MARK.SPACE is world’s first open-source, platform-agnostic social VR & AR-compatible platform. For the first time, anyone can set up and operate a VR or AR-powered space for commercial or personal use without any coding or programming skills whatsoever, using MARK.SPACE’s unique, blockchain-backed technology and built-in graphic design tools.
This guide outlines how the MARK.SPACE platform works, and how you too can participate in building the next generation of the internet.
The Team Behind MARK.SPACE
MARK.SPACE is operated by a team of over 40 engineers and experts from a range of industries, including VR, blockchain, e-commerce, fashion, Government and international relations, and even sports. Yana Kontorovich, CEO & Founder of MARK.SPACE, has a PhD in Economics and created MARK.SPACE after a decade of working in e-commerce. The company’s other co-founder, Evgeni Malkin, is a 2-times World Champion and 3-times Stanley Cup winner hockey player, and himself owns and operates two virtual spaces on MARK.SPACE. The rest of the multinational team of experts come from different countries and fluently speak over 15 different languages.
How it Works: Creating the Next Generation of the Internet
MARK.SPACE reimagines how we interact online, providing a compelling social experience unlike anything else that is available online today. Instead of looking at words, pictures and videos on a screen, MARK.SPACE users interact in a 3D world featuring ultra-realistic models of buildings, cars, clothes, and even avatars of people - a full simulacrum of the real world. The MARK.SPACE universe will consist of individual cities with thousands of virtual districts, streets, shops and businesses pre-divided into residential, shopping, commercial and community districts. With a simple click of the mouse, users can travel to any space they like.
Demo video: https://youtu.be/0_KkNDVm6Hw
Units: The Building Blocks of the MARK.SPACE Universe
The MARK.SPACE universe consists of thousands of virtual spaces called ‘units’, each approximately 70 virtual square meters in size. To start doing business on MARK.SPACE, users need to purchase or lease a unit or units using MARK.SPACE’s own digital currency, the MARK (MRK), which can be used to trade units, products and services on the platform. Visiting spaces within the platform is always free of charge.
Using simple and easy-to-use proprietary tools developed by MARK.SPACE, the user can then fit out their virtual ‘unit’ to their own specifications and select the 3D objects inside the units. The current prototype allows users to create apartments, offices and malls filled with preselected or custom elements such as specific interior designs, furniture, appliances and multimedia content. Alternatively, users can easily ‘virtualize’ the interior of any existing premises by using a 360-degree camera and importing the video into MARK.SPACE’s virtualization tool. In future, users will also be able to add their own personalized digital content like articles, books, paintings or music.
Doing Business on MARK.SPACE: How Your Brand Can Benefit
One of the key advantages of the MARK.SPACE platform is that it provides a uniquely interactive and engaging way for brands to connect with and sell to existing and potential customers. All that the brand needs to do is set up their virtual unit, and then use MARK.SPACE’s easy-to-use proprietary tools to create 3D images of their products. These can then be displayed inside the unit, enabling consumers to view and engage with the product in a far more interactive way than existing ecommerce platforms. Users can also use a 360-camera to upload their own backgrounds or, if they wish, they can use 3DS Max to create their own unique additions to their virtual space.
Consumers can, for example, enjoy a true 360-degree view of the product, and can even use their virtual avatar to ‘try on’ items like apparel and accessories, providing a richer and more rewarding online shopping experience. Their proprietary e-commerce technology MODA-MARK enables users to “try on” clothes using their virtual avatars and can even recommend styles and other items of clothing - providing brands with another revenue generating opportunity.
MARK.SPACE also offers brands a dedicated ecommerce and aftersales service that can handle everything from payment to order processing to delivery. Further, MARK.SPACE’s unique unit-based design enables multiple sellers from different industries to cooperate on displaying their goods in a single unit. For example, a fashion brand may team up with an interior design company or an art gallery to offer exclusive or themed items.
Brands already partnering with MARK.SPACE to set up virtual units on the platform include the auto brand Jaguar Land Rover and fashion brands such as Baldinini, Anna Stevar, Fabi, Trussardi, Moreschi, Rocco P., Pinko, Portnoy beso, and Bruuns Bazaar.
Many other industries are also benefiting from the unique opportunity that the MARK.SPACE platform offers. Realtors, for example, are already using the VR space as a ‘virtual’ showroom, enabling their clients to virtually visit properties that may not yet be built or that are too far away for them to visit personally. Other industries already represented on the platform include hospitality, fashion ecommerce, online dating, and even a VR barbershop.
Shopping on MARK.SPACE: Getting Started as a MARK.SPACE User
Every MARK.SPACE user is represented in the MARK.SPACE world by a virtual avatar, which allows the user to communicate with other users via voice or text. Your avatar does not need to look exactly like you - you can modify it however you please. To create your avatar, you need simply send your picture and/or your desired specifications for your avatar to the MARK.SPACE team. 3D graphic designers will then use this information to create your unique avatar. In the future, we hope to have special 3D photobooths available in public places like shopping malls to enable the creation of hyper-realistic avatars, and to equip your avatar with a range of “micro-emotions” that will make the interactive experience even more life-like.
Once your avatar is created, you can immediately start exploring the MARK.SPACE world. That being said, exploration without avatars is of course, also possible. If you want to shop for the latest fashions, for example, you can head to the fashion shops in the shopping district at the click of a button. There, you can browse the units of your favorite brands, check out their new styles, and even virtually “try on” the products. Using our proprietary MODA-MARK e-commerce technology, your avatar can try on apparel or accessories so that you can easily tell whether these items suit your style. If you like what you see, you can quickly and easily place an order using MODA-MARK, and it will be automatically dispatched to you via one of the many global-leading delivery services with which MARK.SPACE partners with around the globe.
Units as a Value-Creating Opportunity on MARK.SPACE
MARK.SPACE is designed to enable unit owners to benefit from long-term value creation as the price of units appreciates over time. To that end, the number of units in the MARK.SPACE universe is limited by design.
Minimum city values: in one city - 1 district, in one district - 1 block, in one block - 260 units, in one unit - 1 box. Maximum city values: in one city - 35 districts, in one district - 35 blocks, in one block -260 units, in one unit - 35 boxes. Total in one city: 35 districts, 1,225 blocks, 318,500 units, 11,147,500 boxes.
There are currently five cities planned for the MARK.SPACE universe, each based on a common language for users - Russian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and English.
Owners of units can lease their space to generate revenue or can sell their unit to another user. Just as in the real world, it is expected that units in prime districts will quickly accumulate in value over time.
What’s Next for MARK.SPACE
MARK.SPACE has raised a total of US$22 million from investors globally since the company was founded in 2014. With this funding in place, the MARK.SPACE team has begun the build-out of its virtual universe. In the first phase this will cover residential, shopping and business districts. The company will also roll out its own blockchain architecture, which will support the sale and leasing of units, as well as in-world transactions. MARK.SPACE is also working on rolling out its e-commerce platform to offer in-world shopping, which will support in-world payment methods including MRK, other digital currencies, and credit cards.
Join Us in Building the Future of the Internet
MARK.SPACE reimagines what the internet can look like. It enables businesses, e-commerce merchants, and private individuals to quickly and easily create a fully 3D, VR and AR-compatible world that can be accessed from any device with any browser, while also being well-suited for any VR-enabled headset.
MARK.SPACE is a platform for people to connect no matter where you are, in a world that is open for business 24/7.
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Company name: MARK.SPACE
Company site: https://mark.space/
Company contacts:
Sarah Jiang: sarah.jiang@oristrategies.com