"Kirck has also been invited to speak about NFTs and the metaverse in some of the world's largest NFT, metaverse and crypto events."
THE metaverse is a paradigm-shifting concept that is just taking off worldwide. Don't confuse it with virtual reality. It is a merging of virtual, augmented, physical, mixed, extended, simulated and multi-sensory extended reality.
If you invest in the right property and choose the ideal asset with a reasonable price, you can have immense growth potential in the metaverse. It is not meant to replace the internet but rather enhance the latter.
One young and adventurous guy who has dauntlessly ventured into this new frontier is 27-year-old Kirck Allen, chief executive officer of Kaloscope, a company he put up and introduced in March 2021.
Get the latest news delivered to your inbox
Sign up for The Manila Times' daily newsletters
By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy."After arriving in Dubai with no contacts and limited funds, my business partner Ryan Lee and I started buying and selling NFTs (non-fungible tokens) online, converting them into crypto," Kirck recalled.
"We flipped $500 into $35,000 throughout the span of four months, which we then used to pay for cost of living and market research to build the concept of Kaloscope."
Kaloscope describes itself as the world's first social media metaverse platform where users can "project, collect, socialize and interact" with their NFTs through augmented, virtual and extended reality.
"As a gamer, I was always interested in the metaverse," Kirck said. "The fact that you can create a new identity and spend hours playing with friends and traveling to other virtual worlds to experience new things is what constantly excites me."
Already immersed in the blockchain space since 2014 when he was still a teenager, Kirck became involved with some projects that aimed to tokenize sustainable farming in Europe. "I got into NFTs around March 2021, after my passion for collecting digital collectables was ignited from an app called Veve," he said.
Kirck studied law and business at Kingston University in London, which is also the alma mater of his father, Nicholas Allen. His mother is the queen of Philippine feng shui, Marites Allen."The pandemic really accelerated the use of the metaverse as people stayed home more and interacted with most of their colleagues online," Kirck noted.
"One of the major advantages of the metaverse is that brands, artists, games, organizations and individuals can create immersive mixed reality experiences for their fans, users and supporters. In this way, people can be more emotionally invested when they offer new products or services."
Metaverse is very new
The metaverse is very new, if not still unheard of, to a lot of people. Kirck explains it as such: "The way I describe the metaverse is by describing it like being in the internet rather than on the internet," he pointed out.
"This means that it is a more immersive experience where you could potentially enter a metaverse to learn about a brand rather than just reading about it in a flat, two — dimensional view through a screen."
For metaverse to be largely understood and appreciated by many, it has to hit mass adoption, Kirck said. "A social media metaverse must be created, so that people can share their experiences and invite their friends to try it out," he added.
"I believe that because the baseline of the metaverse is its community base, experiences within these virtual worlds will be from the community that built it, rather than a centralized entity directing content for the sake of engagement."
"In this way, mental health could improve as it also takes away the anxiety that people feel when they meet new people in real life. But, of course, the technology is still pretty early to tell the positive or negative effects of a platform. One thing is for sure, it is a necessity."
Sharing his knowledge
Last May 1, Kaloscope became a sponsor of NFT, Metaverse and Gamefi 2022 in Manila, the first such event in Southeast Asia. "We presented some of the technology we were developing during the past year," Kirck said. "I was also a panelist speaker during the metaverse talk, where I shared some knowledge on how this new technology will impact business in the future."
Kirck has also been invited to speak about NFTs and the Metaverse in some of the world's largest NFT, metaverse and crypto events such as the Crypto Expo Dubai and, just recently, at the largest conference of its kind in New York City, or the NFT.NYC.
Kaloscope comes from two words, "kalos," which is the Greek word for beautiful, and "scope," another word for vision. "So together, Kaloscope means 'beautiful vision'," Kirck said. "I named it that way after a solo trip to Greece a year before we built the business. The name just felt right for the app that we were building."
During the pandemic, the two biggest challenges for Kirck were building the Kaloscope team and keeping committed schedules. "Working with people remotely and keeping the team motivated during the tough periods is tough, too," he said. "I enjoy building teams that have the same passion as I do, as well as building communities that support our innovation."
Kaloscope claims to be the first social media metaverse platform where users can 'project, collect, socialize and interact' through augmented, virtual and extended reality.Kirck's biggest ambition in life is to change the world and create something that will impact people's lives globally. "It hasn't changed since," he said. "Only the medium of which I use to achieve that. With Kaloscope, I truly believe that we can make that happen.
Kirck studied law and business at Kingston University in London. "The skill I learned most from that experience really is the ability to interact with people and intelligently hold a conversation," he said. "I did not take up any higher education and just self-taught my skills that I could use for building a business."
He doesn't believe in balancing work. "Instead, harmonizing my activities personally with my work is how I keep things together," he maintained. "Having to go to the office every day also keeps me grounded, so I have a place to work rather than always bring my tasks at home."
He still finds to detach and unwind. "I spend time with friends, walking by the beach, listening to music and eating nice food around Dubai," he said. "I spend time with my family when I meet them in the Philippines by visiting El Nido or having a nice British meal when I visit them in London."
He manages to play soccer occasionally "but my passion is playing guitar and writing music in my spare time." He also watches "movies that can increase my knowledge about business or in life."
A normal day starts with a "nice, cold shower to wake me up," followed by a trip to the gym. "After that, I watch and read the news to update myself on world events as I head to the office," he said. "After 7 or 8 p.m., I head out for a nice dinner with friends or attend other networking events. I normally spend weekends at home educating myself more about the metaverse, NFTs and crypto trading."
Kaloscope was a sponsor of the NFT, Metaverse and Gamefi 2022 event held last May in Manila, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. contributed photosKirck is the son of the queen of Philippine feng shui, Marites Allen. His mom is an "important inspiration" when it comes to entrepreneurship. They constantly help each other. His dad is Nicholas Allen, also an alumnus of Kingston University.
"If I'm doing something within my industry that could potentially help improve her business, then I try my best to make that happen for her," he said of his mom.
Kirck also counts on a number of people that he gets advice from, which depends "on the situation I am in and it's specific on the timing and mood." He added that "overall, I always want to improve, so I talk to people who I feel give me the best value and help me better myself as a man, as an entrepreneur, as a leader, as an influencer and so much more."
About me
FIRST PAYCHECK
My first paycheck was a 20 GBP note (around P1,323), which I got from a week's worth of work delivering newspapers.
MORNING RITUAL
Cold showers to stimulate my mood.
AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Around 10 hours per day.
ROLE MODELS
Steve Jobs; my mom, Marites Allen, the feng shui queen; and my dad, Nicholas J. Allen
BEST SKILL
The ability to read people.
GOAL
My goal is to change the world, hopefully by building a platform to get more users to enter the metaverse.
LIFE FACT
I love traveling, writing music and solving complex puzzles.