Translucia Global Innovation, a Thailand-based metaverse startup, has partnered up with Two Bulls to create a Metaverse Research and Development Center in Melbourne. The initial budget was $100 million.
Translucia is an affiliate of T&B Media Global, which launched in October 2021 the “Translucia Metaverse”, a project that aims to create a virtual world. The first stage of Translucia’s investment was $283 million.
T&B has partnered with Two Bulls to create the MRDC. A soft-launch is planned for November.
James Kane, CEO and founder of Two Bulls, told Cointelegraph that T&B conducted a global search for a partner to help realize Translucia Metaverse.
He stated that there was an agreement that significant research and development would be required. It’s an ambitious project.
After a series of meetings between the two organizations, it was realized that Two Bulls would best serve as a hub for research-and-development (R&D) to assist in building it.
“We were there very early in the discussions around the innovative elements for this metaverse project. It’ll look like, how it will feel and what technology it will run on.
Kane said, “The center is really an extension to what Two Bulls already do.”
The deal was sealed by Melbourne’s highly skilled workforce and an R&D tax incentive up to 45c per eligible $1 spent
“The R&D incentives that we receive are a crucial factor in T&D establishment of a center such as this in Australia”
What they should research
The project will require a lot of research in new areas, not only in hardware and software but also in the system’s economy and gamification. The project will also focus on improving the energy usage in the metaverse.
The MRDC will be focusing on technology and creating demonstrations to gather feedback from users. He also creates what he calls a GDD (Game Design Document).
It’s much larger than that, because we are really designing a whole new world. It must have a functioning economy, it needs to be moderated properly, and it must have all these components that will make it a pleasant place to live.
Related: The McKinsey report suggests that Metaverse could be worth $5 Trillion by 2030
Kane said that there is still much work ahead of the MRDC opening and the metaverse, but there is already lots of interest. Kane gave the example Magnolia Quality Development Corporation as an example. This is a large Thai property developer company that has already signed up to become a “galaxy”.
“In the metaverse there will exist ‘galaxies’. Some businesses have already signed up to be galaxies in that larger metaverse […] T&B is having conversations with dozens and there’ll be announcements about that.”
Kane stated that Translucia was different from other metaverses such as Decentraland or Sandbox in that it was committed to sustainability and has a more people-friendly vision.
He addressed some of the concerns regarding the vision and philosophy of unnamed metaverses.
“Most metaverses revolve around profiteering or opportunism. But this metaverse has a strong central vision around putting people ahead of coins, putting profit before people, and putting environmental concerns before profit.”
