#8 Deeptech Analysed - The future of transportation: exploring the potential of Hyperloop technology & Decentraland: your comprehensive investment guide to the Virtual Reality Metaverse
The future of transportation: Hyperloop, between dream and reality
By Gael Amouyal, Deeptech Expert
What is going on?
Out of our science fiction books, the hyperloop is a high-speed transportation system that uses a tube or tunnel to transport pods or vehicles containing passengers or cargo at speeds of up to 1000 km/h. The pods are propelled through the tube using a variety of technologies. The concept for hyperloop was first proposed by Elon Musk in 2013, and since then, several companies have been working on developing and testing prototypes. While the technology is still in its early stages, it has the potential to revolutionize transportation by providing a faster, more efficient, and more sustainable alternative to traditional modes of transportation.
What does it mean?
The key aspect of the hyperloop is its use of a low-pressure tube, which allows the pods to travel at high speeds without experiencing significant air resistance.
In order to move the pods through the tube, the hyperloop uses a combination of air pressure and magnetic levitation. Air pressure is used to push the pods forward, while magnetic levitation helps to keep them suspended above the track and reduces friction. This allows the pods to achieve speeds of up to 1000 km/h, making the hyperloop a much faster alternative to traditional modes of transportation.
However there are several technological challenges that must be overcome in order to make the hyperloop a viable mode of transportation:
Overcoming technical issues like the propulsion system, the low-pressure tube, and the pods themselves.
Developing a robust infrastructure: Building the infrastructure required for the hyperloop, including the tubes and stations, is a major undertaking that requires significant resources.
With advances in technology and continued research and development, it is possible that these challenges can be overcome and two companies have made great progress, The Virgin Hyperloop and Zeleros.
The Virgin Hyperloop was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company is working on a number of projects around the world, including a proposed route between Mumbai and Pune in India and a feasibility study for a route between Cleveland and Chicago in the United States.
Zeleros is a Spanish company that was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Valencia. The company is focused on developing hyperloop technology for both passenger and cargo transportation. Zeleros has completed a number of successful test runs of its hyperloop prototype and is currently working on a project to build a full-scale hyperloop system in Spain.
Why does it matter?
💸For markets: Big potential !
The market for the hyperloop is potentially very large, as it could be used to transport passengers and cargo over long distances at high speeds.
Global Hyperloop Technology Market is estimated to account for $1,350 million in 2022, and is projected to reach at $6,000 million by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 45.2% from 2023 to 2026. As the technology continues to mature and become more widely available, it is probable that the market for the hyperloop will grow significantly.
Both Virgin Hyperloop and Zeleros have garnered significant attention and investment from a variety of sources, including governments, venture capital firms, and major corporations.
However the managing costs for developing and building the hyperloop is a costly endeavor, and finding ways to keep costs down will be important in order to make the system financially viable.
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏻For society: Big Impact !
The impact of the hyperloop on society could be significant, as it has the potential to revolutionize the way we think about transportation. Some of the potential impacts of the hyperloop include:
Increased efficiency and speed: The hyperloop could significantly reduce travel times, making it a faster and more efficient mode of transportation for both passengers and cargo.
Improved accessibility: The hyperloop could make it easier for people to access distant locations, potentially increasing the mobility of individuals and communities.
Reduced environmental impact: The hyperloop is powered by renewable energy sources and produces zero emissions, making it a more environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional modes of transportation.
Economic development: The hyperloop could potentially stimulate economic development by facilitating the movement of people and goods and connecting distant regions.
Societal changes: The hyperloop could potentially lead to changes in the way we live and work, as it could make it easier for people to live in one area and work in another.
However like in aviation ensuring the safety of passengers will be the top priority for the hyperloop. The high speeds of the hyperloop pose significant safety risks, and developing a system that can ensure the safety of passengers is a major challenge which will involve new government regulation and high commitment from the compagnies.
🔮What’s next? Big Dream !
Already hundred of million of dollars were invested in the hyperloop, but technological the challenge s are so big that we can ask ourselves if this technology is it just a big dream. I am personally a person which believe into human progress and we though that going to the moon was impossible but we did it. So why not the hyperloop ? It won’t be for tomorrow but the impact of the on society could be significant and wide-ranging. While the technology is still in its early stages, it has the potential to revolutionize the way we think about transportation and the way we live our lives.
Decentraland: your comprehensive investment guide to the Virtual Reality Metaverse
By Lirone Samoun, Deeptech Expert
What is going on?
Decentraland is a platform that allows users to be part of a shared virtual world. And to do so, it has created an entire virtual ecosystem on its platform where users can buy or sell digital goods, play games, trade collectibles, socialize, interact and explore.
It's a whole new world opening up and riding the wave of the metaverse.
Decentraland was founded in 2015 by Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordano and launched in 2017.
Decentraland started as a proof of concept where it could assign ownership of a digital real state parcel to its users on the blockchain (Very simply, a blockchain is a database that contains the history of all exchanges made between its users since its creation).
The platform was developed as a 2-dimensional project that slowly transcended to a 3D world.
What does it mean?
Decentraland is a decentralized virtual world where you can buy, sell and build digital real estate, art and non-fungible tokens (NFT). All this while playing games and engaging in various activities in the virtual world.
Decentraland, in its own words, is a social experience in which you interact with other community members. The platform is owned by the community and is built on the Ethereum blockchain. It’s a community-centric platform and therefore allows users of the platform to contribute to its developments. Users can participate in voting on the development or proposed changes to the platform.
The system defines its own economy through two digital assets: the LAND and the MANA.
The MANA is a digital token that can be used to buy real estate and virtual assets that are developed and sold by Decentraland users. It is also used for system governance.
The LAND token, on the other hand, represents ownership of a parcel of metaverse in the Decentraland ecosystem.
Simply put, the MANA is the equivalent of the dollar or euro in the virtual world that allows you to do a whole bunch of things, one of which is to buy or sell parcels of land that are represented by the digital LAND token. Users can prove ownership of LAND at any time, as the system records every action and interaction through blockchain technology.
Why does it matter?
💸For markets: catch the wave of an early investment opportunity
Today, we are still in the early stages of the so-called Metaverse. Two big players are doing well at the moment: Decentraland and The Sandbox. If Decentraland is the champion in terms of adoption, The Sandbox seems to be the leader on the technology. However, more and more giants such as Meta, Apple or Epic Games are interested in it and plan to develop their own vision of the metaverse. This will undoubtedly completely reshuffle the cards! Today Decentraland is popular, but will it be the case in a few years? In any case, the metaverse should define a new way of seeing things and interacting with people on a daily basis and getting interested today could allow you to be more comfortable when things will boom. This could be quite an interesting advantage in terms of investment on the economic, business and entrepreneurial level.
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏻For society: are we playing new rules?
The metaverse will disrupt our habits in all areas. It will redefine our way of interacting with others, ourselves and globally, with the outside world. The fact that it is decentralised means that the people who use Decentraland own Decentraland, they govern it. Does this mean new rules will play around? In any case, before we see mass adoption of the metaverse as presented by Decentraland, there will be some time and they will have to find ways to make this virtual world attractive enough to attract people and not only geeks.
🔮What’s next? Will we end up living in the metaverse?
New opportunities will be created around the metaverse and many opportunities will surprise us in the coming years. It states that the Global Metaverse Market in 2030 will be worth USD 1.6 trillion, having a CAGR of 38.25%. Two waves arise:
(1) By 2040, the metaverse will be a much more refined and truly immersive platform. These experts argue that the technological enhancements wil be tied to augemented reality and mixed reality enabled by artificial intelligence systems. They state that people will find those advances appealing because they will expand upon real-life experiences and therefore, improve users lifestyles. These users will be at first a smaller group of enthusiasts such as gamers and entertainment seekrs and, in fields such as business, medical, education and training.
(2) By 2040, the metaverse will not be a much more refined and truly immersive platform. On the contrary to those people who will see technology as a motivational aspect to start using it, this group of people argue that people will prefer living in layers of real reality, mixed reality usages can be harmful and threatening and, the impact of governmental control will slow or stop the adoption of the metaverse.
What do you think? Which wave do you support?