The f(x) = e^x | The media metaverse and cloned voices

Good Day! This is my weekly newsletter, with a dose of insights into the future. The topic of this newsletter is the exponential times we live in, hence the title of f(x) = e^x, which is the (natural) exponential function.

You can visit The Digital Speaker to book me as a keynote speaker for your next event or to hire me as a future tech coach for your CEO. I have also published my trend predictions for 2022.

How the Metaverse will Change the Media & Entertainment Industry

My latest article:

The metaverse will revolutionise the media and entertainment industry, offering novel, magical experiences and new revenue opportunities. The immersive internet will enable media and entertainment companies to provide unique, interactive experiences that bring media consumption to another level. It will enable immersive VR or AR content and the use of metaverse technologies such as NFTs to develop new business models.

The future of media and entertainment is exciting, and we are in for a wild ride. Before the end of this decade, we can expect 3D, hyper-realistic virtual and augmented experiences that will blow us away. Before that, the metaverse will enable Massive Interactive Live Events, bring augmented and virtual reality into our living room and create new engagement opportunities using NFTs. The potential is huge, and media & entertainment organisations should step into the metaverse today.

Useful Nuggets of Information

My weekly tips from around the web to get you thinking.

1. NASA and ICON take moon base building to the next level 🌔

NASA has awarded a contract to ICON (The Ionospheric Connection Explorer), located in Austin, TX. This project aims to develop construction technology that could help build infrastructure—such as landing pads, habitats and roads—on the lunar surface. (NASA)

2. Mozilla’s VR hub will let you host virtual meetings.

In the 2018 preview of its Hubs offering, Mozilla described its service as low-key, saying, "You're just a humble robot hanging with other robots who hopefully are your friends." Since then, the service has expanded, adding non-robot avatars and other features. Also, Mozilla says that it hosted numerous virtual gatherings in the past—from art galleries to classrooms. (TechCrunch)

3. Deepfaking your own voice? This singer did it.

According to the singer Holly Herndon, voice cloning can give artists sovereignty over their work. It would allow her to scale herself infinitely; instead, it freaked people out. (Wired)

4. Twitter deleted its Covid misinformation policy.

After taking over, causing chaos at Twitter, and firing most of the team that moderates content, Elon Musk now scrapped its Covid misinformation policy. This can only go one way; the wrong direction. (BBC)

The Step into the Metaverse Podcast!

A few months ago, I published my fourth book, Step into the Metaverse, which is meant as a blueprint for an open metaverse. As part of this book, I did nearly 100 in-depth interviews with the stakeholders building the open metaverse. I have turned a selection of these interviews into a new podcast, called ‘Step into the Metaverse’, and the next three episodes are live now! Subscribe on Spotify or Apple to be notified when the next episodes are released.