World wants big retail partners to house more of its Orbs

When Worldcoin rebranded as World a year ago, it laid out a plan to scale operations that included more locations for its iris-scanning Orbs. Now, according to a blog post, the company is rolling out its Partner Markets program to large enterprises across the globe, looking for those who would house the Orb as a draw for foot traffic.

“Today, 1,300 Orbs are hosted around the world,” the post says. “Video game stores in Tokyo. Cafes in London. Restaurants in Buenos Aires.” But that’s not enough: to embody its name, it needs more Orbs. Lots more Orbs. “Your storefronts can benefit too whether you are in one of the 20+ countries where World’s proof of human technology is available, or if you want to bring World’s technology to your country.”

World says there are three major benefits to having Orbs in your store. First is that foot traffic, and the potential for conversion: “individuals who verify may opt in to receive Worldcoin, a digital token, they can spend on products and services in your store (through a straightforward payment integration).”

Second is that the World Foundation, the firm’s non-profit arm, pays businesses a fee for every person who offers up their iris biometrics in-store.

Third, “World helps your company leverage World ID in your business, ensuring you get a larger share of human clientele and less bot or fraudulent activity.” An Orb in the store, so to speak, is two in the hand: World is selling not just its hardware – admittedly a shiny gimmick designed to draw attention – but its whole digital identity and proof of personhood (PoP) network. Whether it’s catfishing on Tinder or barring bots from multiplayer games, World wants to be the conduit through which digital personhood flows.

No Orbs in mom-and-pop shops, but lots in hot springs, spas

For now, however, it only wants popular friends in the retail world. “Eligible partners must have an extensive retail footprint (or ability to partner with one),” as well as “the operational muscle to identify potential sites, deploy the hardware, and build a strategic launch plan that ensures they get the most out of the partnership.” The firm also asks that partners “align with World’s mission of universal proof of human, finance and connection for every human.”

Among those in apparent alignment is Medirom Healthcare Technologies Inc., a Tokyo-based “diversified healthcare company.” According to a press release, Medirom “plans to complete the deployment of the World ID proof of human authentication device Orb across 100 of its Re.Ra.Ku relaxation studios in Japan within this month, and to expand the deployment to 200 locations nationwide further.”

The expansion marks the largest installation of Orbs in Japan to date, putting Orbs across Re.Ra.Ku’s spa, massage, hot spring and aromatherapy outlets. As previously reported, the partnership will see World ID integrated directly into Medirom’s Re.Ra.Ku relaxation salon chain.

World lets customers step right up to No Bot Store

The concern that people will soon be asked to prove their age for everything could be short-lived, as World aims to integrate the requirement to prove humanness into daily life.

“Picture this,” says another blog from the firm. “You’re online at midnight, credit card ready, refreshing frantically for those limited-edition sneakers. The page loads, you click ‘add to cart’ and… they’re gone. In 0.3 seconds. To a bot. And they are already listed on a resale site for 5x retail.”

The travesty of not getting sneakers, a gaming console or other limited goods – or, more pertinently to a general audience, concert tickets – is not something World can allow to stand. As such, it has opened a store in Los Angeles, “a retail experience where proof of human was the only currency that mattered. No bots allowed.”

World promises that the No Bot Shop is “just real humans getting first dibs on the drops, tickets and experiences that usually vanish before we can blink.” However, the fine print reveals the gamified nature of the bit: visitors who verified their humanness via an Orb “unlocked access to a prize wheel stocked with hard-to-get items.”

“Everyone who verified their humanness left with something,” says the post.

Turns out World’s marketing stunt is more like The Price is Right than paradise. But it maintains that it “has already run online ‘human only’ experiences through Shopify integrations, and with over 15 million verified humans globally, the infrastructure for bot-free commerce is actively growing.”

World, as is its wont, frames the idea as a revolution: “imagine a world where online shopping feels fair” and “digital commerce serves humans.”

We had that world before AI bots entered the picture. Adding a requirement that one must scan their irises to be allowed to go to the Bad Bunny concert does not seem like an especially good fix – unless, one supposes, you’ve already had them scanned by your massage chair.

Article Topics

biometric enrollment  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  iris biometrics  |  World  |  World ID  |  World ID Orb