Hello my fellow futurists!

1 life update 👆

All I do is think about the future. I've worked in the technology industry for over a decade now.

But sometimes I just like to disconnect.

I started racing sailboats recently and this last Sunday was the second race of the year.

For a few hours my brother and I did our best not to come in last place.

Racing in a small yacht in light winds is very exciting, but you never go more than around 5 mph 🤣

2 crazy things ✌

​👀 Visions of the internet in 2035

Maybe it's the new year, maybe it's Covid, maybe it's Mark Zuckerberg changing the name of one of the largest tech companies of the last two decades, but recently there's been a slew of articles looking ahead.

Pew Research recently put out 'Visions of the internet in 2035'. It's a doozy of an article, but worth at minimum skimming.

​Pew Research

If a massive wall of text isn't your style, a recent Forbes article, "The 5 technologies that will change the future of the human race", will give you a quick peak at what lies ahead:

• AI
• Gene Technology
• Human-Computer Interfaces
• XR
• 3D Printing

​Forbes​
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🎮 New Season of Apex Legends

If you're not a gamer — honestly I'd be surprised if you're reading this and not a gamer ;) — you may not know that a lot of hit video games operate off a completely different business model to how they used to.

Many games, my favorite Apex Legends included, now run in seasons. They're free to download and play, but monetize off characters, skins, and battle passes.

The game stays alive and active through consistent small updates and through larger seasonal shifts where new maps are introduced or the game is overhauled in significant ways.

Video games are a fascinating business I'm sure we'll be seeing more of.

More on the rise of video games here: danielsisson.com​
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3 Metaverse things ✌+👆

🛐 finding god in VR

My father-in-law forwarded me an article about how a branch of Chabad was establishing the first Jewish outlet in the Metaverse.

​Times of Israel​

This sent me down a bit of rabbit hole researching religion in XR. It makes a lot of sense actually. Religion has always found an outlet in new mediums from print, to radio, television, social media and so on. It makes sense that religion is finding a home in VR.

One pastor is even "baptizing" congregants in VR, really.

​ABC​
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🌐 VR on the rise

Road to VR has been tracking the monthly connected headsets over time on Steam, and recently we blew past the 3M mark. That's still pretty small, but the trend is up!

​Road to VR​

🎸 Foo Fighters in VR for free

In another sign that Metaverse concerts are likely here to stay the Foo Fighters will be playing a post Super Bowl concert in VR for free.

​Meta​

What's your sailing?

Maybe it's the religion in VR, but we might be overdoing the digital a bit. I love to sail and just disconnect sometimes. Others love to hike.

What's your go-to digital detox activity?

Let me know. Just hit reply, I read and respond to everyone!
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Have an awesome week and see you next week!

Daniel
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We live today not in the digital, not in the physical, but in the kind of minestrone that our mind makes of the two.
‍Paola Antonelli
​senior curator MOMA

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