Today (August 11, 2023) is the official 50th birthday of Hip Hop culture. So, it only felt right to share this fresh project!
The Universal Hip Hop Museum The Hip Hop Museum is an incredible space founded by iconic entrepreneurs and artists, bringing rap and hip-hop history to the masses. When we first joined up, UHHM wanted to bust through the barriers of accessibility and bring visitors to their space in the South Bronx of New York City. And as the first technology for what would become the ""metaverse"" was being built, we knew this was our chance to make this vision a reality.
In 2019, CARNEVALE's co/op Department, a low/no-cost division providing the same advanced technology and user experience design services to nonprofits and social impact organizations, started development in Microsoft’s Alt Space platform. However, as is the case with a shifting digital landscape, the CARNEVALE team fully rebuilt this experience from the ground up in Spatial when its predecessor was ultimately sunset.
Four years later, museum-goers and fans alike can now virtually step into the South Bronx Subway Station near where hip-hop was born with their own digital avatar to take a first-person walk through history. Extending into sound studios, performance stages, and VIP lounges, users of all backgrounds and situations are able to share in all that the UHHM has to offer. Changing exhibits and live musical performances within the metaverse will help bring people back for exclusive experiences for groups or individuals.
Rocky Bucano, the President of the Universal Hip Hop Museum shares this about the experience: "Working with CARNEVALE on our metaverse project has been a truly fantastic experience. As the “metaverse” is new to everyone and takes on different meanings for different people, this has been a very collaborative and eye-opening project. The CARNEVALE team is a wonderfully diverse and supremely skilled group of people uniquely qualified to tackle cutting-edge projects such as our metaverse targeting the Hip Hop Generation(s) in all its incarnations. We look forward to working with CARNEVALE for many years to come!”