Welcome to the Summarin - your weekly dose of commentary and summaries of the most interesting topics from the world of culture, media and commerce. If you are new around here and like what you read, hit the subscribe button below.
In today’s edition (26.3.22):
Life in the Metaverse - through the lens of community and fashion
Human-Computer interfaces
NFT Unpack
Emotion and Money
The modern individual is a byproduct of technology. Look closely at all aspects of your life and you will see how deeply ingrained technology is with our evolution as a species. From agriculture, to communication, and culture - technology has armed humanity with the tools to survive and thrive. Nowadays, technology is being portrayed as both a good and an evil. On the one hand, we have the optimists who advocate for the proliferation of technology and who are planting the seeds of inspiring bold visions of the future. On the other hand, we have the voices of the skeptics who warn us of the harms and who recall times of old where the impact of technology was not so obvious, yet still prevalent.
A pinch of sobering skepticism is not a bad thing and can be harnessed to drive better innovation - with focus on equality, the common good and morality. However, real change happens suddenly and disruptively. It causes short-term pain for some but long-term gain is eventually what we end up with. A few things get broken on the way and, if sufficiently important, we use technology to fix them.
Technology is necessary and it is one of the main drivers of creation, connection and commerce. These three forces move human culture and advance society. On that journey, people organize themselves in communities within which they find new ways to express who they are, new ways to talk with each other, as well as new ways to transact. Crypto and the metaverse are just the next iteration of our relationship with technology. A space where technology, social constructs and money converge to give rise to the modern individual.
This world is marked by the emergence of a digital-first society comprised of communities that champion self-expression, interaction and exploration, and the financialization of culture. The mark of a successful community is its ability to provide members with the tools to freely create, connect and transact. Such spaces are open inclusive and inviting. A member can recreate his real-world environment or build a completely unique over-the-top virtual one with its own laws of space and time. Over time, this member will accumulate a network (or multiple networks) of other modern individuals that share in some of the same interests. Eventually, those who wish, will find ways to be rewarded for the creativity and time they are spending in these digital spaces.
The communities partaking in such metaverses end up forming a network of interconnected entities that has strong intrinsic rewards for those who participate in. The emotional appeal and satisfaction from being part of a community attracts other trailblazers who will eventually pave the way for the masses and the widespread adoption of this new technology. Those are the pioneers, the geeks, the purists. Emotion attracts purity.
When these networks achieve a certain scale, they start attracting a different type of community member - the speculator, an actor that sees monetary opportunities and participates for an external, tangible reward. These are the brands, the traders, the investors - actors who bet on a financial reward for their participation. The truth is, without those participants, the network cannot grow to its full potential. Web3 and crypto have spearheaded that relationship and accelerated the impact. Hence, the financialization of culture (…everything).
Those two dynamics create tension. The trailblazers come to a network for the emotional payoff. Belonging, identity, shared interests, freedom to be and do as you like. They are the ones on which communities are built and the platforms establish their credibility. Eventually, monetary incentives are introduced. Those are not evenly distributed and they start to create divisions. First, between the haves and the have-nots. Second, a more brutal division, between the trailblazers who participate for the intrinsic benefits the platform provides them with, and the speculators who come for the potential of a payoff.
Lessons From 19 Years in the Metaverse (The Atlantic)
“Au is, in short, one of the few people with a real historical perspective on, and lived experience in, metaverse communities. Since Facebook rebranded as Meta, the idea of the metaverse has been consumed by a kind of ahistorical hype cycle. Brands are flooding into the space and people are issuing broad proclamations about what a virtual world is supposed to look like. There are also plenty who are dismissing the metaverse as “something nobody asked for,” but as Au’s experience shows, there are millions of people who’ve been dutifully cultivating and thriving in digital worlds for decades now.”
This interview is shining a light on Second Life, the metaverse platform in existence since 2003 and often being overlooked or dismissed in the common discourse. A story about the vibrant economy of Second LIfe, the impact communities can have in a virtual world when they are given the tools to create, and how the experience in real life gets translated into this virtual space. The interview is full of amazing quotes and thought-provoking insights. Read story
You Are What You Wear :: NFTs Are Fashion (Bobby Kim)
“If the Internet is our Primary Life and Second Life is what transpires in the physical world, the Metaverse is a comprehensive and holistic experience where we don’t discern boundaries between both realities. While we wait for the Metaverse to materialize, much of the sensory gaps will have to be filled with our imagination, faith, and suspension of belief. We already do that now, translating fonts into our friends’ faces as we chat with them.”
Bobby Kim of The Hundreds drops his thoughts about Metaverse Fashion in an essay that explores the relationship between technology and self-expression. To understand fashion, one has to understand technology. Read story
Metaverse Fashion Week is here! (Decentraland)
“Get ready to dress your avatar to the nines and take a front-row seat at the catwalk—everyone’s a VIP in the metaverse!” Decentraland is hosting the first Metaverse Fashion Week. Luxury brands, DJs, NFT artists and web3 enthusiasts will all mingle in the game during four days of events spread across various locations in Decentraland. Fashion shows, after parties, keynotes and panels - all served in a rough pixelated form. Read story
Snap buys brain-computer interface startup for future AR glasses (The Verge)
Snap is not often in the spotlight. The “camera company”, as they like to self-identify, is somewhat of a silent giant that is very actively building in the AR space. A series of acquisitions in recent years shows a strong commitment to developing products and software that fit within the broad definition of a metaverse. And while all the attention is going to Meta and the slate of announcements coming out of the company, garnering both optimistic and critical reactions, LA-based Snap is aggressively laying the foundations of a comprehensive metaverse strategy. Don’t sleep on this one. Read story
In the article, CTRL-Labs (a Meta-owned company) is mentioned. In the beginning of the year I listened to a great podcast between Meta’s CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth and the co-founder of CTRL-Labs Thomas Reardon who discussed how next generation of technologies like EMG at the wrist will help decode electrical signals from our muscles based on very small movements of our hands or fingers — and eventually just from the intention to perform a gesture. The future is exciting. Listen here
NFT Unpacked (No Mercy, No Malice)
Scott Galloway does a nice account of the current state of NFTs and the dynamics underlining the hype. Without being dismissive of the technology and potential around it, Galloway outlines on the importance of scarcity and authenticity in a digital economy sprinkled with a sober evaluation of where things are today and what the main use cases for NFTs are. Read story
Tweets
That’s all for this week.
Take care,
Marin