cnn’s-‘inventing-tomorrow’-explores-how-developments-in-internet-technology-are-transforming-the-future

CNN’s ‘Inventing Tomorrow’ explores how developments in internet technology are transforming the future

 

As society continues to integrate technology into every aspect of life, innovators are building new worlds online. On the next episode of ‘Inventing Tomorrow’, CNN International correspondent Blake Essig introduces the pioneers envisioning a decentralized internet, the minds behind a new realm of digital assets and the experts who help contextualize the past in order to understand what’s coming next.

First, the programme sits down with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, a computer scientist best known for inventing the World Wide Web, as well as blockchain expert Paul Brody, who discuss the development of the internet in 1989 and explain how it has evolved through various eras since. All this helps set the scene for the latest iteration of the internet: Web 3.0, also known as Web3, which hopes to give users control of their resources, content and data – effectively decentralizing the internet.

In an increasingly digital world, the things users own in online games have become a key part of their real-life identities. Essig hears from Yat Siu, founder of the Hong Kong-based app developer Animoca Brands, a company credited with popularizing play-to-earn games – or games which reward players with non-fungible tokens that have real world value. Siu explains how these games allow users to become shareholders rather than just consumers, therefore democratizing the future of the internet. CNN also learns how the gaming company Dapper Labs is using blockchain to build non-fungible tokens for the sports and entertainment world.

The process of digitization has been comparatively slow to hit the fashion world. One duo aims to change that by charting a new frontier for fashion through blockchain. Eliana Kuo and Lorenzo Albrighi are co-founders of the fashion tech company Lablaco. In the metaverses created by the company, users can enter as their own digital avatars and try on clothes as they would in the real-world. Their vision is to integrate blockchain technology into clothing and apparel – in essence digitizing what we wear in an interactive way.

Finally, brands are utilizing elements of emerging tech to manufacture the things we use every day. For Microsoft, this involves investing in the development of augmented reality through products such as the HoloLens 2, a mixed reality headset which blends the wearer’s real-world environment with a digital space. They’re partnering with manufacturers like automaker Toyota to integrate augmented reality into their manufacturing processes and training in the hopes of streamlining production to future proof their business.