Web3 Community Celebrates The Olympics In The Metaverse and Beyond

The Web3 community has launched a number of projects to help bring The 2024 Olympics to life digitally.

From Olympic-themed games that can be played in The Metaverse to non-fungible token (NFT) artworks, this year’s Olympic event may be the most open and inclusive thanks to Blockchain technology.

The Sandbox Brings The Olympics To The Metaverse

It’s estimated that 15 million people will visit the Olympics in Paris this year. But for those who cannot attend, the 2024 Olympic games can also be celebrated in The Metaverse.

Sebastien Borget, Co-Founder and COO of The Sandbox – a Paris-based Metaverse company – told Cryptonews that The Sandbox has launched four different activations in honor of this year’s games.

“The Olympics are a once in a lifetime opportunity for many of the participating athletes, but also in-real life spectators,” Borget said. “Part of our goal is to increase global accessibility to events like The Olympics, encouraging people from all over the world to build, create, and play somewhere they may never get to experience for themselves in person.”

In order to ensure this, Borget explained that The Sandbox initially launched “The Sandbox Team Uniforms.”

“This rewards avatar owners with new styles that have a playful nod to athletic competition,” he said. “One of five sets were randomly distributed to avatar owners with the opportunity to collect them all throughout the month of July.”

The Sandbox Team Uniforms. Source: The Sandbox

Borget added that as part of The Sandbox Team Uniforms drop, the platform created an athletic competition in-game event with rewards.

“Rewards include The Sandbox token, SAND, and an exclusive burning torch NFT,” he said. “The content features events from the Games including soccer (football), boxing, and golf.”

Given that The Sandbox is based in Paris, Borget also mentioned the importance of a new game called “The City Jam.” The City Jam allows players to immerse themselves in a Metaverse-version of Paris during The 2024 Olympics. Players can explore the city and interact with others, creating the feeling that they are at the actual event.

While The Metaverse is still an emerging concept , Borget shared that the Olympic-themed activations have already resulted in 25,000 visits.

“Users are completing 41 in-game quests on average and have logged almost 400,000 minutes of playtime and counting,” he said.

In addition to the activations, Borget mentioned that The Sandbox partnered with Hermit Crab Game Studio to create an experience that honored their home team, Brazil.

“Players can explore Sports Land Hub – Vila do Brasa with Ginga, the mascot of Team Brazil at this year’s Olympic Games.”

The Olympics Reimaged With NFT Artworks

A new NFT gallery called “Artverse” has also just opened in Paris. Artverse opened following the closure of the NFT Factory , which was located in the Marais district.

Artverse Gallery Director Grida Jang is currently focused on the theme of the French Olympics. Artverse is showcasing NFT works that capture the energy and movement of different games through digital media.

“Artverse celebrates the Olympics with exhibitions by artists Tommy Hollenstein and Foodmasku, exploring the intersection of digital art and the Olympic spirit,” Jang said.

Jang shared that Hollenstein began painting with his wheelchair wheels after becoming a quadriplegic due to a bicycle accident 35 years ago. She added that Foodmasku creates masks using food as materials following his recovery from a gunshot wound and coma.

A glimpse inside Artverse Paris. Source: Artverse

“One of the themes of this year’s Paris Olympics, held in the city for the first time in a century, is to bring marginalized people to the forefront,” Jang remarked. “Through the works of these artists, we aim to convey that art is accessible to all and equal for everyone.”

According to Jang, these collaborations and individual efforts challenge traditional art boundaries. “This enables the exploration of new creative realms, embodying values of harmony and equality,” she said.

Jang added that all artworks for sale are physical pieces but each is authenticated as NFTs using Transient Labs’ TRACE chips.

“This technology ensures the ownership and authenticity of digital art while maintaining the physical artwork, significantly lowering the barrier for those new to digital art,” Jang said.

Artwork “Paname 2024” by artist Le Moon, on display at Artverse Paris, 2024. Source: Artverse

This specific exhibition will be open and on display at Artverse from July 25 to September 16 during the Olympic and Paralympic periods. Moving forward, Jang shared that she hopes Artverse will extend to The Metaverse to enable global access.

“Should our exhibitions gain popularity, we plan to extend them into the Metaverse, leveraging the strengths of digital art to free them from spatial and temporal constraints,” she noted.

Web3 Wellness Ring Worn by Olympic Athletes

It’s also notable that a few Olympic athletes this year will be wearing a Web3 fitness ring from CUDIS.

Edison Chen, CEO of CUDIS, told Cryptonews that CUDIS had Introduced its Web3-enabled smart ring at the Olympics this year to provide athletes with tools to track their performance while earning crypto rewards.

Athletes wearing the CUDIS ring. Source: CUDIS

Chen remarked that it had been easy to share the CUDIS ring with athletes since many are well-versed with performance tracking wearables. Yet he noted that CUDIS also introduces athletes to Web3.

“The concept of CUDIS ring is really simple,” Chen said. “You wear the ring, use the app and you will be rewarded from using it,” Chen said. “It’s actually one of the most intuitive ways to expose someone to Web3.”

Chen further explained that the CUDIS “Pro Athlete Ambassador Program” will launch with events in Paris during the Olympics and future offline events. He noted that this initiative promotes wellness while building a supportive Web3 community.

Kate Knifton, the Olympic rower with Team USA for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, is part of the CUDIS ambassador program. Knifton told Cryptonews that the CUDIS ring AI coach feature has been helpful in providing personalized sleep recommendations.

“I also love that I get rewarded for using my ring and the AI coaching consistently,” she said.