Worldcoin, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, announced in an media event this morning that it will officially be renamed "World Network (abbreviated as World)", and plans to release "Orb 2.0".
We know that World's goal is to create an identity verification system, aiming to address the challenges brought by artificial intelligence through solving digital identity issues and promoting universal basic income (UBI). To achieve this goal, World has launched the biometric device Orb to scan irises, and users who successfully complete the iris scan will receive a World ID to prove their identity and be airdropped $WLD tokens.
Brand Rebranding, World Chain Launch
Regarding the brand rebranding, World stated in a press release:
As the project's scale has expanded and the importance of the World ID human proof-of-personhood protocol has increased, the name "Worldcoin" is no longer sufficient to encompass the project's mission - to accelerate the development of every person.
With the establishment of World Chain, World ID, and Worldcoin as the three core pillars, World has truly become a network composed of real and verified human beings, dedicated to building an optimistic future where humanity remains at the center of AI progress.
During the brand rebranding, World also announced that its Ethereum L2 World Chain, built on the OP Stack, has been launched on the mainnet. From the tweet below, we can see that many projects, including OP Mainnet, Alchemy, Uniswap, Safe, Dune, and Etherscan, have already supported the launch of World Chain.
Orb 2.0: As Easy to Summon as Ordering Takeout!
Furthermore, World showcased the latest plans for "Orb 2.0". This new version will use fewer components to speed up construction, use more efficient chips to improve performance, and run on open-source code.
Chief Designer Rich Heley said:
"We plan to massively scale up the number of Orbs, potentially requiring 1,000 more than the current amount."
Heley particularly emphasized that in addition to increasing the quantity, Orbs also need to be deployed in more locations. He stated:
We intend to place Orbs in more everyday locations, such as local cafes. Additionally, users will be able to summon Orbs at home through an app, just like ordering a pizza.
It is worth noting that Taiwanese legislator Ke Jie-jun was also invited to participate in this launch event. According to the Facebook post he provided, it seems to suggest that Taiwan will soon also introduce Orbs, allowing interested users to register.
World ID 3.0
Interestingly, in the past, users had to scan their irises through Orbs to obtain a World ID, but World plans to accelerate the adoption of the World ID system by allowing people to submit government-issued ID cards, passports, and other documents as an alternative registration method, in addition to using the Orb.
This is the brand new World ID 3.0, which introduces World ID credentials, allowing more people to participate in the World network and benefit from it through activated documents such as NFC-enabled passports.
However, this method cannot fully prove that users are human, as it only verifies that they hold valid documents. To address this, Chief Security Officer Adiran Ludwig stated that they will strengthen the verification measures to prevent deep fakes.
Additionally, they will launch a new product - World ID Deep Faces. This technology will allow users to confirm whether online interactions are with real people or deep fakes, but the prerequisite is that the user must have a World ID in order to use this feature to verify the authenticity of their conversation partner.
