We were lucky to catch up with Hazel Griffiths recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hazel , appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

I had been world building in virtual reality for BRCvr – the virtual burning man held in Microsoft’s AltspaceVR – for the last two years. I was also creating my own imaginative spaces in VR just based on ideas I had for immersive experiences and installations, then translating some of those creations into augmented reality. In the meantime the Metaverse narrative was becoming an increasingly relevant topic, bridging both the crypto world and the world of gaming and virtual spaces which I found very interesting. I saw that there was lot opportunity – more and more ‘Metaverse’ platforms were being built at an ever increasing pace, each one offering a different variety of features. I had also been getting inquiries about about being hired as a world builder by various brands and organizations. Around that time, December of 2021, I connected with my now cofounder, an old friend of mine who had also been in crypto for a few years, involved in various NFT projects as well as Decentraland builds and events. After looking at the scope of the opportunities in this field, combined with our skill sets, we decided to form a world building company, now called ReachXR focusing on consulting with companies to help them understand the Metaverse and how to integrate their business into the web3 economy, whether that be building out a virtual space on one of the Metaverse platforms such as Decentraland and running virtual events or opening a virtual store, or starting an NFT collection for their community.

Hazel , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

At ReachXR we’re passionate about building exceptional virtual experiences and spaces. We approach every project with creativity and curiosity. Web3 and Metaverse is about storytelling and experience, we believe every brand and business has a unique story and our job is to help it come to life in an interactive and immersive way. For me, the process of coming up with a unique strategy and imagining a bespoke space for each client is a thrilling endeavor every time, as every business and story requires new and creative solutions. It’s visual storytelling combined with business strategy! This is a totally new sector and to be a part of that whilst helping others be the first to find their footing is as exiting as it is rewarding.
It’s a new way for companies and brands to engage with their audience and communities and we help to make that happen with planning unique virtual events, the creation of interactive experiences, NFT’s and digital wearables that your avatar can sport at a virtual gala, nightclub or gallery event, to give a few examples.
Here, you can really let your imagination fly, it’s the Metaverse! There are no real constraints here, so this is a space for innovation, experimentation and above all, fun!
Which means that no matter what business you’re in, there is a place for you and your customers/ community members in the Metaverse!

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

NFT’s are a large part of what we do and the services we offer, so it’s a sector that requires us to keep our fingers on the pulse. The NFT space is constantly evolving in a way that is allowing for more functionality for both individual artists and brands to add value to their fans and followers. New and creative ideas are always being developed to use NFT’s in original and innovative ways.
There’s a lot of innovation happening around how they can be implemented and they are also becoming increasingly accessible to use, create and purchase. I think we will see a day where most brands and companies are offering NFT’s or some kind of token that gives holders certain access or privileges.
What we do, is come up with the best way for our clients to implement an NFT strategy into their business and overall Metaverse plan.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

There have been many times where I’ve had to pivot, both in my own creative practice and more recently with ReachXR.

Personally, I made a pretty hard pivot from fine art, creating with more traditional, physical media such as oils, encaustic wax and watercolors to creating almost exclusively in digital media for VR: going from 2d artwork to fully immersive 3D worlds you can walk around and look at from every angle. But honestly, I see it all along a creative continuum and all disciplines affect and feed into one another eventually.
Then with ReachXR, we were getting so many enquiries, we realized we were not able to scale that fast, so decided for the time being to focus on one Metaverse platform, that being Decentraland and to focus mostly on strategy and consulting. We are currently in the process of hiring more team members to allow us to scale effectively so we’re able to do more of the building of larger and more complex virtual spaces.

Contact Info:

• Website: ReachXR.io
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReachXR

Image Credits
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