Decentraland Launches Smart Wearables and Portable Experiences

Key highlights:

• Decentraland just dropped two game-changing new features- Smart Wearables and Portable Experiences.
• These tools let you carry cool interactive content with you anywhere in Decentraland.
• Equip a jetpack, fish with friends, and hunt for treasure- the possibilities are endless for new gameplay and social fun.

Decentraland has introduced two exciting new features- Smart Wearables and Portable Experiences- that will take creativity in the metaverse to the next level. These powerful tools allow developers to create dynamic content that users can carry with them anywhere in Decentraland.

Portable Experiences & Smart Wearables are ready for you to take your creations to the next level.?️

You saw them in action at #MVFW as a handy UI overlay, and at Xmas when Santa used a jetpack to drop gifts.?

Check out the blog post and get started!?https://t.co/UDYHNUOWiu

— Decentraland (@decentraland) August 8, 2023

What are Smart Wearables and Portable Experiences?

Smart Wearables are wearable items, like clothes or accessories, that trigger portable experiences for the user wearing them. For example, a jetpack Smart Wearable could allow a user to fly around Decentraland. A Portable Experience is a small scene that is not tied to any land parcels- it follows the user as they explore. Here’s how to buy land in Decentraland.

Both Smart Wearables and Portable Experiences add a layer of interactivity and fun on top of the core Decentraland experience. They introduce new abilities and gameplay for users.

Audius Smart Wearable sneak peek (Source: Decentraland)

Key features and possibilities

With more dynamic, interactive content at their fingertips, users have more reasons to hang out in Decentraland longer. More time spent in the world means more MANA transactions for items, names, etc.

These portable apps also make it easy for users to take cool custom content and abilities wherever they go in the metaverse. This creates strong retention incentives to keep coming back.

Here are some of the key things to know about these new creative tools:

Works across scenes

Unlike traditional scenes that are fixed to land parcels, Smart Wearables and Portable Experiences work across Decentraland. A user could buy a Smart Wearable in Genesis City and then visit a friend’s scene while still having access to the wearable’s abilities.

Multiplayer capabilities

While only the wearer sees the actual Portable Experience content, other users will see the wearer interact with that content. For example, they will see the jetpack wearable user fly around and shoot snowballs from a portable snowball fight game. This allows for collaborative play.

Access other scene functionality

Portable Experiences can tap into certain functions from scenes they overlay like detecting other entities. This allows for creating treasure hunts, scavenger hunts, and other discovery-based games.

As with traditional scenes, Smart Wearables and Portable Experiences can link to the blockchain for payments, NFT verification, and more. Expect to see innovative use cases leveraging blockchain connectivity.

Modular content

Since these are portable, developers can create small chunks of content designed to be remixed and expanded. A simple fishing game Portable Experience could be a foundation for several larger fishing game projects.

How to get started building

Ready to start building your own Smart Wearables and Portable Experiences? Here’s what you need to know:

Use SDK 7

You’ll need to use the latest Decentraland SDK 7 to develop Smart Wearables and Portable Experiences. SDK 6 doesn’t support these features.

Develop locally first

Build and test your creations locally using the Decentraland Editor before deploying them. This allows faster iteration.

Pay attention to limitations

There are file size and functionality limitations to be aware of when developing. Closely consult Decentraland’s documentation on the technical constraints.

Link to a Decentraland NAME

To publish a Portable Experience, you need to link it to a Decentraland NAME that you own. Each NAME can only be associated with one experience or world.

Submit for review

Once built, Smart Wearables need to be submitted for review before being published to the Decentraland marketplace. This curation process ensures content quality.

Example use cases

To spark your creativity, here are just a few examples of what developers have already created with these tools during the experimental beta period:

• SantaJetpack – A wearable jetpack that lets your avatar fly like Santa and drop presents around Genesis City
• ScavengerHunt – A portable scene that places hidden treasures across Decentraland for users to find
• FishWorld – A portable underwater world scene where users can catch fish with other players
• MiniGamesMenu – A wearable that shows a UI panel allowing the user to launch various mini-games

More utility and possibilities on the platform logically create more demand and value for MANA, as the key currency of Decentraland. Additionally, creators can now monetize interactive portable experiences, not just static scenes. More potential to earn means more activity and demand for MANA.

For now, Decentraland remains in an upward price trend, with MANA trading at $0.03714 and gaining 1.55% in the last 24 hours.

The possibilities are truly endless. Smart Wearables and Portable Experiences enable new kinds of social engagement, gameplay, and creativity in Decentraland.