As cannabis becomes increasingly more normalized in the U.S. and beyond, even 10 years after the first states ushered in adult-use reform, the market continues to embrace previously unexplored areas where cannabis could thrive. Think cannabis hotels, cannabis consumption lounges, cannabis tourism—the options are abundant.
With the rise of new technology and digital spaces, like Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook revamp, Meta, and other ventures looking to dive deeper into virtual reality, cannabis is following suit.
While it was first teased back in May of this year, Cannaverse Technologies (Cannaversetech) expanded upon its upcoming cannabis marketing and brand endeavor at the 2022 MJBizCon event in Las Vegas, Nevada, November 14-18, in the form of CANNALAND.
A news release from Cannaversetech describes CANNALAND as “a unique platform community designed to enable worldwide businesses to operate virtually within one domain without boundaries and geographic constraints experienced in our physical world.”
The Metaverse is a new term broadly referencing the virtual world we can expect to see in the near future (and are already seeing today). It’s essentially a world that continues to exist even when one user isn’t playing, and these spaces can generally be accessed without virtual or augmented reality (though those components generally come into play as well).
The CANNALANDMetaverse concept is a collaboration between Cannaversetech and Intercontinental Beverage Capital (IBC) and is set to be the world’s first dedicated place for cannabis enthusiasts, or those curious about the world of cannabis, to come together as a community and celebrate all things weed.
While CANNALAND aims to create a space for consumers to interact with one another, Cannaversetech says the platform will offer unique opportunities for brands, products, entertainment-based businesses, retailers, dispensaries and venues, in accessing future consumers and markets “beyond what exists today.”
The CANNALAND website outlines a number of features, including “virtual land,” where users can develop “residential and commercial properties within virtual neighborhoods and commercial zoned areas” unique to them and their businesses; interactive and immersive experiences that take audiences “to a level that far surpasses its physical world counterpart” and educational elements, where users can learn from curriculums based on the top cannabis science and research from universities around the globe.
Cannaversetech CEO Mark Bonner said “the time is now” for brands to place a stake in CANNALAND, adding that it will help to define the future of the industry beyond today’s cannabis market and legalized regions.
During an MJBizCon panel discussion, titled “Blast Off to The Metaverse: Your Web 3.0 Cannabis Guide,” cannabis expert and CANNALAND advisor Matthew Morgan said the platform will create a 360-degree immersive experience, allowing businesses, services, products and other digital lifestyle elements to the consumer and encouraging their participation, online transactions and overall learning more about cannabis.
In the Metaverse, there are also no geographic boundaries, allowing CANNALAND to create and provide access to businesses that may otherwise be unreachable, opening up untapped commercial opportunities moving forward. And according to the news release, the audience reception to the concept was “strong.”
“The Metaverse presents a unique value-added opportunity to develop and promote products even before introducing them in the physical and regulated world, allowing for conversational marketing and immersive experiences that help move the needle for participating brands,” Morgan said.
IBC President Joseph Messina chimed in, nodding to IBC’s excitement to assist Bonner and Cannaversetech with the new endeavor. Messina similarly said the concept will help to bridge the existing cannabis world to a cannabis-curious population that will ultimately become future consumers and enthusiasts as the market continues to expand, and as the Metaverse immersive experience evolves alongside it.
