English | EN 
On the 15th of October our book “Real Fake – Playing with Reality in the Age of AI, Deepfakes and the Metaverse” has been released. It is our take on synthetic media, deepfakes, fake news, conspiracy theories, memes, internet culture, Generation Z and Alpha, crypto, narrative economics, virtual humans, CGI influencers, vTubers, NFTs, DAOs, VR, Web3, the Creator Economy and the Metaverse. Real Fake is about how humans continuously manipulate reality and how new digital technology tools enable us to go one step further in this ancient game.
IOC sells NFTs… but not in China
You can now own a piece of Olympic history. The IOC has stepped into the NFT market. You’re able to buy digital versions of the famous Olympic pins, like this poster (don’t right click on it) or pictures of Olympic mascots. The digital pins are licensed through the IOC’s official licensing program, with the organization taking royalties on each sale. The IOC is partnering with game company nWay. Since both gaming and crypto is highly regulated in China, you can’t download nWay’s app in China.
We Are The Gods Of The Virtual Worlds We Create
“Within 100 years, he predicts virtual reality will be so good as to be near indistinguishable from physical reality in any event. If that is the case, then the human designers of virtual worlds will assume almost divine powers. “Yes, we are the gods of the virtual worlds that we create.” But what rights should our simulated avatars, or sims, enjoy? What happens if, as Chalmers believes is possible, these sims acquire consciousness? He envisages a world in which simulated AIs will freely mix with biological creatures and this could unleash “one of the great civil rights struggles in history”. “I’d like to think there could be a society in which artificial and non-artificial beings coexist, just as there are societies where people of different nationalities and races and religions coexist,” he says.”
Zoomed Out
“Depersonalisation is a common dissociative experience characterised by distressing feelings of being detached or ‘estranged’ from one’s self and body and/or the world. […] We found that increased use of digital media-based activities and online social e-meetings correlated with higher feelings of depersonalisation. We also found that people reporting higher experiences of depersonalisation also reported enhanced vividness of negative emotions (as opposed to positive emotions).”
NFTs Make Up Only 1% Of Crypto Universe
“NFTs seem to be everywhere as of late, but data show they account for just 1% of the overall cryptocurrency market. NFTs represent just a snippet of $2 trillion crypto ecosystem.”
I wonder how the market will look like in the next five years. Will the industry have grown significantly or was the idea of digital scarcity a fad?
The Internet Turned Money Into A Hobby
“There has never been a more opportune time to have “money” as a hobby. […] The gamification of money, and the blurring boundaries between what constitutes investing and what constitutes entertainment, have raised plenty of concerns, and many argue that the government is too far behind the times to adequately address it.”
When the Stagnation Goes Virtual
“The burgeoning NFT community see themselves not as art collectors, but as the vanguard of a larger shift from physical to digital life. The NFT boom is not about art or ownership. It is about escape. […] In the NFT community, we are witnessing the logical conclusion of a generation that is so alienated, so profoundly unfulfilled, that they are considering abandoning the physical world altogether. […] NFT community leaders believe that they are just early to understand that the future lies in virtual worlds, and that normies will embrace the metaverse in good time. The strength of NFT communities is therefore an important proof of concept for the broader viability of online life.”
Free NFTs
MUST WATCH: Old Friends. New Fun.
I don’t get it.
MUST WATCH: Microsoft Just KILLED Zuck’s Metaverse
MUST WATCH: Mind Reader
Kind of cringy ad from Amazon.
Contact
Real Fake is a weekly newsletter in which SogetiLabs’s Research Institute VINT examines the future where synthetic reality becomes part or our objective reality. We investigate the impact of new technology on people, organisations and our society. If you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to contact us. You can reach us at vint@sogeti.com.
