A Sport is Born

Hello fellow traveler,

This is the first post of the Skypaper, a new outlet for us to share news, behind the scenes and guest features related to the sport of the future.

Before we get into what the new sport is, where did it come from?

The crew of Origami Air was taking an evening walk in Cascadia City, a Pacific Northwest metropolis that exists on a timeline 8 years from this one. That’s a story for another time.

We had stopped outside the Oriplex theater. This grand venue had us discussing the cultural hotspots of the city and we jokingly asked “where are the sports bars?” From there, we asked “what sports would be playing?”.

We looked around and someone’s eyes landed on a Zephyr – an eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft the crew uses to travel short distances in our worlds. The crew member quickly suggested “Zephyr races” and from there, our imaginations were firing.

Once we’d settled on a sky race, important decisions both large and small had to be explored. Who would compete? What were the rules? Who built the vehicles? When was the first race? But before we answer them, it’s important you know that Origami Air is a value powered organization. In virtual worlds, where imagination is the only limit, we guardrail our work with the maxim: “Feed the good wolf”. This is how we sidestep projects and partnerships that are motivated by greed or ethically dubious. Many “metaverse” companies aren’t so choosy. We won’t name names or call out get-rich-quick schemes. But rising floor prices aren’t what motivates us.

For thousands of years, sports have allowed humans to come together and connect around shared ideals. That ideal may be built on many moving pieces with multiple stakeholders per team, or it can be as simple as celebrating who can throw a log the furthest.

We are determined that the ideals our sport is built on set new examples and break away with the flaws of legacy leagues. Origami Air uses virtual worlds to explore the values and possibilities of alternate futures. Our first sport should be no different.

So…

While many traditional sports leave participants without transferable skills once they are injured or retire, embed practical workforce training into ours. MVU has worked at length to upskill and mentor our inaugural teams.

While sports can lead to debilitating injury or chronic pain for top athletes, ours will be free from physical harm. No broken necks or flaming wrecks in our world!

While some sports can be limited to only those who can afford them, we wanted to be open to applicants of varied means. Our sponsors and partners will continue to work to recruit a wide range of participants.

Speaking of sponsors, our league isn’t open to the highest bidder. We will only work with future focused brands like our flagship sponsor, Plink! – a radically sustainable and healthy drink – that are having a positive impact on the world.

The stadiums of traditional sports can wreak havoc on local habitats, and vehicular sports typically have huge carbon footprints. By taking flight in VR, ours are virtually emissions free. 

What else do we value? 

Imagination. Our sport must celebrate and reward imagination.

Collaboration. Our teams must collaborate to thrive!

This might read like a lofty mission for a VR jetbike race, but without loft, our bikes won’t soar. 

So, you now know why we started a new sport.

In future posts we will introduce you to Hyperbikes (the vehicle of choice), the teams, the rules of the game, the architecture and infrastructure of the first track and more.

In the meantime, we would like to thank our sponsors, partners and contributors:

Here’s to the race of tomorrow for the talent of today!

The Origami Crew,

Amy, Trisha, Joe & Max