What does Phygital mean?
Phygital is the combination of the physical and digital worlds, resulting in objects and experiences with elements of both.
Usage:
With the increasing adoption of AR and digital technologies, more and more experiences are becoming phygital.
Full Definition:
Phygital is a term that is increasingly being used to describe physical objects that have a digital component, and vice versa.
It is a portmanteau of the terms “physical” and “digital”.
The term is extremely broad and can be used to refer to any experience which has both physical and digital components.
Some of the most exciting use cases involve using augmented reality to enhance a physical object, such as the example of AR murals.
In the world of NFTs and collectibles, phygital is often used to refer to NFTs that have a physical counterpart.
For example, in February of 2022, VeVe and Mighty Jaxx partnered to create a physical collectible that was only purchaseable by people who owned the NFT in VeVe. NFT holders received a link where they could purchase a collectible with a matching mint number to their collectible in VeVe.
In August of 2022, VeVe also auctioned off a 1-of-1 NFT of a piece by Brian Viveros, and the winner of the auction also received a physical print of the piece hand-embellished and signed by the artist.
In September of 2022, VeVe offered a “Phygital Bundle” of limited edition t-shirts at DCon London, where people who purchased the t-shirt also received a digital NFT on VeVe as well.
VeVe has mentioned in numerous interviews that they are in talks with various toy companies to discuss the potential for collaboration around phygital collectibles.
As AR and NFT technology continues to advance, there is no doubt that there will be more phygital releases in the future, that blue the line between the physical and digital worlds.