Talk about moving from the metaverse to real life.
Red Wing Shoes is launching the Builders Exchange Program so that people can design “tiny houses” in the virtual world of Roblox that could become actual homes in the real world.
For every five skilled trades workers leaving the industry, only one is joining. But Red Wing Shoes figured out people are building but not in the traditional way we all think about; millions of young people are building in the virtual world in places like Roblox.
It’s an odd project for Red Wing Shoes, a global leader in the footwear industry. But it meets a social need.
Metaverse gamers will be able to visit the Red Wing BuilderTown in Roblox to help build virtual homes. For every tiny home built in the game, a donation from Red Wing will be given to Settled, an organization that houses the homeless via “tiny homes” villages. Tiny homes are designed for just one person.
As more user-generated virtual homes are built in the metaverse, more will be built in the real world, Red Wing Shoes said.
To illustrate and launch the first-of-its-kind initiative, Red Wing brought together leading virtual developer Naomi Clemens and general contractor Kemi Ndolo to transform a virtual world design and build it in the real world.