Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, NFTs and Metaverse: Four New Concepts Explained
Rabindra (“Robby”) Ratan is an Associate Professor and AT&T Scholar at Michigan State University’s (MSU) Department of Media and Information, as well as Director of the Social and Psychological Approaches to Research on Technology-Interaction Effects (SPARTIE) Lab. A former MSU Lilly Teaching Fellow, he is the recipient of the MSU Teacher-Scholar Award and the MSU AT&T Instructional Technology Award. Dr. Ratan has written for Wired magazine and TheConversation.com and has been featured as a media technology expert on NPR and in the Washington Post. 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.
Overview
Our reality has been growing increasingly virtual for decades. Each new major information technology—from radio to television to the Internet to Mobile Phones—dramatically changes the way people work, socialize, and play. We are presently standing at the doorstep of a new technological revolution that will transform how people own and experience information: in particular, digital goods. This new socio-technical existence will rely on a class of assets enabled by blockchain technologies—cryptocurrencies and NFTs—and will be integrated into our daily lives via the metaverse.
If that last sentence reads like a doozy and makes you feel like a virtual neophyte (get it, virtual neophyte!?), then this class is for you. Dr. Ratan will ease you into these four fundamental concepts, explaining what they mean, how they are related to each other, and why they are important. Dr. Ratan will also describe a bit of his latest research on perceptions of cryptocurrencies and the metaverse. Lastly, he will provide some simple tips on how to dip a toe into the metaverse yourself.
Recommended Reading:
Experience on Demand: What Virtual Reality Is, How it Works, and What it Can Do, by Jeremy Bailenson
Step into the Metaverse: How the Immersive Internet Will Unlock a Trillion-Dollar Social Economy, by Mark van Rijmenam
Cryptocurrency, by Jake Frankenfield (online article)
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cryptocurrency.asp
NFTs, explained, by Mitchell Clark (online article)
https://www.theverge.com/22310188/nft-explainer-what-is-blockchain-crypto-art-faq
The metaverse is money and crypto is king – why you’ll be on a blockchain when you’re virtual-world hopping, by Rabindra Ratan and Dar Meshi (online article)