The Latest in Digital x Physical

All the excitement about the Apple Vision Pro has everyone thinking about connecting the digital and physical worlds.

But we blockchain nerds have been doing that for years— authenticating ownership of digital assets to enable physical asset ownership as well.

Some web3 brands have gone beyond ownership, expanding their IP to people who have never heard of an NFT.

Here are the latest updates in the web3 digital-meets-physical world.

PS: the horrific word phygital shall not be used in this post; you’re welcome.

TRUNKS: LOUIS VUITTON

Gucci, Tiffany, Hermès, Prada have dabbled in NFTs, and now Louis Vuitton. The iconic luxury fashion brand is releasing hundreds of VIA Treasure Trunk NFTs for a luxury price tag: over $41K each. 😵‍💫

It’s part of a collection called “Via,” the Latin word for road, because it acts as an elite pathway for exclusive products and experiences. The trunk NFTs are soulbound, meaning once they are in a wallet, they can’t be sold or transferred out.

Registered waitlist customers will fill out their details on June 8, and be able to purchase the trunk with crypto or fiat on June 16. Later on, holders will receive a made-to-order physical twin of their trunk. Customers will also get access to additional immersive drops, planned to occur at regular intervals throughout the year.

SWEATERS: CHROMIE SQUIGGLES

Not like I’m biased or anything, but Chromie Squiggles are some of the most well-known collectibles out there. Tribute Brand recently announced a collaboration with the collection and the Waste Yarn Project called ODDS.

Each of the 999 sustainably-made sweaters is derived from the on-chain source code of a Chromie Squiggle. Upon mint, each unique output will generate both digital and physical objects for each collector.

Starting on Thursday, June 8, Squiggle holders can purchase for 0.3 ETH (public is 0.33 ETH the next day). Every sweater is hand-stitched and takes 12 hours to make! They also have NFC chips in each, linking to the digital object.

These awesome sweaters won’t make it with you to Marfa this year, though; the earliest shipping is in December 2023.

RETAIL ENTERTAINMENT: DOODLES x CAMP

Doodles is well-known for fun IRL activations, but they’re taking their mission to new levels. Their latest announcement with CAMP has Disney Store-ish vibes.

CAMP is known for its hybrid shop/play concept and operates locations in major cities like LA, NYC, Dallas, and Atlanta. Each CAMP location also features a rotating theme, like Encanto or The Little Mermaid.

Doodles will have dedicated merchandise, toy stores, immersive experiences, and family-friendly programming in this collaboration, starting this summer.

Through the partnership, they have the opportunity to engage with people in the real world, introducing them to its art and characters, and its digital collector experience The Stoodio.

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NFT COLLECTIONS → PHYSICAL TOYS

It’s not easy to launch and sustain a line of physical toys. But many NFT collections have gone this route, all with different strategies.

• Pudgy Penguins has a line of toys that links to a digital experience, Pudgy World, for non-web3 natives. Included in each toy is a birth certificate that unlocks a unique trait box from season 1 of Pudgy World. You can equip those traits onto your Forever Pudgy Penguin, buy and sell those traits, and play mini-games with your friends.

• Invisible Friends launched physical toys in May, where the NFT could be burned for an 8-inch or 24-inch toy. They were designed by Nguyen Nhut, Markus Magnusson and coinbilly, and each collectible has a unique invisible effect.

• VeeFriends has created toys before, but now they have… toy vending machines. 🤔 Gary Vee’s project is asking interested retail partners to apply to sell 1-inch rubber toys based on VeeFriends characters for 50 cents each. The program is “designed to expand the VeeFriends IP at scale through collectible toys at an affordable price.”

LUGGAGE: RTFKT COLLAB

Hoodies are cool, but what about bougie luggage? Nike-owned RTFKT has teamed up with German luxury luggage brand RIMOWA to reward NFT holders with limited edition real-life luggage.

The description says: “Combining their respective craftsmanship, RTFKT and RIMOWA have come together to create a RTFKT x RIMOWA limited edition Original Cabin Luggage, with only 888 pieces produced – a nod to the luck associated with the number in the web3 world.”

For anyone interested, act fast: the forging event ends today, June 7 at 11:59 CET. Check out the NFTs here— only the luggage tokens are redeemable (current floor 0.9 ETH).

Our beloved jpegs are making their way off of our screens and into our physical worlds.

Digital assets can do more than just be printed and hung on walls. With some of these latest collaborations, we’re exploring new frontiers and discovering more fun use cases.

But please, for the love of god, can we all agree to find a new word to describe the combination of digital and physical? 😖⬇️

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