What is a VERO? A single 3D representative of a uniquely identifiable object that exists in the real world. VEROs are just like their real counterparts, but the owner of a VERO can be different from the owner of the real object equivalent. VERO is an acronym for Virtual Equivalent of a Real Object. The term “vero” is also Italian for authentic.
What is an NFT? A unit of data on a digital ledger that certifies ownership of a unique digital asset. This can be almost anything, for example a piece of digital art or a video. In the case of a VERO, the digital asset is a 3D model that is sourced in the real world. NFT is an acronym for Non-Fungible Token.
Why are VEROs cool? They anchor virtual assets to the real world. This means that real world rarity translates into virtual world rarity. Part of their appeal is that they seem as near as possible to a real object, so they can be uploaded into online virtual worlds.
Why are VEROs important? As you may already know, there is a major biodiversity crisis due to climate change, deforestation and other important human influences. Numerous species of animals and plants are going extinct. There is therefore an urgent need to collect, digitize and describe those species before that happens. There are millions of undescribed species and specimens of many of them are already stored away in museums. We need to generate 3D models of them, but this is very expensive. By turning those 3D models into unique digital assets, VEROs can fund the generation of more 3D models. These 3D models are extremely useful because they allow scientists to carefully compare species without having to visit other museums in other countries. This will make the job of describing the many millions of undescribed species much easier.
But can’t the VERO owner use the copyright to the 3D model to prevent others from using or even viewing it? This isn’t how NFTs work. Buying a VERO does not confer copyright, assuming one even exists. The VERO is a one off token that can grant privileges to the owner over the display and behavior of a 3D model in online apps tailored to VEROs. But the owner cannot dictate what happens to the 3D model in the real world.
Can’t anyone just copy the 3D model of an existing VERO and register it as their own VERO? All NFTs, including VEROs, are traded like Bitcoin on a secure digital ledger called a blockchain. This means an NFT can be traced back to the source, which is the person or organization that registered the VERO. In the case of a VERO, registration of the NFT has to be by the owner of the real object. This is how VEROs are defined. And because each VERO is derived from an object with a unique identifier, it would be easy to detect any attempted duplication of a VERO.
Why would anyone want to own a VERO? Who would not want to own the VERO of Sue the T-Rex? Sure, anyone who has the means can go look at her at the Field Museum in Chicago. But in a virtual world she can be your best friend. And she would belong to you and nobody else. How cool is that?
But that’s an extreme example. Most VEROs will be of specimens that people don’t know about. True, but NFTs have shown that there is a market for anything rare and unusual. Take CryptoPunks as an example. There are 10, 000 of them, and each one is unique. Their creators originally thought that they would be characters in a smartphone app or game. They are hardly art but they are highly collectable because of their uniqueness. As of this time of writing, the most valuable one sold for almost 12 million dollars because it is a blue alien sporting a surgeon’s mask. How much money could be raised by the VERO of a holotype of a slightly unusual species? Perhaps not 12 million dollars, but it should raise enough to fund its own digitization. Because VEROs commodify the rare and unusual, their collectability may be much greater than many people currently assume.
Isn’t this an ugly concept? I mean you seem to want to commodify the contents of museums. Yes, this is sort of true. But seeing as the funds needed to 3D digitize natural history collections are at an all time low while the need to do this is at an all time high, perhaps we can allow just one more thing to become a commodity.
Why have I not heard of VEROs before? Well, they don’t really exist yet. But a paper has just been published on the concept of a VERO in a scientific journal. See the link below.
Bolton, S.J. & Cora, J.R. (2021). Virtual Equivalents of Real Objects (VEROs): A type of non-fungible token (NFT) that can help fund the 3D digitization of natural history collections. Megataxa, 6(2), 93–95. DOI:10.11646/MEGATAXA.6.2.2. Available at: https://www.mapress.com/mt/article/view/megataxa.6.2.2.