2021 was a challenging year. With a global pandemic still out there, we had to work from home, shift priorities, take it slow and Zoom our way through the year. And as the world moved closer than ever to becoming fully digitized, we seized on the opportunities, too.
This was the year when we collectively started talking about the real uses of technologies like AR and VR. Then there was also the explosion of NFTs, crypto and Web3. And who could forget Facebook’s very memeable META rebranding? Clearly, lots to unpack.
And for Sensorium it was full steam ahead, all the way -
We designed the metaverse, partnered with the world’s biggest stars, unveiled a new series of AI-powered virtual beings, launched our App, unleashed a blockchain, went to new places, won awards and made history.
Last year, we committed to building the world's most advanced metaverse. In 2021, we made small steps but big advancements. Next year, we are up to the challenge of bringing forward even greater opportunities in the metaverse. But for now, here’s a look back at all that Sensorium accomplished in the last 12 months.
METAVERSE BETA TESTING PHASE: The long-awaited closed beta test of our PRISM and MOTION worlds was finally unveiled in April. For the first time, Sensorium users were able to put our metaverse to the test and experiment with the functionalities we have developed so far, including avatar dynamics, multiplayer stability, audio systems, cross-platform access, streaming capabilities, and integration of social services. This was an important step in collecting insights as we edge closer to the full-scale launch of Sensorium Galaxy in the coming months.
STAR-STUDDED PARTNERSHIPS: This year we did really shoot for the stars, quite literally. Following in the footsteps of other major music legends like David Guetta and Armin van Buuren, in 2021 we were proud to welcome an even bigger lineup of superstars, including Steve Aoki, Eric Prydz, Charlotte de Witte and Nina Kravitz. These superstars will be hosting mind-blowing shows inside Sensorium’s PRISM world. Make sure to check out our first international campaign ‘The Chosen Ones’ here.
RELEASE OF AI-DRIVEN DJS: We have an absolutely stellar group of performers, but we’re also pioneering a new breed of artists - AI DJs. In 2021, we started unveiling the first virtual artists developed in collaboration with Mubert and acclaimed 3D artist Jason Ebeyer. Sensorium’s AI DJs will be performing in PRISM, but besides their musical acts, they will also be able to have a very personal connection to fans as they are capable of carrying one-on-one, unscripted conversations with anyone. We believe that having real-world DJs and AI performers as part of our metaverse will take music performances to a new level. We detailed exactly how it all works in this blog post. Last month we reached another major milestone and made history - our virtual Dj Kàra Màr became the first AI artist to release a full album on Spotify and other streaming services. Curious about their music? Check it out here.
MOBILE APP LAUNCH: We launched our mobile app in September. And while there’s still plenty of tweaks needed, we’ve kept adding more functionalities that make it a great first introduction to the Sensorium metaverse, including chatting and dancing with virtual beings in augmented reality (AR).
WAKATTA LAUNCH: 2021 saw another great milestone for Sensorium - the release of our first blockchain, Wakatta. The platform is dedicated to serving the digital needs of the entertainment industry, by offering a tailored approach and introducing the use of a new range of NFTs that we pioneered - upgradable, time-limited and non-hashed NFTs. We will be implementing the technology across the platform of our partners Roborace, .ART and others.
WHITEPAPER 2.0: Expanding on our earlier Lightpaper, we released the Sensorium Whitepaper this year, where we outline in more detail use cases for SENSO and the mechanics of our metaverse - Sensorium Galaxy. The document is a comprehensive overview of Sensorium’s work in developing the metaverse and enhancing blockchain-powered functionalities.
SENSO BURN: Our in-platform currency has seen some major movements this year. In April, we burned 4.2 billion SENSO tokens, which at the time was the largest token burn in history. And ahead of the New Year we decided to hold a second burn, leaving the total supply of SENSO tokens at 700 million, of which 500 million tokens will be locked for digital assets in-game sales. The move will help SENSO become one of the most relevant cryptocurrencies in the metaverse. And all of this comes on the back of SENSO being featured across the world’s largest crypto exchanges, including more recently BitForex.
With the pandemic slowing down during the summer, we were able to finally attend some events in-person. This was particularly important for Sensorium as we launched our blockchain Wakatta at Token 2049, held in October in London (check the highlights here). Sensorium also had the chance of attending GITEX 2021 in Dubai, where our Deputy CEO Alexey Blagirev delivered a talk on the role of blockchain in building metaverses.
And with the return of the Web Summit in Lisbon, we were proud to announce our partnership with electronic music legend Jean-Michel Jarre who sat down with our Deputy Ceo of Art and Marketing, Sasha Tiyanko, for a panel talk on the future of VR in music and entertainment. Sasha also part in this year’s VRDays Europe, where she expanded on the topic of co-creating the metaverse with world-class artists. Besides all of these, we also took part in virtual events, including the LA Blockchain Summit.
We have the whitepaper, the blog posts and all the events we went to this year, but we decided to take a deeper dive into the Sensorium Galaxy metaverse with a new video series - Sensorium Insights. Here you’ll meet our Deputy CEO, Alexey Blagirev, in an easy-to-understand breakdown of what is a metaverse. For a closer look at our in-platform currency SENSO, Sensorium’s CTO Sergey Drozdkov sheds more light on how it all works. Sasha Tiyanko, Deputy CEO of Art and Marketing, outlines the features of Sensorium’s upcoming virtual world for dance and music, PRISM, while Chief Metaverse Officer Ivan Nikitin closes the series with his take on AI In The Metaverse.
This year we were nominated for several prestigious awards, and were honored to win in the category "Best VR/AR for Entertainment And Media" at Laval Virtual 2021. The Laval Virtual Awards are a well-established recognition of remarkable virtual and augmented reality projects and their creators.
With so much happening this year, we had plenty to write about. Here are some of the posts our community read the most in 2021:
Best Blockchain Games To Play And Earn In 2021: The rise of blockchain games has turned the tables on the gaming industry by making players, and not developers, the main financial decision-makers. Play-to-earn (P2E) crypto gaming is a trend that shouldn't be overlooked in 2021 and beyond.
Best Virtual Reality Movies: For those looking for the next best experience, it’s hard to beat VR. And watching your favorite movies in virtual reality is certainly a brand new way of enjoying your downtime. That’s why we put together this list of the best blockbusters to enjoy totally in VR.
Top Crypto Influencers To Follow in 2021: Are you looking to get ahead on the market? Find the list of top crypto influencers in 2021. From crypto traders to top-tier business moguls, this list has the go-to names in crypto.
How To Enter the Metaverse - A step-by-step guide: So you’ve heard about the metaverse but you might not quite understand how it works and more importantly, how to join it and start exploring virtual worlds. That’s why we came up with an easy guide that covers all the basics for you.
NFT Use Cases: There's More To Them Than Just Art: They might have gained famed for their eye-watering price tags in the world of digital art auctions, but NFTs are much more than just expensive pictures of Ape avatars on the internet. This post delves deeper into other successful uses of non-fungible tokens beyond the world of art.
We're embarking onto 2022 as our most ambitious year yet. Soon, we will be unveiling an exciting new project that will leverage the use of NFTs and blockchain in a new area for us. That is, of course, as we gear up for the public launch of Sensorium Galaxy in the coming months, among many other exciting developments. And as we cannot build the metaverse alone, we are proud to have great artists, creators and a strong community as our partners. Thank you to everyone that has helped this work happen and made our 2021 a year to remember.
