate into metaverse. Because by definition the amount of land you can have is infinite and limited only by calculation and storage.
But for travel and entertainment, I think there is a real opportunity there. As I said, at least on the individual level, the experience of metaverse makes me feel more connected to people on the other side.
For entertainment, we had some experiences with major league baseball through our partners. Like sports fans, like you’re in the Metaverse, it’s so much fun to see it on screen from within the Metaverse, then interacting between themselves and actually making friends. That’s why there are great opportunities to disrupt entertainment, sports and even travel. You need to push.
What do you think is the current topic that is not covered well in the media or conferences?
Honestly, most of the time I say it’s a regulation because it’s boring and no one wants to hear about it. Every time I go to a meeting, it’s the last speaker who’s always talking about regulations. And everyone is already tired or already left. And I think it’s really important to know where you’re going from a regulatory perspective.
