Get ready for Neal Stephenson’s open metaverse as Lamina1 unveils Avalanche Web3 plans

venturebeat.com:

Neal Stephenson has unveiled the plans of his Lamina1 blockchain company for an open metaverse in partnership with the Avalanche chain.

Now as breathless as that sounds, it doesn’t mean Stephenson’s virtual world of Snow Crash — the 1992 novel in which he coined the term “metaverse” — is coming soon. But this launch of Lamina1’s Layer 1 blockchain on Avalanche is a necessary part of the infrastructure.

Over the past year or so, Lamina1 has been building a solution for empowering metaverse content creation and development. And today it has announced the launch of a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain on Avalanche.

You might think that this is a bit late, as the buzz around the word “metaverse” has come and gone. But Stephenson likes that expectations have been lowered and the discussion can focus on real technology.

GamesBeat Next 2023

Join the GamesBeat community in San Francisco this October 23-24. You’ll hear from the brightest minds within the gaming industry on latest developments and their take on the future of gaming.

The platform aims to create an interoperable ecosystem of open metaverse tools and experiences using Avalanche’s powerful consensus and core technology. Stephenson and Avalanche executive John Nahas said in an interview with GamesBeat that they see eye-to-eye on the need for an open metaverse, the universe of virtual worlds inspired by sci-fi novels like Snow Crash. And rather than build everything itself, Stephenson said Lamina1 is relying on Avalanche’s technology, which is focused on enabling blockchain networks for other companies in an open environment.

Founded by Stephenson, crypto pioneer Peter Vessenes, and immersive entertainment executive Rebecca Barkin, Lamina1 seeks to foster an open,