Years ago, a space exploration documentary was watched by a young and curious mind. The experience proved to be life-changing and would instill purpose into Mary Spio, who would eventually become a space engineer. Her heart longed to one day walk on the moon and with the help of an Oculus headset, her dream came true.

Now, Spio has become a huge contributor to the shift in innovation and technologies within the movie industry and beyond. She wants to imprint hope and purpose into the next generation of changemakers by making virtual reality accessible globally.

“I always go back to this documentary that had me thinking about what if and then led to me creating industry-changing technologies today that have already impacted the lives of so many and multiple generations thereafter. I just want to make these technologies more accessible,” Spio said exclusively to AfroTech.

What CEEK Offers

Spio is the heart and founder of CEEK, “an award-winning developer of premium social virtual and augmented reality experiences.”

The platform was created to place power back into the hands of creators. CEEK allows creators to launch new revenue streams from their work catalog. In addition, artists can cultivate unique experiences for their fans through virtual live concerts, sporting events, and never-before-seen experiences.

Users will be able to interact and connect with artists through 360 videos, True 3D, or 2D streaming. The immersive experience is heightened as users can participate alongside friends and interact in intimate settings with their favorite artists. CEEK successfully connects gameplay and social network, accomplishing its mission to ensure the Metaverse is accessible to all.

“There have been so many iterations of technology, whether it’s Web 1.0 or Web 2.0, which have skipped so many people. Now our focus is accessibility and alignment. We want to make the metaverse accessible to everyone no matter where they’re located on the globe. If people can access it, if they can play with it, if they can be exposed to it, who knows what they’re going to create in the future, just like myself,” Spio said.

Creators Can Take Control Of Their Revenue

Unlike other platforms, which embrace an advertising model as a main source of revenue, CEEK works to guarantee creators can profit directly off their content through paid experiences. This is timely as many creators are fighting a battle on two fronts — proper financial compensation and the ongoing pandemic. For example, artists previously had the opportunity of touring to earn an additional stream of revenue. However, the ability to tour was stripped away for many due to global shutdowns amidst the pandemic.

“Many artists, now that they are not touring, are realizing ‘Look, this model is broken and we need something that’s going to allow us to monetize directly through our fans,’” she said. “That’s what CEEK provides, a vehicle for them to directly connect and monetize their content with various channels that fans are paying to consume.”

CEEK Creates Balanced Creative Economy

According to a study, wealth is concentrated among the top one percent within the creative economy. CEEK recognizes systems currently value specific individuals and targetted demographics. The platform allows creators to participate in a balanced and fair economy.

“We find that the biggest need is for people who are global. YouTube may not have advertising in certain countries or oftentimes platforms may tell urban artists their work is not brand-safe so they are not monetizing it,” Spio said.

She continued: “You have these broken systems that favor certain people and certain demographics over others. There is no way to justify any of this. That is what we are here to fix. We want to ensure that the artist is monetizing directly through their user base. Why not have 10 million views that I get paid for every single one of those views because my users are actually paying for a ticket to watch that content?”

Creators Benefit More Through CEEK Smart VR Token

Alongside compensation in standard USD, content creators have the option to be compensated with the CEEK Smart VR Token.

According to a recent report, CEEK’s in-app currency is the leading crypto coin for virtual and augmented reality.

Spio told us the token witnessed a growth of over 25,000 percent, affirming the gleaming process the currency provides for compensation. Creators can create a blockchain wallet to transfer their funds or purchase CEEK points, which can be used throughout the application.

Artists can further deepen their relationship with their fandom by creating NFT offerings such as t-shirts and various artworks. CEEK works with the world’s best designers to create NFT’s that stand out among competitors. Recently, a CEEK creator racked in half a million dollars from paintings in the virtual realm.

“In today’s world, people’s virtual personas are just as important to them as their real-world personas, especially right after the period of the pandemic where everybody was at home. That was such a quantum leap and the need for that virtual person is why people are paying a million dollars for painting or $1.2 million for a virtual house,” Spio said.

Users who snag an artist’s NFT can sport their new offering at upcoming virtual events or opt-out and choose to later sell the digital piece, most likely earning more profit due to its rarity.

What’s Next For CEEK?

As the company looks ahead, it plans to release a creator dashboard in Q2 in hopes to empower its content creators with additional resources. Soon, artists across various mediums such as music, sports, education, and more will be able to utilize CEEK’s next integration.

Applications for the creative dashboard will be open to all premium content creators.