According to Research in recent, 81% of under-35s now fear loneliness associated with long-term home working. Virtual work environments, where employees communicate via virtual reality headsets are being touted as the next step to rectify feelings of isolation. Employees working from home will supposedly benefit from better social interactions and have a similar experience to those in the office. But the question remains: Are virtual working environments enough to solve remote workers’ loneliness?
Singapore-based founders of Metapals, Max Giammario and Daryl Lim, believe humans need more than VR to improve their working experience, they need virtual companionship. MetaPals is the first step in bringing life to the metaverse. A digital pet that eats, plays, and sleeps on your desktop, giving you joy throughout the long working day. MetaPals gives a peek into how we can begin to transition into a hybrid lifestyle that provides uniquely immersive experiences in AR/VR and beyond, all with a lovable companion by your side.
The following are interview questions and answers with Max Giammario and Daryl Lim.
What is MetaPals, and what is the vision for the game?
MetaPals is a chrome browser extension powered by blockchain, that will bring life to the metaverse by creating digital companions that eat, play, and sleep on your desktop. The game has a two-fold vision. Firstly, we’re developing a game that will leverage a fun and engaging environment where you can form real companionship with digital life by adopting, feeding, and playing with your pet. With this relationship firmly established, your MetaPal will to act as a guide on all things related blockchain and cryptocurrency - your trusted companion on your adventure into and through the metaverse! MetaPals will arrive first on desktop before coming to phones, VR, and beyond.
How is MetaPals leading the way in introducing NFT contracts to non-crypto users and connecting them with the emerging metaverse?
Most internet users don’t focus on how the internet actually works, nor do they really care. They focus on what the internet enables them to do, the connections they form with it, the information they can find, and the communities they can join. The blockchain and NFT applications of the next decade cannot simply rely on the novelty of the technology to drive growth and adoption. MetaPals’ focus is to create companions that bring joy and delight to our lives, and travel alongside us through physical and virtual spaces. This sense of ownership and interoperability is best achieved through NFT’s and blockchain, which is only revealed through its functional benefit to users, rather than simply its implementation into the application. Your MetaPal will assist you in exploring the blockchain space, alongside a large pet loving community. To help make this experience immersive, fun, and intimate, we decided to use cute and cuddly pets to onboard the vast majority of non-crypto users to a vibrant virtual world in a light-hearted manner.
How can MetaPals help to tackle issues of loneliness among remote workers?
Remote working has opened a myriad of benefits for office workers, accelerated by the pandemic. But it’s important to recognize that these new-age benefits associated with work-from-home and industry 4.0 have ushered in, brought with them unforseen complications. We’re spending more and more time on our laptops each day which has been shown to create a much greater sense of social isolation and loneliness. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in cities. At MetaPals, we’re looking to technology to re-balance this relationship and find new paths forward engendering a sense of companionship and joy, that will brighten our days. Keeping and taking care of a pet vastly improves mental health and wellbeing, and MetaPals applies this simple notion within the virtual space.
