With all the changes to the way we use virtual reality and what it could mean for the cannabis world, Higher Life CBD will be one of the first to test the waters.
By Javier Hasse
Amid the explosion of NFTs and the metaverse, several marijuana brands have found innovative ways to capitalize on the digital trend. However, one company has gone a step further, bringing the metaverse back to the real world.
Earlier this month, Higher Life CBD became one of the first cannabis brands to launch a real CBD dispensary in the metaverse, offering customers a fun, digital, gamified shopping experience that, unlike others, then translates into a tangible product delivered to your doorstep in all U.S. states.
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“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many companies to think about safe alternatives when it comes to communicating with employees and customers. For some, that means looking beyond the physical world and thinking outside of the box,” explained CEO Brandon Howard.
“We see great potential in the virtual reality world. VR and AR have changed the game on how we will go about buying things in the future. Shopping in the metaverse and then being able to receive your items on your doorstep is groundbreaking and the next big thing. It’s a place where NFTs, cryptocurrency, and the cannabis world will coincide.”
The World Is Yours
Higher Life CBD’s metaverse dispensary was launched on Cryptovoxels, a virtual world built on the Ethereum blockchain.
The Cryptovoxels world has its own city, Origin City. The streets are owned by “The Corporation,” a God-like metaverse owner. Parcels, however, are owned by individual people who are paying as much as $1 million for them. In fact, a user recently spent $450,000 to acquire a parcel next to Snoop Dogg’s virtual house in The Sandbox, another Ethereum-based platform.
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“It feels amazing to be one of the first cannabis companies to step into the metaverse. We’re able to communicate with customers easier, give them an actual experience without physically being at our brick and mortar store, and it makes the online shopping experience more entertaining,” said Howard, explaining customers can listen to music, get a full inside-and-outside view of the dispensary, check out all the company’s NFTs — shown on the digital dispensary walls, and more, all in the metaverse.
Howard is actually following the steps of other tech giants getting their feet wet in the metaverse arenas. Only a few weeks ago, Facebook changed its name to Meta and announced plans to launch its own metaverse.
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“With all this change coming to the way we use virtual reality and what it could mean for the cannabis world, I am so honored that my brand, Higher Life CBD, will be one of the first to test the waters,” Howard concluded. “When you do what you love, success and rewards come naturally. Never give up on your dreams, no matter how many times fail.”
You can find the store on Cryptovexels.
Kandy Girl Also Goes Meta
Also this month, cannabis startup Kandy Girl announced it is selling Delta-9 THC products in the Decentraland metaverse, exploiting a legal loophole created by the 2018 Farm Bill.
This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been reposted with permission.
