Category: Vive Bytes

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Taiwanese Opera Coming to Viverse With a Limited Edition NFT Pack on Vive Bytes

HTC Vive caused quite the reaction from the virtual reality (VR) community when it announced its own metaverse and Web3 plans in the form of Viverse and Vive Bytes respectively. To push both new platforms HTC Vive is collaborating with Ming Hwa Yuan Arts and Culture Group to bring Taiwanese opera to Viverse, in addition to releasing “The Pirate King of Formosa Global Limited Edition NFT Pack” on Vive Bytes.

Vive Bytes - The Pirate King of Formosa
The Pirate King of Formosa NFTs. Image credit Vive Bytes

A leading traditional art group in Taiwan, Ming Hwa Yuan will bring their opera into the digital realm by licensing its upcoming production Zheng ZhiLong, The Pirate King of Formosa so that HTC and Future-Digi can create the pack. Future-Digi has brought in Taiwanese comic artist Wei Tsung-Cheng to create an exclusive animated version for the NFTs.

“Viverse is a world of infinite new experiences where people, regardless of interest or age, can discover their favourite content no matter which device or platform they use,” said Joseph Lin, Vice President of the Content and Platform Department at HTC. “We are honoured to partner with Ming Hwa Yuan Arts and Culture Group, which has a history of nearly 100 years, to bring the iconic IP Zheng ZhiLong, The Pirate King of Formosa into Viverse. In addition, we have also collaborated with Future-Digi to launch The Pirate King of Formosa NFT Pack on Vive Bytes, helping preserve the art of Taiwanese opera forever on the blockchain and allowing it to be passed down from generation to generation. We will continue to work with Ming Hua Yuan to expand the Taiwanese opera metaverse.”

The Pirate King of Formosa NFT Pack will be available via the Vive Bytes platform from 10th April 2022 from 12:30 pm CST. Minted on the Polygon blockchain, 2,500 packs will be made available priced at NT$299, 2000 purchasable via credit card from Vive Bytes with 500 through redemption codes bought via 7-11 ibon channels.

  • A total of 23 different NFT designs will be available with each pack containing two randomly selected NFTs, at least one of which will be an NFT of Sun Tsui Feng
    • 2 animated versions, exclusively created by Wei Tsung-Cheng, will be available
    • 20 different appearances of the characters, as redesigned by HTC, will be available. This includes:
      • 3 different styles of the main male character played by renowned Taiwanese opera actress Sun Tsui Feng, and 2 different styles of the main female character
      • 4 different facial expressions of each style will be available
    • 1 hidden version of the “King Card” featuring the guffaw of the pirate king will be available and will be limited to 250 pieces
The Pirate King of Formosa
The Pirate King of Formosa. Image credit Vive Bytes

“Taiwanese opera is not exclusive to any generation. We look forward to leveraging The Pirate King of Formosa NFT Pack NFT Pack and the upcoming virtual Taiwanese opera experiences to let younger generations learn the value of traditional arts and explore this new form of Taiwanese opera in the metaverse. We hope to get the ball rolling for traditional arts to enter the metaverse, and break new ground for the traditional art industry in Taiwan,” adds Chen Chao-Hsien, CEO of Ming Hwa Yuan Arts and Culture Group.

Additionally, a virtual theme park of The Pirate King of Formosa will be launched by Vive Connect, supporting VR and non-VR devices, with plans to link to Vive Bytes in the future. This will enable users to display their NFT collections in personal showrooms.

As HTC continues to explore new ways of combining VR and Web3 technology, gmw3 will keep you updated.

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HTC Vive to Launch NFT Marketplace Vive Bytes in Feb

Love them, hate them or plain not understand them, one of the hottest trends at the moment is NFTs (non-fungible tokens). There are plenty of global brands getting into this scene with HTC Vive announcing plans to launch its own marketplace called Vive Bytes next month.

Vive Bytes
3D Cat Art – Vive Bytes. Image credit: HTC Vive

Vive Bytes will be part of Viveport, the hardware-agnostic store for virtual reality (VR) videogames and apps. The NFT platform will focus on anime, cartoon, and game-themed NFTs to begin with, with the first wave of NFTs coming from the Step Into Cat Art exhibition by Shu Yamamoto.

Viveport held an online exhibition for Yamamoto’s Step Into Cat Art in September 2021, where guests could view 124 virtual versions of his work. Soon, you’ll be able to own some of these as NFTs. To begin with, the entire The Hisstine Chaple ceiling painting will be available via a series of “Collect-to-Unlock” NFT Mystery Box special events. Anyone who purchases Cat Art NFTs will also get the opportunity to buy limited-edition 3D Cat Art model NFTs, like the one above.

As for Vive Bytes itself, the platform will support both fiat and cryptocurrency payments at launch as well as the ability to link MetaMask wallets to users accounts. In the future, the marketplace plans to add auction features.

Cat Art
3D Cat Art – Vive Bytes. Image credit: HTC Vive

“NFTs are changing how we think about identity and ownership, and Vive Bytes is at the forefront of unlocking the potential of creative works and making digital works more accessible for consumers and creators,” said Joseph Lin, general manager at Viveport in a statement. “Following the launch of the world’s first Cat Art online exhibition with our partners last year, we’re delivering new formats of CAT ART NFTs – enabling visitors to grow and diversify their collection of digital works.”

However, this isn’t HTC Vive’s first foray into NFTs. Back in December as part of its Viverse strategy, the company sold NFTs of Art Nouveau masterpieces by Czech artist Alphonse Mucha via its Vive Arts Marketplace.

Vive Bytes is scheduled to launch in mid-February featuring exclusive NFTs during its inaugural sales event. For further updates on the new marketplace, keep reading gmw3.