The Synthetic Minds podcast

In the dynamic landscape of the Synthetic Minds podcast, where science fiction converges with real-world technology and societal evolution, we delve into the intricate layers of futurism through the lens of celebrated narratives.

In the last episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with John Gaeta, a creator, inventor and an Academy Award-winning designer best known for his work on the Matrix Trilogy, where he pioneered form-bending innovations such as "Bullet Time", “Virtual Cinema” and "Volumetric Capture" to envision human, hero and god-like moments. He was also involved in The Matrix Awakens from 2021 as Executive Creative Development, Executive Producer, Writer, and in the Unreal Engine 5 demonstration featuring the universe of The Matrix, which is a great watch for anyone who wants to know how close the metaverse really is. Recent areas of exploration include “Photo Anime”, “Nuvies” (Natural User Movies), “Holo Cinema”, “Immersive Cinema”, Mixed Reality, and The "Magicverse".

In 2015, John co-founded Lucasfilm’s Immersive Entertainment division: ILMxLAB. “ILMxLAB seeks to “Develop, Produce and Release premium, story-based Immersive Entertainment Experiences for Star Wars and other imaginative universes”.He served as its Executive Creative Director, overseeing content strategy and multi-platform portfolio development. John and I discussed how important AR and VR are, especially regarding hyper-realistic content. We discussed the role of user-generated content in the metaverse and the infrastructure challenges of creating a hyper-realistic metaverse. Please tune in for more of our value-packed conversation.

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with Tiffany Xingyu Wang, the Chief Marketing Officer at OpenWeb, a premium community engagement platform that serves 1000+ publishers and advertisers with 100M+ monthly active users. She was named a Forbes Most Entrepreneurial CMO, and the Most Innovative CMO by the CMO Club. She was previously the Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Spectrum Labs, a contextual AI platform set to build a safer internet and keep over 1 billion users safe online.

Tiffany also co-founded Oasis Consortium, a think tank to advance digital sustainability through ethical standards and technologies for Web3.0, which launched the first comprehensive User Safety Standards for Web3. She is the host of Brand Safety Exchange, a destination of thought leadership for Trust and Safety leaders. She has been published and featured for her work in digital trust and safety on TIME, Harvard Business Review, MIT Technology Review, Forbes, VentureBeat, Digiday, Protocol, etc.

Tiffany shared her expertise regarding sustainability in the metaverse, the dangers of the metaverse and the need for ethical standards in the immersive internet. We also discussed the Oasis Consortium that she founded and its important role in creating an open metaverse. Stay tuned for more, and enjoy!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I chatted with the Founder and CEO of VERSES Labs, Gabriel René. VERSES is a spatial web software development group. He is the author of the #1 International Bestseller "The Spatial Web - How Web 3.0 Connects Humans, Machines, and AI to Transform the World" Gabriel is a technologist, entrepreneur, and author with a 25-year career in the technology, telecom and media industries specializing in emerging technologies like AR / VR / AI / IoT / DLT and their applications for industrial, fintech, GovTech and global standards organizations.

René serves as the acting Executive Director of the Spatial Web Foundation, a non-profit organization developing standards for the ethical interoperability between Augmented and Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Robotics and Distributed Ledger technologies designed to power the Web 3.0 era and dedicated to the ethical, interoperable and equitable adoption of Spatial Web technologies across every major industry.

As a deep technology pioneer, Gabriel has architected enterprise and consumer software and services in partnership with multiple Fortune 100 companies. In our conversation, we discussed the importance of the spatial web and some of the challenges of the spatial web that we need to overcome if we want to create an open metaverse. Stay tuned for that and more.

In this episode of The Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed the Co-Founder/Producer of Big Rock Creative (BRCvr), Athena Demos. BRCvr is an award-winning XR experience company creating groundbreaking experiences for global clients. Big Rock Creative won the Producer’s Guild Award for Innovation, the Aurea Award for creativity, the No Proscenium award for Best VR experience of 2020, and the Hermes' Platinum Award. With over 20 years of experience producing iconic events, like the LA Burning Man Decompression Arts and Music Celebration, as well as the Art of Change Inaugural Ball for President Obama in LA, she transitioned to the metaverse to produce BRCvr (Black Rock City Virtual Reality).

BRCvr is an official virtual Burning Man Experience whose scope is unprecedented in the VR space. Athena produced internationally recognized social impact projects such as Breonna’s Garden, which premiered at SXSW 2022. She has developed a philosophical approach to guiding humanity to build a foundational fabric for creative collaboration in the metaverse. As a result, she has been quoted in leading books and articles and has spoken at leading industry events.

She founded the LA League of Arts, a 501c3 organization created to foster community by facilitating the creative process through public art, education and events. She spent 8+ years as the Production Manager of the two-time Academy Award Winning documentary film company Moriah Films. Don’t miss out on our conversation as we discuss how brands can contribute to the metaverse and how governments should embrace the metaverse to develop public virtual spaces for everyone to enjoy.

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with Benjamin Bertram Goldman. He is a producer, filmmaker, and media entrepreneur featured in The NY Times, CNN, WIRED, MSNBC, HBO, TechCrunch, BBC, FUJI TV, and Metavision. He has been exploring the metaverse creatively and professionally for over 10 years, with a particular focus on the intersection of the metaverse and the emerging world of virtual production.

Benjamin studied virtual production at NYU and CG Spectrum, built and moderated several online communities, and today leads the creation of a virtual production studio at the sustainable investing firm Ethic, in addition to serving as a metaverse advisor to multiple companies.

During the interview, we talked about avatars, identity in the metaverse, and how people interact with avatars. We also talked about how to deal with impostor avatars, some of the ethical challenges of the metaverse, and the role of NFTs in creating a rich and vibrant metaverse economy. Enjoy!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed Bayan Towfiq, the Founder and CEO at Subspace, which is building a global private network for real-time applications and the new working-from-home reality as well as the metaverse. Subspace routes traffic over the world’s most highly available, ultra-low latency, global private network with a simple configuration change.

During the interview, we discussed the technical challenges of building an open metaverse and what we need to bring hyper-realistic volumetric data to VR and AR devices all around the world. We also covered in-network applications and why they are crucial for the metaverse, as well as the role of blockchain.

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with Alec Lazarescu, the Vice President of Software Engineering at Savvas Learning Company. He also founded VerseTech Metaverse, an educational organization committed to growing conversations and thought leadership on applying emerging technologies, including AI, XR, VR, and AR, as well as blockchain, to the evolving concept of the metaverse. In addition, he runs the largest AI, chatbot, and voice community in New York City.

Alec has expertise in defining and executing the technical strategy and architecture for innovative solutions leveraging the latest in NLP research, voice, machine learning frameworks, and distributed cloud infrastructure best practices. A hands-on leader focused on working alongside C-level executives and founders from enterprise companies, SMBs, and startups to bring products from concept to market while building and empowering high-performing engineering teams.

Tune in to our conversation as we discuss the role of blockchain in the metaverse, the danger of the metaverse, and the role of digital fashion in the immersive internet. Enjoy!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with Neil Trevett, the Vice President of Developer Ecosystems at NVIDIA, where he is responsible for enabling and encouraging advanced applications to use GPU acceleration. Neil is also serving as the elected President of the Khronos Group, where he created and chaired the OpenGL ES working group that defined the industry standard for 3D graphics on mobile devices. At Khronos, he also chairs the OpenCL working group for portable, parallel heterogeneous computing, helped initiate the WebGL standard that is bringing interactive 3D graphics to the web and is now working to help formulate standards for vision and neural network inferencing.

Previously, as Vice President of 3Dlabs, Neil was at the forefront of the silicon revolution bringing interactive 3D to the PC, and he established the embedded graphics division of 3Dlabs to bring advanced visual processing to a wide range of non-PC platforms. Neil was elected President for eight consecutive years of the Web3D Consortium dedicated to creating open standards for communicating real-time 3D on the Internet.

Neil will talk to us about a constellation of standards necessary to have a truly interconnected metaverse or an interoperable metaverse. We discussed the need for an open metaverse, what we need to do to achieve that, and how we can keep our data private in the metaverse. Don’t miss out on our super interesting conversation!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with Richard Kerris, the Vice President of the Omniverse developer platform and the industry general manager for media and entertainment at NVIDIA. NVIDIA’s Omniverse is an easily extendible platform with 3D design collaboration and scalable multi-GPU real-time true-to-reality simulation. With a career spanning Apple, Lucasfilm and Amazon/AWS, Richard’s experience combine driving marketing and product development with a focus on bringing new ideas to life. At Apple, he directed developer relations and managed Final Cut Pro, Logic and Aperture.

At Lucasfilm, he served as CTO, managing research and development, IT and information services. Richard has given keynote addresses at GTC, Asia Broadcast and China Joy Expo and delivered multiple Apple Worldwide Developers Conference presentations. He currently serves on the Bay Area Board of the Visual Effects Society and is an active member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.

Richard and I discussed the importance of interoperability and transferability of assets across the metaverse. We talked about digital twins, how the Omniverse platform can help enterprise organizations, and how important content will be for the metaverse. Stay tuned and enjoy!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed Justin Hochberg, the Founder and CEO of the Virtual Brand Group (VBG), which strategizes, builds, and monetizes brands in fashion, entertainment, sports, retail and lifestyle across all of web3. Some of their most recognized successes include turning Forever 21 into one of the Metaverse’s “top 10 brands for 2022”, launching “The Voice” singing competition, which airs in 145 territories, into Decentraland and designing Barbie’s first-ever virtual fashion line, which was one this year’s most successful launches.

Justin is an innovation, revenue, and partnership-focused senior executive with a multi-national career spanning the USA, the E.U., and Eastern Europe in technology and entertainment. He has a proven track record from Microsoft to Hollywood, creating 70+ multi-million-dollar deals, 40+ TV series, and over $500MM in new revenue.

Join us as we discuss how the metaverse will completely change marketing, why brands need to take a different approach if they want to be successful in the immersive internet, some of the brands that are doing a good job already, and much more. See you on the inside!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with Matthew Brewbaker, the Founder and CEO of VEU Inc., a metaverse development company focused on the future of virtual entertainment. Matthew started his career in entertainment development at companies including New Regency, The Donner's Company and Ithaka. He worked in production on Hollywood movies like Hancock and First Daughter. He previously worked first-hand at the intersection of technology and art, with Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis and his company, Imagemovers on 3D CGI films such as Beowulf and Disney's A Christmas Carol.

With over 15 years of experience, Matthew is most recently known for his role as chief producer on Followed, which toured the festival circuit winning, before opening as the #1 new release in drive-ins and theatres in Summer 2020. Matthew will share his great wisdom on how the metaverse will change entertainment as we know it and how brands should embrace this new paradigm if they want to remain relevant in the coming decade. He also talked about the role of user-generated content and how we can have a rich and vibrant economy. Tune in, enjoy, and don’t forget to share.

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with Kevin O'Donovan, the Founder of the boutique technology consultancy company, A Bit of This and That, which focused on the intersection of technology and the energy industry, delivering innovative technology consultations, sales advisory, speaker and B2B Influencer services. The company has been involved with new technologies and their potential in an economic and socio-cultural context for more than three decades.

Being a bit of a storyteller, Kevin has been evangelizing how new technologies can transform the way we do things throughout his career. He advises international clients in the digital evolution process and real-life digitalisation implementation, primarily in the energy industry. Kevin has a proven track record of bridging the gap between new technology's capabilities and the practicalities of bringing that technology to market.

He has held senior leadership technical sales and sales management roles at Compaq, HP and most recently at Intel, where he was Intel’s Worldwide Sales Director for the energy industry. He came on to share his wisdom on the Internet of things (IoT) and digital twins, how important they are for the metaverse, and how they will define the enterprise metaverse. He also talked about how governments can benefit from the immersive internet and how it could disrupt the energy sector. You won’t want to miss this episode. Enjoy!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I chatted with Rabindra (Robby) Ratan, an Associate Professor and AT&T Scholar at Michigan State University’s Department of Media and Information. Ratan received his Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, his M.A. in Communication from Stanford University, and his B.A. in Science, Technology and Society, also from Stanford University. 

Dr. Ratan’s research focuses primarily on the psychological experience and effects of media use, with an emphasis on avatars, video games, virtual worlds, and other interactive environments (e.g., the road, online education) that include mediated self-representations (e.g., avatars, automobiles, selfie videos).

He is particularly interested in how different facets of mediated self-representations (e.g., self-concept) influence the psychological experience of media use and how different parts of this psychological experience (e.g., embodiment, identification) affect a variety of outcomes, including education behaviours (e.g., classroom performance), health-related behaviours (e.g., food choice), and prejudicial/prosocial attitudes (e.g., gender/race bias).

His work also emphasizes the social implications of media use concerning gender and race-related disparities in meaningful contexts (e.g., STEM fields). In our in-depth conversation, we talked about the role of avatars, including what the requirements and characteristics of avatars will be. We discussed the risk of ending up in the Uncanny Valley, the risk of imposed avatars, and so much more. Tune in and enjoy!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with Robert Rice, the Founder and CEO of Transmira, Inc., the developer of Omniscape, an XR platform seamlessly blending Augmented and Virtual Reality together, focusing on location and monetization. He is an experienced technology and startup executive and advisor with over 25+ years of experience. Noted as an Internet Gaming Pioneer by Advertising Age magazine in 1996, Robert was also called a “Founding Father of the Digital Nation” in 1998 by The Raleigh News & Observer.

He is an authority on mobile augmented reality, persistent immersive environments, virtual reality and worlds, massively multi-user online games, and simulations. Robert coined the term “XR” in 2014 as an umbrella term for AR, MR, and VR together or in a seamless combination of each together. It is now an industry standard term.

During the interview, we discussed how XR will change our society in the coming decade, the centralized versus decentralized metaverse, and how we move from one metaverse space to another. We also covered the role of digital twins and some of the dangers we can expect in the metaverse. Stay tuned for more.

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed Michaela Larosse, a founding member of The Fabricant Team and the Head of Content and Strategy. The Fabricant is a digital fashion house creating unique fashion items for the metaverse. As a conceptual writer for global brands and a business journalist specialising in media trends, Michaela is the creator of The Fabricant's brand narrative and philosophy.

Her writing is influential across the creative industries. It gives insight into The Fabricant's work splicing the worlds of fashion, tech, gaming and blockchain, where it wastes nothing but data and exploits nothing but imagination. Michaela and I will dive into digital fashion, its role in the metaverse, and how The Fabricant is embracing the future in a unique way. Tune in and enjoy!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed Doug Jacobson, the Co-founder of Big Rock Creative, an XR company producing large-scale events in VR. Big Rock’s first large project, BRCvr, created a fully immersive Burning Man festival in social VR starting in 2020, which generated much positive PR, including an article in Wired Magazine. He has since worked on projects ranging from directing an XR music video featuring Pitbull to throwing an event-packed 3-day New Year's Eve event to facilitating a Hollywood red carpet premiere in VR.

Doug’s background is in the film industry; he graduated from USC film school in the 90s with honours. Throughout his career, Doug has written, directed, produced, and edited several festival award-winning narratives and documentaries. His most notorious documentary features the Burning Man festival, "Journey to the Flames, " which has been screened nationally and internationally. His last documentary project was co-edited by the award-winning doc “Selling Lies”. He’s also had a long career as an award-winning editor in TV and film.

Doug is also one of the founders of the “Black Rock Yearbook”, one of the most significant and longest-running photography projects in Burning Man history. Every year, he produces the Yearbook – a photo book filled with thousands of individual Black Rock City Participants, group camp photos and art. A lover of technology and new ways of storytelling, Doug has been spending time in VR – shooting 3D video, building worlds, and guiding new users through Alternative realities in digital space.

He joined me to talk about Burning Man and later showed me around the Virtual Plier. We discussed the future of massive interactive live events, digital real estate in the metaverse, and its ethical challenges. Enjoy the conversation!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed Christian Ulstrup, the Co-Founder and CEO of Virgilis, which focuses on building bridges back to reality by helping parents and kids get control of family screen time. With his work, he aims to help psychiatrists understand virtual reality and coach them on how to use these digital tools for the benefit of patients.

During the interview, we discuss the mental health issues related to the metaverse and how it will change people’s behaviour. We covered how virtual reality can help people with mental issues and what ethical issues we can expect in the metaverse. Stay tuned for that and more!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I chatted with Jason Cassidy, the Co-Founder of the Metaverse Group, the first virtual real estate company in the world offering exposure to the industry of virtual land via the metaverse. They facilitate virtual real estate buying, selling, renting, and investing. Jason founded Non-Fungible, an NFT luxury art curator and NFT artist incubator. He is also the Co-Founder of Not Fungible, Co-Founder of Digitible, and Owner and CEO of Game Credits.

He has over twenty years of financial and technical experience, including seven years managing various software technologies at BlackBerry. From working in concert with numerous Fortune 500 companies and governmental bodies to travelling the world to gain a global perspective, he has an eclectic background that spans the gamut.

Tune in as Jason, and I discuss the pros and cons of real estate in the metaverse. That will be especially interesting because our chat took place just a few days after the Metaverse Group had purchased 160 parcels of land in Decentraland for what was then $2.4 Million. We will also cover the role of NFTs for the next iteration of the internet and much more.

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed Cai Felip, the Founder and CEO of Union Avatars, a company blurring the lines between the virtual world and reality. Union leads the production of realistic 3D avatars for virtual worlds. Their mission is to help the future of virtual identity in the metaverse. They provide avatar solutions so you can realistically represent yourself in video games, social media, virtual reality worlds, or gamification.

Cai and I will talk about all things avatars, digital identities and online reputation. We’ll also dive into the threat of imposed avatars and how brands should approach Gen Zs and Gen Alphas, also known as the “Metaverse Natives”. It’s going to be a super interesting conversation, so don’t miss it.

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed Lindsey McInerney, the Co-Founder and CEO of Sixth Wall, a new venture exploring the intersection of web3 and entertainment and the digital arm of Mila Kunis' Orchard Farm Productions. Lindsey calls herself an early internet nerd and tech futurist. She is consumed by the metaverse's emergence and excited about how crypto, blockchain, gaming, NFTs and XR will change our current digital and physical landscape.

As a former global head of technology and innovation at AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, she learned to brand into the metaverse. Tune in as we discuss the important role that NFTs will play in the metaverse, what brands need to do if they want to become successful in the metaverse, how the metaverse will change the future of work, as well as the ethical challenges of the metaverse. Enjoy!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed Ryan Gill, the Founder of the Open Meta DAO, a community that supports the delivery of the products, experiences, services, best practices, and tools that will make the Open Metaverse a reality. Ryan is also the Founder of Crucible, a company that is working to create the universal open infrastructure that joins the worlds and economies of many talented game developers, web developers and artists so that can easily access new decentralized web technologies such as DeFi or NFTs, and networks of players and marketplaces where users are spending billions. He is also a venture partner at Outlier Ventures.

Ryan Gill is an innovator who is constantly looking out for new trends. Being a neo-polymath, his knowledge and discipline cover many fields, from finance, and blockchain, to technology. Prior to starting Crucible, Ryan was in the Los Angeles Venture Capital and Startup world, where he built companies with high-profile partners and made a living translating between founders and investors. He comes on to talk to us about the open metaverse and what it will take to get there. He will also share his knowledgeable insights on the role of NFTs in decentralized finance, what kind of new business models we can expect in the metaverse, and so much more. Stay tuned!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed Vincent Hunt, the Founder of Better Design Co., a United States-based Cross Reality (XR) experience design company that specializes in the convergence of XD, Web3 and the Metaverse. He’s an American entrepreneur, multidisciplinary creative, investor and advisor with over two decades of experience in the digital domain. His work weaves experience in design, Web3 and the rapidly emerging ideas, concepts and technologies collectively known as the metaverse to deliver moments of truth across multiple realities for visionary brands.

Vincent envisions a future where brands and the experiences they deliver will live across multiple realities blurring the line between the physical and the virtual world. During the interview, we discussed how companies can build loyalty with Commerce, and the steps brands need to take if they want to enter the metaverse. We also covered how the metaverse will change education or marketing, and how the metaverse will change the future of work. Stay tuned for more!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed Paul Hamilton, the Founder of vTogether, a consultancy and virtual space design and build team making good things happen in the real world across multiple VR platforms. He is also the Managing Director of MENA Ogilvy Consulting. Paul has been designing, building, and leading strategic innovation on the global growth agenda for over 30 years.​ ​

He combines creativity with top-level strategy, digital and innovation leadership using design thinking and human-centric approaches, traditional analytical strategy tools and techniques, and, more recently, applications of AR/VR.​

During the interview, we discuss the key characteristics of building an open metaverse, community role, and how we can create a diverse and inclusive metaverse. We also cover the role of identity, how avatars will help shape the metaverse and true identity, the dangers of the metaverse, how the enterprise can benefit from the metaverse, and so much more. Enjoy the conversation!

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed Jimi Daodu, the founder of Vault Hill, an extended reality (XR) blockchain-based metaverse designed to make you feel more you. Jimi has a strong focus on the open metaverse and is passionate about building a human-centric metaverse. Prior to Vault Hill, he ran a number of successful transformation and digital change programmes, including a divestment between Barclays Bank Plc and Absa.

Jimi will graciously share his wealth of expertise around the open metaverse, the importance of blockchain for the immersive internet, self-sovereign identities, the importance of data ownership, and what role decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) will play in the metaverse. This is one episode you will not wanna miss. Enjoy!

In this episode of The Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed Chris Matthieu, the Founder and CEO of XRPANET, a planet-scale digital twin platform with XR Cloud services for the outdoors that is lined up to become the world's first XR Spatial Web.

Chris is a serial entrepreneur with five emerging tech startup exits to date, and he currently focuses on decentralization and metaverse technologies and strategies. He is an entrepreneur in residence for Intel and is a former senior director for Magic Leap.

Join us as we discuss a wide range of metaverse topics ranging from the future of the metaverse, what we can expect from VR and AR in the years ahead, the role of communities in the metaverse, the business models of the metaverse and the role of digital twins. Enjoy the conversation!

In this episode of The Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with David Francis,

David is a creative technologist and strategy specialist in the complexities of working with augmented, assisted, and virtual reality, as well as IoT and AI. He’s heavily involved in extending AR and VR into the industrial world, introducing various advanced wearable solutions that facilitate industrial 4.0 and industrial internet of things plus AI. He has conceived, produced and launched AR and VR for many of the world’s biggest brands for more than a decade.

During the interview, we discuss the technical challenges of building the metaverse, how big the metaverse will be, how important the metaverse will be for the enterprise, and the various new jobs the metaverse will create.

In this episode of the Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with Christiaan Eisberg, the Founder and CEO of Straight Fire, a Web3 start-up bridging the real world with the metaverse, through building the first NFT Social dApp and unique NFT collections. He is a metaverse explorer, serial entrepreneur, and experienced operational and commercial executive, specialised in brand building, client management, digital commerce, and organisational transformation.

He has a 20-year background in Fortune 500 companies and start-ups, in heavy industries and consumer brands, in the West and the East. After various executive roles in BP, he co-founded and grew menswear brand Martyn Bal into an international success, served as CEO of celebrity- favourite handbag brand Meli Melo and co-founded European fashionTech platform “A lovely thing”.

Subsequently, Christiaan co-founded FIVE group, a Sino-European advisory firm, is mentor of various start-ups and a frequent speaker on branding, digital commerce and NFTs. Now he and his team are shaping the future of NFTs and building an essential part of the NFT infrastructure through Straight Fire. Christiaan and I had a fascinating conversation about all things NFTs, the rise of iCommerce, how brands can build loyalty within the metaverse, the use of IP and copyright with NFTs, and so much more. Stay tuned and enjoy!

In this episode of The Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with Jerry Heinz, the Executive Vice President, the Global Publishing Platform at Genvid Holdings Inc., a company that is delivering a brand new form of entertainment combining the best of traditional storytelling with the immersion and interaction of video games. Genvid calls that category Massively Interactive Live Events (MILEs). Jerry is a thought leader in cloud gaming, beginning his career in network protocol design for multimedia data transport over low-bandwidth networks. He brought GPUs to the cloud, launched the first cloud GPU-based servers in AWS, and holds multiple patents in the space.

His desire to play any game on any screen, without the limits of hardware, led him to launch Amazon Test Drive, Amazon AppStream, and games on Fire TV. Because he believed that game streaming and related interactive experiences were fundamentally hardware problems, he moved to NVIDIA and built the infrastructure that supports their GeForce NOW service and their AI cloud data centres.

He is the previous CTO of ActZero, where he led all engineering and drove the company's Research and Development efforts in its evolution as an AI-powered cybersecurity service provider. Join Jerry and me, as we discuss the technical requirements to make the metaverse possible, the companies building the hardware required for it, how to scale the hardware to make immersive events with hundreds of thousands of people in the room possible, and so much more. Enjoy!

In this episode of The Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I interviewed Hannah Glass, a senior associate in the leading financial markets team at King & Wood Mallesons, specialising in blockchain technology, fintech and payments. She advises a broad range of clients, from start-ups and crypto asset exchanges to ASX 50 companies and governments on current and emerging legal issues which arise from using innovative technologies in a complex regulatory environment.

Hannah is at the forefront of the development of the legal framework for fintech in Australia. She has worked with industry bodies and government on issues ranging from central bank digital currencies, regulatory sandboxes, legislative treatment crypto-asset and assisting industry on their response to the Senate inquiry into Fintech and Regtech. She is regularly invited to participate in forums with the government to discuss policy issues.

Hannah sits on the Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources’ National Blockchain Roadmap Steering Committee and is the chair of the Regtech Working Group, exploring the use of distributed ledger technology to assist in meeting legal, regulatory and compliance obligations. She is also a member of DISER’s RegTech Stakeholder Reference Group. She has been named “band 3” in Chambers and Partners FinTech Guide 2022, after 3 years as “up and coming”. Hannah is the only non-partner listed in this category. She is a fellow of Blockchain Australia, and a member of Global Blockchain Convergence and Wall Street Blockchain Alliance.

Hannah and I discussed the legal and regulatory issues surrounding the metaverse, NFTs, and crypto. We talked about the challenges surrounding NFTs, for example, when it comes to copyright and intellectual property issues, but also how we can protect consumers when it comes to the massive amount of data extraction we can expect to happen in the metaverse. Enjoy the conversation.

Highlights

● [01:19] - Diving into the combination of the real and the virtual.

● [03:53] - The state of copyright and ownership in NFTs.

● [10:46] - Ensuring people’s rights and overcoming the T&Cs conundrum.

● [13:56] - Legal challenges that might affect tokenization.

● [18:10] - Tackling the tons of privacy issues that affect the metaverse.

● [26:26] - How DAOs will enforce their rules and regulations in the metaverse.

● [31:37] - Why we must understand the difference between contracts and property.

In this episode of The Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with Timmu Tõke, the Co-Founder and CEO of Ready Player Me!, a cross-game Metaverse Avatar platform that allows you to create a consistent virtual avatar to use to travel across virtual worlds or multiverses. Their goal is to become the default avatar system for the Metaverse. To achieve this, they work to facilitate avatar interoperability by providing developers a scalable avatar creation system to allow them to focus on creating games faster. They offer SDKs for Unity and Unreal Web, and many other platforms, as well as support.

Timmu and I will dive into what it takes to create an avatar system, how avatars ensure self-sovereign identity, the important role digital fashion will play in the metaverse, what life in the metaverse will look like, why there needs to be a universal system for different worlds, identity validation in the metaverse, avatar interoperability (And why building open worlds over closed worlds is key), and so much more. Stay tuned and enjoy!

Highlights

● [01:15] - Creating avatars that are used by more than 700 companies.

● [03:26] - An interactive 3D world that is connected.

● [04:09] - Ensuring identity and repetition in the metaverse.

● [07:46] - The main characteristics of an avatar and what they will look like in the future.

● [14:35] - Looking good virtually: The importance of digital products in the metaverse.

● [16:48] - How interoperability across platforms will be achieved in the metaverse.

● [21:00] - Will identity theft happen in the metaverse?

● [23:29] - What the retail industry will look like in a Direct-to-Avatar world.

Learn More About Timmu Tõke in the Links Below:

In this episode of The Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with Jon Radoff, the Co-Founder and CEO of Beamable, the creator-centric platform for building live games. An internationally recognized entrepreneur and technology visionary, Mr Radoff has grown businesses in the fields of computer gaming, social networking, advertising and enterprise technology.

Before founding Beamable, Mr Radoff built one of the first commercial games on the Internet, took a web content management company public, grew a game advertising network, and launched mobile games played by millions of people, including Game of Thrones Ascent and Star Trek Timelines. His writing, captured in his blog Building the Metaverse, envisions a future driven by the culture change as people go digital. ReadWrite.com named Mr Radoff as one of the top 30 most influential people in the Metaverse.

We had a great conversation about what the Metaverse means for gaming, the seven layers of the Metaverse, how the Metaverse will change the future of work, and which things we have to do differently when developing Web 3.0 compared to Web 2.0. Stay tuned to this incredibly valuable 27-minute episode for that and more.

In this episode of The Step into the Metaverse Podcast, I had a chat with Jamie Burke, the Founder and CEO of Outlier Ventures, one of the most important incubators and accelerators in the Web3 space. Jamie provides an overview of bitcoin and blockchain and the ways that companies can aggressively push their businesses forward with emerging technologies. Burke is a pioneer in the blockchain industry.

As Europe's 1st Web 3.0 blockchain venture builder, he and his team have pushed forward on utilizing blockchain as a significant key to emerging trends (AI, Mixed Reality, IoT, and Autonomous Robotics) that will play key roles in multiple industries such as Industry 4.0, eGovt, Health, Mobility, and Smart Cities.

Jamie and I had a fascinating conversation about the open metaverse, something that Jamie is very vocal about. He says it’s important to understand that the beginnings of the Metaverse are already here, and we should not think of it as a far-off destination. He shares his deep insights based on his experience with the rise of Web 2.0, and how they relate to its successor and the growing digital asset space. We also discuss the economics of the metaverse, including metaverse finance or MetaFi, as well as the role of crypto and how brands can step into the metaverse. Enjoy the conversation!

In this episode, I explore more of the world I exist in, the Metaverse. Looking into where it was, where it is, and more importantly, where it is going. From virtual real estate and real-life virtual spaces, to battle royal social spaces selling digital fashion, and copyright infringements for Roblox, I aim to look into every corner of this digital world, shining a light on exactly what is going on and taking a closer look at what all of these ones and zeros mean for our public and private lives.  

Hopefully, by taking a closer look at this new frontier, we will get a better understanding of what it means for our professional and personal lives and how the metaverse will change our society.  

So, what are we waiting for? It is time to start today’s digital download.  

To view all the sources, please check out the transcript here: https://vanrijmenam.nl/metaverse-what-it-means-for-business-and-society-ep16/

If you wish to watch the video, please go here:

In a world of digital landlords and nano-sensors, the ones and zeros are king. In this episode of The Digital Speaker series, I am going to explore an emerging trend in the digital sphere; an increasing aversion to over-digitised tech and why we may be on the cusp of an analogue renaissance.

After, I will go to the other end of the digital spectrum and examine how the digital world I exist in, could one day be worth more than land in the real world.

Then, for the final segment in today’s digital download, I am going to take a look at bioinformatics. What is it and what it spells for the digital future of healthcare.

So, get comfortable, sit back, and let us start speaking digital.

If you’re interested in any of these topics, follow or subscribe to any of the below channels:

· The Digital Speaker's website: https://TheDigitalSpeaker.com

Most of us would agree that the world of work will change more in the next decade than it has probably in the last 250 years since the first industrial revolution. However, it is also the case that there has never been a time in history when so many critical decisions have been made on our behalf, with so little transparency.

In today's show, we have Dan Turchin, sharing his insights with us on the hype of today, AI, and especially AI ethics and how we can be human first in an era of technology, i.e. how to use AI technology in an ethical and responsible manner.

Artificial intelligence, in essence, is math + data. With AI becoming commonplace, the need for data is growing as well but we need to ensure that companies treat our data responsibly. As a result, data rights will be the new civil rights.

Show notes: