What was the first event that led you to NFTs and the metaverse?
VERBAL: I was originally looking into the possibility of performing live concert in VR, or virtual space, when I noticed the utilities of NFTs. That's exactly when the idea struck me.
Until then, I had heard of NFTs and blockchain, but I didn't know what they were. I was surrounded by people who bought and sold crypto assets and were knowledgeable about them, but to be honest, I didn't really feel a connection to what I was doing.
Going back a little, I was also working on planning and renting motion capture suits from around 2012. At that time, "Skrillex" was controlling an avatar with just the upper body, and when I learned that it was a motion capture suit called "Xsense" from the Netherlands, I bought a few of them myself.
However, at the time, what we wanted to do and what the engineers in Japan could do didn't match up. At that time, I met a person from France who shared my vision, and we experimented with various performances using motion capture suits at live shows for "m-flo", the music group I belong to.
That experience and know-how made me realize, “Live concert is possible enough in a virtual space!"
I was impressed by the idea of connecting with people all over the world in a virtual space, and just as I was starting to focus on it, the COVID-19 pandemic began.
When physical live concerts became impossible due to the COVID-19 pandemic and I was looking for ways to utilize virtual spaces, one of my friends told me about NFTs and airdropped them to me.
That was from the end of 2020 to 2021. I think I was classified as a latecomer in terms of when I got my hands on NFTs, but from then on I became interested in what they were.
I was surprised to learn that "if you have this, you can enter a token-gated room" and "if you have this, you can wear sneakers in a space like Decentraland" and thought, "You can really do that!?"
I knew that there were similar schemes in traditional games, but I thought the idea of being able to trade and distribute it in a decentralized way was amazing.
I felt that there was potential, such as being able to make it into a ticket like an access pass and being able to attach extras. From there, an idea was born and I got hooked.
Do you discuss NFTs with fellow m-flo member ☆Taku Takahashi?
VERBAL: Taku also likes NFTs, of course, and has a keen perspective on them. I airdropped an NFT for my brand, AMBUSH®, and he mentioned that he recently bought a cryptocurrency called Cardano, so I got the impression that he is more interested in cryptocurrency investments (laughs).
I think he knows a lot about certain cryptocurrencies, so I'd like to hear more about it next time.