-Introduction: As we move forward on VR builds, it seems that we would benefit from a client that is interoperable and can be enabled on any device. Because of this, it seems WebXR is the lowest friction method to jump into a VR app, with no installs, it requires simply clicking a button in the device’s browser to open VR mode.
-General questions:
Is there plans to one day in the future return to the browser as a core platform, given that browser technology (three.js/WebGPU/WebXR) has been greatly improved in recent years.
Please note, hyperfy core devs have expressed interest in potential collabs to enable further interoperability and build a three.js webXR Decentraland client should additional resources by required - this could even be funded by DAO but requires foundation planning/support.
-Specific questions:
Does the foundation see value in WebXR and its native interop on all devices? (no need to launch separate builds for apple/meta/others)
Does the foundation still believe in the browser long term, even if not at this time? (Especially in regards to WebGPU future roadmap).
Is the foundation working on a full body tracking network module? (Similar to the other networking modules/player movement available).
Genesis Plaza is the main spawning point. Other Plazas are used to host events such as the Music Festival, Fashion Week, Art Week, where there is a dedicated space for activations and specific portions can be allocated to varying teams/brands as needed to build out a large-scale experience for the community. This allows the Foundation to be the facilitators of large scale events for the community’s benefit. The plan is to continue using the new event strategy with open calls to the community to utilize these spaces for monthly events, like Music Festival.
There is also a DAO Grant that included a lease of a Plaza for project deployment, for the LastSlice in-world Marketplace funded by the DAO. The Foundation is open to facilitate LAND to projects funded by the DAO.
The Foundation has an off-chain system for leasing LAND that enables third parties to deploy on the LANDs that the Foundation has deploy permissions for. This is built this way due to security concerns and to minimize operational costs. The code of the deploy relayer is open source.
There are no current plans to transfer the ownership of the PLAZAS to the DAO or another entity in the future. The DAO should have a clear process to lease the LAND. The Foundation is willing to collaborate with the DAO to show good content on any unused LAND.
The IP of Wearables belongs to the creator or the brand, if the brand hired the creator for such purposes. Many Wearables also license the IP to the owner of the NFT for reproduction, derivatives works, etc. According to the Decentraland Terms of Use, all title, ownership and Intellectual Property Rights over NFTs, including without limitation, Wearables, belong to the creator of the NFT until those Wearables are transferred. As noted in the Terms of Use section 12.4.
The Content Policy does give the Foundation the right to use creator content for a variety of reasons, one of which is promotions. For example, by publishing Wearables on the Marketplace the Foundation may create promotional materials about digital identity and use a Wearable from Creators in that promotion.
Any transaction of the Wearable, including but not limited to a sale and/or giveaway, etc. through the Marketplace implies that the Creator is conveying said title, ownership and Intellectual Property Rights. To the fullest extent possible, the creator will waive any moral rights over the NFTs upon transfer to third parties.
Any transaction as game rewards through the Marketplace transfers the title, ownership and Intellectual Property Rights of the NFT.
If you purchase an item on secondary from someone other than the original creator, you received the ownership of the IP rights of the Wearable transferred.
To confirm the ownership, you should review the terms and conditions of the Marketplace where the Wearable was purchased and sold and the Terms of Use where the Wearable was curated.
PARTIAL RESPONSE - Hosting Events (Servers Infrastructure) @Ivey Need some extra clarifications for the questionnaire
Users can host events in their Worlds with up to 100 concurrent users. If using the Foundation Content server to host the scene, the size of the content is determined by the amount of Decentraland assets the world owner has as detailed here. Also, the Foundation Content server processes the assets after deployment to ensure fast loading into the Decentraland Explorer.
Users can host events in Genesis City with an unlimited number of users, which will be automatically separated into adjacency groups with at most 100 users each. The size of the scene is limited by the LAND the creator has access to.
The limitation of 100 concurrent users is set by the performance capabilities of the current Decentraland Explorer and the underlying communication protocol. This could be changed in the future to be able to render more than 100 avatars at the same time. Adding external servers won’t change those limits.
When organizing an event, the main scalability issue that might involve external servers is the ability to reproduce video in the scene. The video can be uploaded as a file in the content of the scene, or it can be streamed from an external source or live-streamed using Decentraland Cast. The details on different approaches are in the creator documentation. Some community members, like Serraform, HPrivakos, and Tobik provide streaming services.
At the moment, there are no plans to include a standardized extendable model as the OMI defines. Such developments are intriguing, and the Foundation looks forward to their evolution and potential implementation once they mature and are integrated into the libraries we use for importing GLTF in Unity.
The Decentraland Foundation is currently focused on creating a more performant Explorer and infrastructure, adhering to the current protocols and standards. Our technical teams are concentrated on other priorities and are not actively engaging with research groups or interoperability debates. The Protocol Squad team, funded by the DAO, may be better suited for such engagements.
GLTF will remain the open standard that Decentraland uses for 3D models, and there are future plans to enable scenes to operate directly with GLTF models.
The Decentraland Foundation recognizes the need to improve avatar locomotion and interaction capabilities within Decentraland. Significant enhancements can be made in this aspect without altering the avatar format, which could disrupt existing collections of Wearables.
The Foundation is currently developing the Decentraland Explorer using the Unity engine, moving away from its WebGL build to a native build that can target Desktop, Mobile, and VR platforms. Unity’s limited functionality in their Web build is a hindrance to using advanced features like WebGPU.
At present, the Decentraland Foundation has no plans to revert to using the browser as the main platform. However, this could change if Unity begins to leverage such capabilities.
The Decentraland Foundation is unwilling to collaborate with the Hyperfy core developers to enable further interoperability or to build a three.js WebXR client. The DAO should not fund such an initiative if it requires the Foundation’s involvement.
The Godot explorer, developed by the Protocol Squad with a DAO grant, may be more suitable for targeting WebXR. The Foundation team is not fully informed about the current level of support the engine provides, but its open-source nature allows for contributions to enhance its capabilities.
The Foundation sees greater strategic value in developing native platform explorers and releasing them on their respective app stores, which would ensure improved performance and broader distribution channels. Currently, this approach does not align with a WebXR strategy.
The Foundation still has long-term faith in the browser, and the development of WebGPU is promising. However, the landscape requires further maturity, not only in the standard’s development but also in the support game engines offer to utilize such features.
The Decentraland Foundation is working on a prototype VR application for the Meta Quest 2 (and 3), which will allow users to log in with their Decentraland avatar and interact with others in various predefined scenes. This development marks the first step in VR rigging/networking and app store publication. The network module work for the Decentraland protocol is forthcoming.