Decentralised World
The web reimagined
“Sectors enjoying an upward trend include technology, retail and software services. The digital industry has played a vital role during this crisis and has accelerated many companies’ plans to digitalise work processes.”
The Covid -19 pandemic has had an uneven impact on the world economy and its populations. The path to recovery has been named a “K-shaped recovery”, meaning that different economic sectors recover at different rates. Sectors enjoying an upward trend include technology, retail and software services. The digital industry has played a vital role during this crisis and has accelerated many companies’ plans to digitalise work processes.
The digitisation of our lives can also be seen as a cause for concern, especially privacy and security. For the digital world to become entirely accepted, we have to trust technology and control our data and digital identities.
The pandemic has shown how much can be achieved with technology, but we still live with the legacy of the Web 2.0 era. The transition to an internet of value requires that we own our data. For the next Internet Web 3.0 era, Blockchain, quantum technologies and virtual reality could drive the transformation. Within the next two decades, technological advancements could revolutionise the Internet and create an environment that can empower an environment that is safe for all and provide immersive virtual reality experiences as part of daily life.
Decentralisation and democratisation will move the world forward. Decentralisation creates fragmentation, worlds in worlds with their currencies and economies in which active participants are in charge. The whole world has become a video game.
Banner image: Photo illustration by Kenny Schachter
1/A Digital World
Digitized everything
Web 3.0 or the Spatial Age is the next step in computer and information technology. The boundary between digital content and physical objects as we know it will disappear. We create twins of our physical reality in the virtual realm and bring the digital into our physical environments.
This will be achieved by integrating different technologies such as augmented and virtual reality, advanced networks such as 5G, geolocation, IoT devices and sensors, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Web 3.0 will combine three layers: a physical layer, a digital information layer, and a spatial interaction layer.
The spatial web will change our efficiency, communication and entertainment; interaction with information will move from screens to a physical space. Every piece of information will become spatial, you can see the data layer by layer, and you can communicate with it; what once was static becomes dynamic and magical.
Computers in Web 3.0 come to understand information like humans to deliver faster and more relevant results. A high-speed network connection is required to quickly and securely transfer high-resolution media experiences from physical objects to a compute layer and back to the end-user.
Decentralisation, driven by Web 3.0 and open-source, will give people control of their digital identity. Blockchain aims to provide security and to authenticate and decentralise information. Ownership will be divided over many, and this will act as an antidote to tech giants.
Why this matters
The move from a 90-degree to a 360-degree environment will enrich both the digital and physical experience; there will be no longer a separation between the two.
Dream Virtual Play/ The Royal Shakespeare Company
Dream is a virtual play that will be performed by actors in motion capture suits and animated in real-time. The play will be live-streamed to audiences who will see not the performers, or the stage, but their movements and voices will be expressed by virtual avatars in the virtual world. See video here
Spatial/ Anand Agarawala and Jinha Lee
Spatial developed a VR/AR platform for company meetings. With one photo, you can transform into a 3D avatar and interact with objects in the digital world. Any device can connect, creating dynamic and engaging virtual spaces. See video here
Virtual Singapore/ National Research Foundation (NRF) and Dassault Systèmes
A ‘twin’ city model of Singapore was developed using 3D topographical mapping and IoT data. The platform allows for experimentation and test bedding for urban planning, without the need to interfere with other services. See video here
2/The influence of gaming
A gaming perspective
The explosive growth of gaming during the pandemic shows that many have used gaming as a means of connection. Gaming has become mainstream because it brings communities together. Currently, there are 2 billion gamers worldwide, and forecasts predict there will be about 3 billion gamers by 2025, a 50% increase in the number of gamers worldwide. Gaming is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. China and India are likely to produce more than 50% of all games released.
New business models such as support for in-game micropayments are changing the economics of gaming. The model of engagement over income; when players become more involved in an emotional and social level, they are more willing to spend within the game.
E-Sports have influenced the Game Industry in the past few years, e-sports competitions went online during the pandemic, and this impacts gaming. Games that are more fun to watch than play is a direction for games in the future. E-Sports beats regular sports by far in terms of revenue and are set to become more mainstream.
Gaming influences fashion, sports, movies and media. Viewers can now co-create and choose between story angles. In this way, they control the design, action and progress. Linear experiences change to a personalised one, with everyone enjoying a unique experience; this is already a reality in e-sports.
Why this matters
E-sports and gaming impact culture; there will be increased interaction between gaming, esports, music, retail, fashion and film. Games have become platforms for artists, composers and music fans.
B Bounce/ Burberry
Burberry brings fashion into the gaming scene. Fans and casual gamers explore the monogram through the Burberry-clad deer. Players race to the moon, in a competition to win digital prizes, and a real Burberry puffer jacket as the first-place prize. Play here
Decentraland/ Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordano
A decentralised Blockchain platform in which users can purchase and gain ownership over virtual land. All the land and content reside in the company’s servers, and content uploaded cannot be removed by anyone. Users have true autonomy over their land, controlling how it behaves, applying services, or even vote on policies. Explore here
The art of worldbuilding in videogames. Worldbuilding is about heightening the emotional impact of the gameplay and story.
Se-yeon “Geguri” Kim/ E-sports League
Ex-member of the Shanghai Dragons, Geguri was the only female player in the E-sports League for the game Overwatch. She became a role model and opened up E-sports to women in the professional scene. See video here
3/Producers & fans
Fandom
We are on the verge of monetising the virtual economy for the creators of music, art, movies, sports and gaming. Time spent online is growing, and this offers opportunities for digital content.
Digital platforms enable people to make a living from what they create, and technology can enhance the relationship between fan and creator. Platforms emphasise the connection between the creative maker and fan, a new entrepreneurial model powered by the internet.
Streaming platforms are becoming the most important source of income for many artists. Major record companies typically charge 50-80% of the royalties and are selective. 80% of artists’ music revenue comes from touring, and the pandemic quickly put this on hold. As a result, there has been an increase in alternative revenue sources as artists seek new platforms. Paid listening is the most obvious manifestation of the token economy, and artists experiment with creating new exclusive content.
An artist needs a minimum of 100 loyal fans to survive, and with their fan communities must develop a relationship that allows them to grow together. With micropayment features, fans can directly pay the artists they listen to. Fans can become sponsors, co-creators of value, stakeholders, investors and filters. Creators will create unique, organic and authentic content for their fans, fine-tuned to every subculture.
The digital revolution has had a profound impact on fandom, blurring the lines between producers and consumers. Creation is a homage to fandom, a way of connecting with other fans, and a unique expression of individuality.
Why this matters
Direct contact allows artists to get the best value from their creations. Fandom has become a social and co-creating cultural phenomenon.
Streaming/ Tyler “Ninja” Blevins
Ninja is considered a world-famous gamer on streaming platforms such as Twitch. He was involved in E-sports organisations, trending games, and collaborated with celebrities. His popularity opened streaming to a wider audience and companies as a possibility for monetisation. See more here
Post Malone/ P25 Music
As part of the 25th anniversary of Pokemon, a music program was initiated between The Pokemon Company and Universal Music Group. In an unexpected collaboration, Post Malone was featured in an avatar from in a virtual concert. See video here
NBA Top Shot/ Dapper Labs
NBA Top Shot is a trading card system using Blockchain to create scarcity for digital assets. Users can buy packs as an NFT, allowing the cards to be distinguished as authentic and unique. The popularity of the NBA players from fans and demand for high rated cards are still applicable in the digital world. See video here
4/Monetizing the digital
Cryptomedia
Non-replaceable tokens (NFTs) are crypto assets used for virtual and physical unique item trading. They are indivisible and not interchangeable in contrast to cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. Non-replaceable tokens and their smart contracts make it possible to add details such as the owner’s identity, extensive metadata or secure file associations. NFT’s change our notion of value.
An important emerging market for NFTs is creating digital collectables that derive their value from their scarcity. NFTs can represent unique tangible and intangible items, from collector sports cards, virtual real estate, digital sneakers, digital collectables, artwork and in-game purchases. CryptoKitties collectables were one of the earliest examples of NFTs.
Art was an early user of NFTs to prove the authenticity and ownership of digital art. More tokens will be developed for music, gaming, tickets, news, and photography. Virtual items can now exist outside of their game universes.
Moving into the future, NFTs will be used to unlock digital content and connect to physical assets. An NFT can represent a house, an item of clothing or a shoe; these can be redeemed when people purchase the NFT and transfer when the item is sold.
Why this matters
NFTs can be used to prove digital ownership, a significant advance for an increasingly digital world. A new economy is rising that monetizes virtual trading.
ECOMI/ VeVe
ECOMI is a licensed digital collectible marketplace that employs Blockchain. Pop culture and entertainment are brought back into the market through digital 3D figures. See more here
NFT art/ Fewocious
Fewocious is a 18-year-old digital artist that auctions his work on the NFT market. See more here
Unisocks Exchange/ Uniswap
A $SOCKS token can be exchanged on Uniswap for a real pair of limited edition socks. The prices of tokens can change based on each buy or sell, and can be sold back into the pool again. Read more here
Further reading
The Future of You/ Tracey Follows
Futurist Tracey Follows explores the mutation of the self with the rise and impact of new technologies. With multiple versions of ourselves online, Follows suggests we have the ability to recapture our freedoms and transform the very nature of personhood.
Token Economy/Shermin Voshmgir
A summary of existing knowledge about blockchain networks and other distributed ledgers as the backbone of the Web3, and contextualize the socio-economic implications of the Web3 applications such as smart contracts, tokens, and DAOs to the concepts of money, economics, governance and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Fandom as Methodology/ Catherine Grant, Kate Random Love
Fandom as Methodology proposes that many artists and art writers already draw on affective strategies found in fandom. With the current focus in many areas of art history, art writing, and performance studies around affective engagement with artworks and imaginative potentials, fandom is a key methodology that has yet to be explored.
Metaverse/ Charlie Flink
A book that explores how AR and VR represent a revolution in computing as impactful as the smartphone. In the coming age of empathic computing, will mixed reality replace phone calls?