The ‘Polish Elon Musk’ and a 3D portal to the Metaverse

Robert Gryn is simply a serial entrepreneur who has built a high-tech Metaverse scanner which helium hopes volition enactment arsenic a portal from our carnal world into the Metaverse.

It is nary concealed that the carnal satellite is opening to merge with the digital, and that blockchain is serving arsenic the arbiter of world successful galore of these nascent metaverses. Gryn, CEO of MetaHero, is doing his portion to marque that caller world arsenic existent arsenic possible, creating high-definition 3D scans of people, objects and animals that you whitethorn soon brushwood successful games, virtual worlds and NFTs.

After spending a decennary gathering European selling institution Codewise successful Poland and adjacent being featured connected a Forbes database for the nation’s richest, Gryn near it each down and moved to Dubai portion gathering a solution with which helium hopes to onboard the adjacent cardinal radical to the blockchain. 

Privacy worries

Gryn excitedly lists the imaginable applications of his full-body Metaverse scanners for things similar integer fashion: “You‘ll beryllium capable to scan yourself successful your underpants, for illustration — it‘d beryllium precise casual to effort connected not lone integer manner but real-world clothing,” helium says.

But, this raises a superior concern. What if immoderate privateness container is near unchecked oregon the strategy is hacked and I find my integer clone arsenic the unwilling prima of an AI-created big video? 

Is this my eternal form? I got scanned into the metaverse by @Metahero_io astatine Dubai's Future Blockchain Summit past October. #Cointelegraph nonfiction coming soon! @wdw_io #metaverse #HERO pic.twitter.com/ItPEjnMNw5

— Elias Ahonen.eth (@eahonen) February 16, 2022

Gryn recognizes the issue, admitting that “if ultra-realistic scans got leaked and idiosyncratic manipulated them to beryllium successful immoderate benignant of pornographic scene, that would perchance beryllium the opening of the extremity for us.” For that reason, helium stresses the value of unafraid record retention and the usage of information measures specified arsenic watermarks.

Storing and managing high-resolution 3D scans of thousands of radical is nary casual method feat, and it tin besides beryllium a nightmare of privateness and copyright laws. The tech raises plentifulness of questions: Who tin beryllium fixed entree to scans, however tin they beryllium utilized and however bash royalties request to beryllium acceptable up? There are nary casual answers. 

“We are going to person to prosecute tiny armies of lawyers to screen each planetary jurisdictions to fig retired what we tin and cannot bash successful immoderate fixed jurisdiction,” Gryn says, adding that the absorption of “terabytes of caller information connected a regular basis” is nary tiny situation but 1 helium is assured helium volition overcome.

Rob Gryn has devised a precocious res portal into the Metaverse.

Making the affluent list

Originally from Poland, Gryn started retired successful an “eclectic benignant of course” studying for a Master of Science successful exertion entrepreneurship astatine the University of Surrey successful England from 2004 to 2008, wherever “each week, they would invitation a section entrepreneur” to stock their beingness communicative and reply questions astir their business. One specified presenter erstwhile told the people that of 100 radical who privation to commencement a business, lone 4 really bash — and conscionable 1 of them succeeds. Gryn recalls pondering however helium could debar the 96% destiny of a “wantrepreneur” and onslaught retired for real. After graduating, helium continued with a master‘s successful selling astatine the University of St. Andrews successful Scotland. 

He realized aboriginal connected helium was not chopped retired to beryllium a firm drone, during an internship astatine mobile web institution Orange, wherever helium received an worker fig and entree to the group‘s intranet connected the archetypal day. Browsing the boring firm intranet each day, “it was precise evident to maine that I don‘t beryllium there, and I don‘t privation to belong.” As helium began his 2nd day, cipher came on to springiness him work, and during lunch, “I decided conscionable to bail and ne'er ever let myself to beryllium portion of this firm benignant of structure,” helium recalls with a laugh. 

Stepping into the scanner feels otherworldly. Photo by Metahero

With the objection of his two-day stint determination and different insignificant internship, Gryn’s archetypal occupation was 1 of his ain entrepreneurial makings arsenic CEO of Codewise, a selling institution which helium founded successful Krakow, Poland successful 2011. Using exertion to assistance negociate the marque selling of assorted clients, the steadfast has ranked among Europe’s fastest-growing companies for 3 years successful a row. 

Each year, helium remembers browsing the Polish variation of the Forbes mag erstwhile they released an yearly database of society‘s wealthiest, wherever helium would “always beryllium looking for idiosyncratic young that made it successful a state that does rather the other of facilitating entrepreneurship.” Later, undue bureaucracy and a post-communist mentality which helium says is prevalent successful Eastern Europe influenced his determination to relocate to Dubai which helium considers much business-friendly.

He made it, gathering the steadfast into “a 250-person IT institution successful the advertizing exertion space.” At property 31 successful 2017, helium was featured arsenic the youngest self-made antheral connected the Forbes database of richest Poles with a luck estimated astatine astir $150 million.

But Gryn was not rather happy, describing that helium felt arsenic if helium were surviving “in similar a aureate cage that I had built and the doorway was open.” He was suffering from burnout by 2018, and “I wanted the institution to beryllium retired of my life,” helium recounts.

In 2020, helium sold the institution successful bid to commencement new.

Discovering Crypto

After moving connected from the institution helium had spent a decennary building, Gryn saw crypto arsenic the rabbit spread astir worthy of his newfound clip and money. 

“I had ever been crypto-curious, but to spell afloat down the rabbit spread you request rather a spot of headspace to wrapper your caput astir it.” 

He came to an absorbing conclusion. “Crypto is astir apt the astir important exertion of modern mankind that volition level the playing tract successful each azygous imaginable imaginable facet — namely giving radical fiscal freedom,” helium proclaimed. 

As helium continued exploring the industry, helium recovered astir crypto projects to beryllium “very crypto-centric,” and hard for those extracurricular of the manufacture to comprehend successful immoderate applicable way. As helium saw it, it didn‘t each request to beryllium related to DeFi oregon adjacent to money. Seeing the thought of cryptocurrency arsenic inactive unapproachable to most, Gryn felt powerfully that not capable was being done to “bring successful the adjacent cardinal radical to crypto.” A task helium reasoned would beryllium champion accomplished done the gaming and amusement sector.

For Gryn, wide adoption of “crypto” is astir gathering “a much equitable future” for the adjacent generation, helium explains — convincingly enough, considering helium brings up his newborn lad arsenic an inspiration for helping make a amended tomorrow, thing helium says tin beauteous overmuch lone beryllium done with technology. Brainstorming connected a mode to harvester his capital, web and inheritance arsenic a gamer, helium came to the thought of MetaHero — a task allowing anyone to make a 3D avatar of themselves successful the Metaverse.

Mysterious ways

Unlike galore entrepreneurs who brag of the endless hustle, Gryn describes himself arsenic possessing a earthy laziness inherent to each humans. At Codewise, helium utilized unconventional concern methods specified arsenic renting retired bureau spaces which helium could not reasonably spend successful bid to unit himself to support the concern growing. One time, aft signing the lease for a caller space, helium looked astatine the institution equilibrium sheets and thought “holy crap, if we don‘t treble our gross and profit, there‘s nary mode we tin wage for this office,” helium tells me.

“I’m benignant of an entrepreneur that conscionable goes for it — puts connected my blinders and conscionable blocks retired each the fearfulness and uncertainty and conscionable goes for it.”

Another method for occurrence is 1 helium calls “conference-driven development,” successful which “you publication a very, precise costly league oregon commercialized amusement a fewer months successful the aboriginal — and past you committedness to present X, Y and Z and adjacent if that seems impossible, you marque it possible.” This was seemingly the lawsuit for Dubai’s Future Blockchain Summit, where, with maine bearing witness, Gryn launched his scanner to large fanfare and amazement aft lone months of development. 

“I figured retired rather aboriginal that if I enactment myself successful the presumption wherever I person nary prime but to succeed, past I volition succeed,” helium says with infectious confidence.

Gryn scans himself, launching the scanner astatine Dubai’s Future Blockchain Summit . Photo by Elias Ahonen

The scanner

He called up his person “the Polish Elon Musk” Mariusz Król, CEO of 3D printing and scanning institution Wolf Digital World, and suggested a concern done which to scan our world into the Metaverse. Król’s institution has been “working connected 3D photogrammetric exertion for 8 years,” and the entrepreneurs acceptable retired to physique a scanner made of 200 Sony cameras, 1,500 meters of wiring and 20 machine units. When the squad demonstrated their scanners, which are each susceptible of 150,000 scans per twelvemonth to Sony, they were amazed, arsenic “they didn’t adjacent cognize that thing similar that could beryllium done with their ain equipment,” Gryn recalls.

Here’s however it works: The scanned item, whether a human, cattle oregon object, is placed successful the halfway of the scanner. The lights radiance from each absorption to evenly illuminate each aboveground portion the hundreds of cameras seizure a simultaneous representation from each angles. These are past spliced unneurotic by high-powered imaging bundle successful bid to make a realistic 3D representation that tin beryllium inserted into immoderate integer space, whether societal media, a video crippled oregon the metaverse. It mightiness beryllium a cleanable mode for a performer to make a lifelike avatar successful which to execute astatine an Animal Concert successful the Metaverse, for example.

“We‘re going to physique the largest database of 3D scanned radical and objects successful the world,” Gryn explains, regarding his vision. He sees this arsenic an important measurement for the gathering of the Metaverse, adding that creating a hyper-realistic “in-game quality that resembles a human, with blemishes and everything” is simply a hard and costly task. “Once you physique a database of hundreds of thousands of scan items and people, the use-cases for that are truthful limitless that sometimes it boggles your mind,” helium says excitedly.

Over 4 days astatine @dxbontheblock, we scanned implicit 300 unthinkable people, transferring them to the metaverse. We've besides captured their impressions and opinions astir this unsocial experience, to amusement each those who couldn’t beryllium with america astatine the league what it’s similar to beryllium scanned. pic.twitter.com/ydYqs3aRks

— Wolf Digital World (@wdw_io) October 27, 2021

As acold arsenic helium knows, nary comparable 3D scanner exists unless “maybe there‘s a much precocious 1 determination successful a top-secret basement successful Hollywood.” Especially notable, according to him, is the scanner’s velocity which means “we‘re capable to bash scans truthful rapidly that we‘re capable to seizure practically immoderate carnal and import it into the Metaverse — say, your dog”, Gryn explains.

Metahero scanners are meant yet to beryllium disposable astir the world, with scans payable successful Hero tokens which were launched successful July. The tokens beryllium connected BNB Chain successful ample portion owed to precocious fees connected the Ethereum network. While immoderate person gone to investors, a information is earmarked to supply incentives for radical of assorted walks of beingness to beryllium scanned arsenic bonuses, successful summation to the imaginable royalties they mightiness gain from the usage of their images.

“1% of the full proviso oregon leader token is dedicated to paying the archetypal 100,000 radical $1,000 equivalent successful our token to get scans — you get paid to get scanned,” Gryn boasts.

Though Gryn envisions a aboriginal wherever wide adoption of the Metaverse could spot radical earning their “livelihoods conscionable based connected their 3D avatars that they tin monetize successful assorted ways,” helium admits that the aboriginal is not rather yet not erstwhile it comes to realistic Metaverse avatars.

This is due to the fact that today’s Metaverse applications bash not enactment the high-definition disposable done Wolf Digital World‘s scanner. For this reason, “we‘re gathering exertion to let you to standard down prime due to the fact that 16k is not going to beryllium supported for the adjacent possibly 5 oregon 10 years,” helium says.

“10 years down the road, the Metaverse volition apt beryllium astir indistinguishable from our mundane world — thing that you log connected to and person your ain abstraction there, your NFTs, your artwork, your apartment.”