The Metaverse has a very unique place on this planet; it’s a whole world of technology right at our fingertips with the potential to change lives for the better - healing as well as entertaining us. There’s just one problem: it’s still in its infancy and, despite our natural impatience as a species, there are those of us willing to put the time and passion into it in the hopes that the future may look just a little bit brighter.

In this episode of Building a Better World, Hrish is joined by Illia Pashkov, Chief Metaverse Officer and Founder of ALTAR METAVERSE, the most secure and entertaining Metaverse HUB to collect, share, and sell your favorite items through NFT and AR. On top of that, he is also the Chief Design Officer and Co-Founder of WEEDAR, and the Chief Executive Officer at PSHKV.

Prior to this, he was the CEO and Co-Founder of Player’s Health and the Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of GhostDrive. To say that Illia is a visionary might even be a bit of an understatement!

The Metaverse: A Late Bloomer - When Illia first started his journey into the tech industry, the allure of the Metaverse technology was a prominent one, but it was never quite developed enough to justify getting involved. Over time, however, as it grew in prominence and rose to fame, with the help of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, more and more people started to pay attention, and the world of Web3 and NFTs really started to grow in popularity, opening the door for Illia to truly get involved.

“ALTAR” - The name ALTAR METAVERSE comes from Illia wanting to create an alternative, augmented reality metaverse that could do away with metrics and data, instead focusing on entertaining users through technology. He wanted to make something that could make this life more enjoyable and fun, but more importantly, help others. He wants every NFT to provide a different experience for each user, giving them more variety in their time in the Metaverse.

The Metaverse is Still Growing - The key to getting people to use the Metaverse in real life whilst also exploring the real world is through simply making it fun. People need to be incentivized to do something and it has to be appealing. Unfortunately, the technology is still in its infancy and not at the level we want it to be just yet, but it’s a stepping stone. Ready or not, Web3 and the Metaverse is the future, and when we get to that point it will be far easier to build something. It’s not perfect, but it’s getting there.

Can the Metaverse Heal the Planet? - Illia admits that he’s been trying to figure out how the Metaverse can heal the planet, whether that be through the environment or society. He’s working on as many projects as possible to achieve this. After all, he’s always asking himself if something will make him feel better, not just about himself, but also about the world. It’s that question that drives him.

The Building a Better World podcast is hosted by Hrish Lotlikar. In each episode, Hrish interviews people who are involved or interested in the Metaverse, VR, and Web3, and are actively using technologies to improve people’s real-world lives in a practical way.