Explainer: What are Phygital NFTs?
In web 2.0, the digital and physical worlds existed in parallel. In web 3.0, the physical and digital assets are converging into a mixed realm thereby producing immersive, more personalized experiences for the users. Among many use cases, Phygital NFTs are becoming popular every day. Here’s more on it.
What is Phygital?
As understood, it is a combination of physical and digital used to describe the interplay between both worlds. So, a user who is seeking a mixed experience with both physical and digital elements is said to have sought a Phygital experience. While the pandemic is largely observed as the trigger to build a middle layer, NFTs are emerging as the fastest adopter of Phygital assets.
To put it simply, Phygital NFTs enable users to win both the digital and physical versions of the asset.
What are Phygital NFTs?
Phygital NFTs are the non-fungible token assets that have two parts — a digital part and the other physical part. While the digital NFT stores the metadata in the smart contract embedded in the NFT, the physical part is the actual asset in the real world such as a piece of artwork, a ticket, 3D model, etc.
Investors and asset owners have ideated multiple use cases wherein Phygital NFTs could be used to create more robust contracts. Moreover, it could also enable investors as well as collectors to expand their digital collectibles treasury.
Let’s consider an example to understand this. A real-estate dispute would never occur had it been tokenized into a Phygital NFT. While the digital part stores metadata about the property dimensions, ownership, transactional history, etc., the physical property itself can be used to validate certain details in the smart contract.
Importance of Phygital NFTs
Investors and enterprises approach us to seek the following benefits from phygital NFT development:
- Easy authentication of products
- More immersive user experience
- Added engagement factors
- Interactive abilities
- Quick availability of items
What are the Applications of Phygital NFTs?
Proof of Ownership
As we know, digital scarcity and proof of ownership are two of the most important deliverables of NFTs. For example, digital art (apes) have gone through a revolutionary time in terms of monetizing and building empires. That’s correct, artists that were struggling to list their creations in auctions and museums created an overnight business model by simply converting it into a NFT.
Taking a step forward, Phygital NFTs assure an asset’s authenticity by including the physical asset itself as a part of the token. This means, the proof of ownership of an asset is incomplete unless there’s a physical entity, which could either be the asset (real estate) or a certificate.
Next, we have Phygital NFT marketplace development sweeping all trends. At Antier, we have built this new form of marketplaces for a range of asset types such as jewellery, properties, commodities and others.
For example, diamond is obviously a scarce resource. However, it is valuable only when it offers proof of authenticity, such as a certificate from professionals.
With a deeper and interesting history, an asset could have an aura of authenticity and promising improvement in value.
NFTs could provide the best proof of ownership, which can play a crucial role in adding value to physical objects.
Augmented Reality and NFTs
While we are discussing the confluence of physical and digital worlds, it is imperative to also discuss the role of Augmented Reality technology. Web 3.0, is all about building a decentralized metaverse that also enables DeFi and NFTs. AR, is the first step in actualizing that mission of unifying physical as well as digital experiences.
Phygital NFTs, with AR can produce some interesting and exclusive applications. Here are a few examples.
Phygital NFTs can be used to buy/sell actual real-estate properties by enabling remote visiting through AR technology.
Next, AR billboards use Phygital NFTs for sale/purchase of assets. Such virtual ad spaces would not only lessen the gap between the physical and digital worlds but would also deliver promising value from global visitors.
However, the most interesting use case comes from gaming enablement. Gaming ecosystems could utilize Phygital NFTs as collaterals or even monetization medium against certain bets or milestone achievements. All of these gaming assets could be listed on a platform. If you are interested in knowing about our Phygital NFT marketplace development, then visit our website for the same.
Physical Versions of Digital Assets or Collectibles
If we trail back to the initial days of NFTs, most of them were already representing a tangible, physical entity. The physical assets could be tied to a digital contract called NFTs and traded across marketplaces.
However, the rampant rise of digital artwork and other forms of content overshadowed the physical assets and NFTs slowly became synonymous with digital content.
As the market woke up to more relevant use cases of NFTs, Phygital NFTs emerged as a means to include the physical asset as an integral part of the contract. To put it simply, a phygital NFT is incomplete without its physical counterpart.
For example, Phygital NFTs representing fine arts could be used to trade real assets through digital NFT tokens. The owner not only receives the NFT but also gets the physical asset tied to it.
Artists, who are working outside the digital realm can use NFTs to reach a global audience, unlock lifelong royalties and earn all those perks that usual digital content owners do. Not to miss, artists and art owners can benefit from assured protection against counterfeiting, plagiarism, and frauds.
The association of physical artwork with NFTs can take away the intermediaries, and artists could interact directly with the buyers. Another important highlight in physical versions of NFTs or collectibles would refer to the generation of royalties with each NFT sale.
Blockchains That Support Phygital NFTs
So far, Antier has worked on Phygital NFT development on all major blockchains including the below:
- Ethereum
- Polygon
- Harmony
- Avalanche
- Astar
- BNB Chain/BSC
Other major blockchain networks shall soon rollout support for Phygital NFTs.
Phygital NFT Development: Build Personalized Experiences
Among many web 3.0 products, NFTs are bridging the gaps between physical and digital worlds. Going forward, phygital NFTs will drive the metaverse ecosystems and encourage more users to sign-up for such immersive experiences. Last but not the least, they are an answer to all those who limited the potential NFTs to apes.
Phygital NFTs can solve many of our problems, exactly what blockchain promises.
If these interest you, then our latest work on building interactive phygital marketplaces will also attract you. Get in touch with us to know more.
