Royal families are looking into NFTs

Web3 technology could soon become and alternative future for tourism and provide means for restoration of the historical sites owned by the elite.

Although major metaverse platforms are now looking far from perfect, the opportunity of learning and earning through it are not so remote. This article will give a short overview of the art and museum initiatives that involve Web3 technology.

Firstly, there is 3.O Labs — a Web3 venture lab — that used digital opportunities to finance the upkeep of physical paintings, such as selling NFTs to preserve illiquid assets. Its founder Michelle Choi quit her job in Google to launch Non-Fungible Castle, an NFT exhibition and auction at Lobkowicz Palace, a real-life castle in Prague, held in October 2021. NFTs were displayed next to 500-year-old paintings. The launch successfully raised enough to cover the restoration of all urgent projects at the property. However, the exact amount raised at the auction remained undisclosed. Motivated by this proof-of-concept, Choi and 3.O Labs are now busily curating metaverse tourism experiences globally. They see mixing different time periods as a great teaching opportunity.

Secondly, some enthusiasts are aiming at reimagining the history using metaverse. Priyadarshini Raje Scindia’s family owns Jai Vilas Palace, a 200-year-old palace-turned-museum in Madhya Pradesh, India. She is working on an NFT collection produced by local artists to fund a metaverse experience. 3.O Labs are helping her create immersive experiences, like animations that allow you to put yourself in short history documentaries. Scindia also disagrees with how her clan, the Maharatas, have been portrayed in history and wants to change this common narrative.

Lastly Prince Heinrich Donatus, who co-founded of 3.O Labs with Michelle Choi and owns a castle near Hannover, initiated a DAO-focused hacker house at his property. He thinks that metaverse is not just a virtual reality world, it’s an economy that could help enhance the resources for maintaining historical sites. DAOs are not constrained by borders, and this can create network effects for new models of tourism. They will include decentralized access to castles, and castle hackathons.

As metaverses are seen as new models for tourism, they may also help royals families monetize their names and pay the maintenance bills for numerous castles and villas.