Interview with the Holoverse Founders

The Holoverse has teamed up with MakersPlace to present their second hologram NFT (“HNFT”) of Van Gogh’s tenth and penultimate painting in his Sunflowers series, which will be auctioned on MakersPlace on December 20, 2022, with a starting bid at $100,000.

The Sunflowers hologram NFT comes in both digital and physical formats. The original canvas is scanned into a multi-gigabyte photogrammetry image that lets the viewer zoom in to experience the work in more detail than the naked eye can see.

The unique 1:1 next-generation volumetric hologram device will be delivered with white-glove service to the purchaser of this NFT + HNFT. 

The painting has hung in the Vincent van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam since 1994 but will now be viewable by the HNFT owner as a half-billion-pixel replica. 

Ahead of this historic release, we spoke to The Holoverse founders to learn about the unique benefits of holographic artwork and where they’re taking the technology next.

Where did the idea for a holographic frame come from?

We come from the world of technology applied to entertainment. We have been involved in innovative and unique shows for over 15 years, collaborating with leading companies such as Warner Bros, Disney, etc. 

One day, while we were creating an immersive show about Leonardo da Vinci, we learned about Beeple. At that moment, our heads started whirring nonstop, and after a few hours, we designed the concept of what would shortly become Hologram NFT. 

Also, around this time, there was a lot of talk of the metaverse, so we combined the two words — hologram and metaverse. Thus was born the artist The Holoverse.

We then thought of connecting the great masterpieces of art history with our cutting-edge technology. We combine the physical asset of a holographic frame with the highest-possible resolution re-creation of classical artworks. 

Through collaboration with Makersplace, we launched the first holographic NFT (HNFT) in history on April 25, generating more than $100,000 as a genesis Drop.

Why focus on art?

We think art is the most important value a human being can create. Like all things, it evolves and lives on in different dimensions over the centuries. There are also works of art that cannot be owned, simply because they are not for sale and would not be purchasable in any way by anyone in the world.

The NFT Hologram solves this problem and allows masterpieces that have marked human history to live in a new dimension and to be explored in a whole new way. Plus, in this way, we are able to give real perceived value to purely digital assets, making them somewhat tangible and understandable even to more traditional collectors. 

Having first featured an obscure Da Vinci, why are you now moving on to iconic Van Gogh?

Our goal is to revive in this new dimension through our art and technology the greatest masterpieces in history by the greatest masters who ever lived. We like to range from one historical period to another and from one style to another, adapting the various concepts to the right historical period. 

The genesis drop was to feature the inventor par excellence, Leonardo Da Vinci. 

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers are a true icon, especially in this historical period after recent events. The style of brushstrokes and depth is incredibly faithfully transferred to the hologram.

By the way, you can smoothly throw tomato juice on our hologram, it will not damage the work (laughs).

I’ve seen a couple of other holographic frames on the market. What makes The Holoverse special?

For more than 15 years, we have been exploring the technologies available on the market to create shows and entertainment, focusing on holograms in a variety of forms.

In 2016 we brought to the stage of the Ariston in Sanremo for Italy’s most famous festival a hologram generated by a 46 micro-LED fan with Mina, at the time a pioneering feat that marked the beginning of a new era. 

Our priority is to use the most advanced and innovative technology for our HNFTs.

We have also seen a couple of other artists using holograms created with plexiglass pyramids reflecting in the NFT world. It’s very primitive, older technology, but we are happy for the holographic art movement to develop day by day. 

The first special feature that distinguishes HNFT from others is the 360-degree volumetric display of the image and its incredible quality, even in daylight and with the light on, with a native definition of 4K. Other holograms can only be viewed in darkness, not so with The Holoverse. 

The second is size: We manage with our latest technology to take advantage of the entire size of the box without the need to use external equipment such as projectors, reflective panels, etc. With older technology, you would need a three-meter box to contain a 50-centimeter image. That’s not possible — or at least not convenient — in your house. So it’s compact and standalone — you don’t need to plug in your laptop or anything. 

The third is the formula of our NFT, which includes not only the physical 1:1 hologram delivered to the buyer’s home with a white-glow service. We want to make our collectors comfortable and provide an amazing experience. 

Another important thing is that the image is at least half a billion pixels. This allows the owner to explore and zoom in on the work in great detail, in a resolution never seen before. You can zoom and zoom and zoom. In the Van Gogh, you can see fingerprints. 

The fourth is uniqueness. Our devices are made custom for each drop, based on the size of the work and characteristics (color, depth, etc.). The hologram itself is a unique and inimitable work of art, in all its physicality, and contributes to a unique and extremely valuable NFT package. 

How has the technology improved since the Da Vinci release?

The technology has greatly improved since our first drop, and we have been working to create something different to achieve much higher quality. 

Current technology allows the display of a volumetric hologram in 4K without the use of micro-LEDs rotating at a very high speed. At the same time, the current device has a significantly higher perceived value than its predecessor, being significantly larger and physically heavier (about 90kg/200 lbs).

What’s coming next for the Holoverse?

We have an incredible pipeline. We have other historical masterpieces in different forms and something different that we are already working hard on. Unfortunately, we can’t reveal any details about what’s coming, but we assure you it will be something that will disrupt the collectibles market. One word: Legend

Do you see a time when this technology is more generally accessible to artists looking for a better way to display their work?

Absolutely. Unity is strength. We believe that collaboration with top-notch digital artists can create the highest value, and our technology can marry perfectly with a lot of existing projects already on the market. 

Do you have plans for expanding the usefulness of your technology outside of art?

Yes. We have already developed a form of “holographic teleportation” that can make a person’s hologram appear in real time from one part of the world to another, using our human-sized device called “Metabox.”

We have just made an appearance on Italy’s most-watched program – Big Brother. A contestant, who could not physically be in the studio, holographically teleported himself into the contestants’ house, and it was incredible. 

Are there any particular works that you’re absolutely dying to convert to HNFTs?

Honestly, yes, and those will be exactly our next works. Our next big step will be to turn frescoes, absolutely immovable works of art, into HNFTs.

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