For the second year, we participated in the NFT Fest in Lugano, and it was very different for us this time, marking the stages of Metagate's maturation.
2022
One of Metagate's initial goals at its inception was to participate in the first NFT Fest in Lugano, a significant event where we aimed to showcase our work.
2023
Months passed, and almost a year into our adventure, we participated in the festival as the only company bringing augmented reality experiences and as a partner of the only AR metaverse on web3: Over the Reality.
To achieve this milestone, we presented 26 different AR experiences in collaboration with various artists and influencers. We were nervous, and I believe even the organizers weren't particularly convinced, and we are still grateful for the trust they placed in us.
In reality, everything went well, and we managed to create several contacts and test the experiences with many people using smartphones, although explaining a product with a challenging UX was no easy task.
2024
Less than 12 months later, in June 2024, we returned to the NFT Fest in Lugano, but this time with much more experience in what works and what doesn't, and most importantly, we finally had the right device.
I don't think we were fully aware of how handicapped we were using only smartphones. With the new Meta Quest3 (which we prefer for various reasons over Apple Vision PRO - Read here), we quickly became the main attraction at the event.
The sequence usually goes like this:
1. Wearing the headset for a moment attracts attention
2. Immediately, someone comes to try it and usually goes wild with amazement, gesticulating and exclaiming (magical hand tracking)
3. They take a photo and post it on social media
4. We have to pull the headset off their head
As an event funnel, we can't complain. Additionally, we notice that if the event lasts several days, word-of-mouth quickly spreads, and more people come the following days, sent by those who tried it the previous days.
But what exactly did we bring to the festival this year?
We "refreshed" the experiences on Over from the previous year, integrating them with some developed experiences we worked on throughout the year to consolidate the ecosystem. Specifically, we created an AR experience where it's possible to customize a 500 Spiaggina from Garage Italia through an interactive 3D model!
But above all, we showcased 3 of our own experiences on the headset: our "laboratory" where we test all new functionalities, a digital puppy to play with using a ball, and an island representing our world at the festival. The island featured all our partners' logos, a train to play with, the festival's 3D eye, Giavarini's Lugano Monster, and most importantly, the possibility to customize a small plot of land with your own house and leave a comment!
Going from chasing people to not having enough time to talk to everyone or let everyone try it makes us hopeful that we are on the right path.
Of course, everything was certified with POAP NFT!
Next step: multiplayer with co-location!!
For the video of our experiences, follow us on Instagram and Twitter
You can find our references on Linktree, while our NFT POAP can be found on Welook
By Marco Pizzini (with the kind collaboration of OpenAI chat)