Neal Stephenson’s Blockchain project – Lamina1, despite decreased interest in the metaverse, continues to outline and carry out its vision. At its peak in 2021 and 2022, the metaverse appeared to reign supreme before subsequently experiencing a decline as evidenced by data from Google Trends. This decline led several observers to declare the metaverse hype ‘dead’. Hinging on the declining interest and seemingly fatal pronouncements, Lamina1 still perseveres, going as far as to organize a month-long event in October known as the Open Metaverse Discovery Month.
Framed as an attempt to continue the metaverse endeavor, the Lamina1 team declares their intent to provision builders and creators with the necessary simplex to explore metaverse-driven experiences. Additionally, the team plans interactive workshops for developers of Unity and Unreal Engine. Creator competitions are also in the pipeline, with winning participants standing a chance to feature on the LAMINA1 Hub platform.
Lamina1’s CEO, Rebecca Barkin, maintains a grounded optimism despite pronouncements of the death of the metaverse. She points out that significant amounts of time and money still pour into digital experiences, gaming, virtual world-building, the purchase and sale of digital items, and experimentation with new computational and creative technologies. This continued influx of investment, she opines, ensures the metaverse stays alive. Barkin drew attention to the founding vision of her company to challenge corporate control and avarice, stating that current technology allows the transfer of more autonomy to creators in several fields to construct, create, and distribute their worlds independently.
A polar view of technological evolution comes from multiple celebrities including than Tom Hanks and MrBeast, who’ve bemoaned the use of their likeness in AI deepfakes. Deepfakes have been a hot button issue in Hollywood with multiple disputes regarding their applications and ethics. The AI versions of actors and personalities to promote products or scams have sparked concerns and calls for legislation around the use of AI in likeness replication. Issues regarding the regulation of AI use in the entertainment industry are being hammered out, with some negotiations yet to reach a satisfactory resolution. Amidst all these, it’s clear that AI and the metaverse will continue to play significant roles in our technological landscape.
Source: Cointelegraph
