Spatial unveils web browser collaboration in 3D workspace and NFT virtual galleries

Last year, Spatial unveiled its social augmented reality workspace on mobile devices, enabling people to log into its 3D experience in a way that makes the virtual workplace more accessible. And now it is making its 3D collaborative space available via web browsers. The company is also showing off galleries where it can display art with nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

The New York company has created a virtual reality and augmented reality collaboration platform that lets people access a three-dimensional workspace from any device, whether it’s an Oculus Quest 2 VR headset or a smartphone or a computer with a web browser.

Today it is announced the beta launch of its new interactive web app that extends access for anyone to benefit from the full extent of immersive 3D computing, reaching beyond its traditional collaboration use cases.

And fans of NFTs, which use the secure and transparent digital ledger of the blockchain to authenticate digital items, are using the space to show off their 2D and 3D digital art work. They can do so by setting up virtual galleries within Spatial. That’s a big deal because NFT art has been selling for as much as $69 million. But there are very few ways to actually view NFT art.

Spatial has created a way for its creators to choose a gallery environment or custom build their own. With this new update, anyone across the web can instantly interact in virtual collaborative work rooms or explore these exhibitions in 3D, with just one click – no installations required.

The company also announces a series of public exhibitions with key influencers within the NFT community who will showcase their art throughout May and June. These include NFT marketplaces OpenSea and SuperRare, contemporary artists and 3D designers Federico Clapis, Krista Kim and Jarlan Perez, 6 Agency who are building NFTs on the Solana blockchain, and Superchief Gallery, the world’s first physical dedicated NFT gallery space in NYC. A full calendar of events and partners is listed on Spatial’s website.

The AR/VR + web + mobile collaboration platform

Above: Spatial lets you roam in a 3D space in AR, VR, mobile, or the web.

Image Credit: Spatial

Despite growing headset sales, accessibility has always been top of mind for Spatial, as it wants collaborative 3D spaces to be experienced by the masses. This offers the first time anyone — across headset, mobile or desktop — can walk around Spatial’s virtual rooms with full avatar functionality and controls — to share, collaborate or view content with others.

CEO Anand Agarawala said in a statement that users have logged more than 10 million minutes in Spatial in the past year, with 50% of those being non-headset users.

NFTs are a type of digital certificate of authenticity that uses blockchain technology, creating a secure way to track who owns a digital asset. NFT popularity has recently spiked as crypto
enthusiasts around the world pay large sums for digital assets – anything from art, music, sports trading cards, media and even real estate. Artists are finding their biggest audiences via NFT communities and selling art for record breaking amounts. It’s leveling the playing field and eliminating traditional gatekeepers to make art and other creative assets more discoverable while rewarding artists for their work.

The Spatial gallery was designed in collaboration with former SOM architect, Sylvia Lee. It offers a high end, accessible and simple solution for both buyers and sellers of these NFT assets to display their collections. You enter via a web link, to discover and share digital assets with anyone – no headset, pieces of virtual land or crypto wallet required.  It’s bringing a human and social element to these digital forms.