Zag To The Zig #35 :: AI music, VR winter & GenZ revolution scenarios
While we’re slowly picking up pre-Corona activities (the little one super excited to go to school!!), we have non-medical pandemics raising their ugly heads (again). “Back to what normal?” is a question I can’t get out of my head. Luckily there’s always stuff to read and watch. Welcome!
In the Economy Room this week
You’ll spend some time on this. This is a long read history of all things Virtual Economy. From e-sports to virtual blockchain-based land in Decentraland. Bonus: very nicely presented.
The so-called Passion Economy should, in theory, allow you to monetise your skills/passion, like writing a newsletter like this. Sari Azout, however, asks some pertinent questions, like: are we really trading quantity for quality?
😱 Intriguing story on how a fin-tech app in Kenya used social shaming to force people to pay back loans. 👿
I’ve been intrigued by Aragon (organisation software for blockchain-based ‘companies’) for ages. But it’s the first time I’ve seen a VC fund (admittedly, one that invests in the Web3-infrastructure) look at DAOs from a business point of view. TLDR: this kind of software enables groups of collaborating people (aka companies) to ”collapse the cost of coordination”.
In the Salon
💪 UX research FTW. I love this kind of dedication. Someone doubted whether it was really true that these new online banks were easier to set up an account with. So he tried them all. 💪
In the Tech Basement
Amazon has patented a blockchain system for improving authenticity in their supply chain.
On the validity of data input and the importance of oracles - because shit data in the blockchain is shit data forever 😉 - I enjoyed this interview with the founder of Chainlink, one of blockchain’s darlings (but they’re not a blockchain).
Cut and paste your surroundings into Photoshop. Really?
4/10 - Cut & paste your surroundings to Photoshop Code: github.com/cyrildiagne/ar… Book: @HOLOmagazine Garment: SS17 by @thekarentopacio Type: Sainte Colombe by @MinetYoann @ProductionType Technical Insights: ↓ #ML #AR #AI #AIUX #Adobe #Photoshop
However, the true VR breakthrough (examples like the above are AR) won’t come quickly nor easily nor massively. Ben Evans calls it the VR winter.
Some numbers on the impact on Electric vehicles by Auke Hoekstra (Eindhoven Tech University). They’re not just better for the environment, they’re cheaper to run and in 10 years time, cheaper to buy.
In the Ethics Corridor
🤳🤳 This is quite intriguing. In order to train their students, US military colleges use scenario-based games. And one such game portrays a Generation Z revolution, where youngsters, discontent with the system, use cybercrime, bitcoin,… to expose injustice and re-distribute wealth. Crazy!
This week, I had two very in-depth reports on China and data from Shanghai-based researcher Dev Lewis. The first is a detailed study of the often cited Social Credit System - TLDR, it’s not as Orwellian as often reported (yet?).
In the second article, he goes under the hood of the so-called QR HealthCodes. Refreshing to get more of a view from the inside.
And do check out the Chinese music video at the end.
Random ZTTZ