2021 was a stand out year for XR. Both virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) saw some technological leaps, some great videogames...

EEA Regional Representative, Samrat Kishor, Partner at Golden Next Ventures and Co-Chair at Baseline Protocol. The EEA recently appointed Samrat Kishor as its new EEA Regional Representative in India. Samrat will provide local support to ensure that regional EEA members are well-positioned to leverage the EEA’s programs, interest groups, working groups, and resources to achieve [...]

The post India’s Ethereum Contributions Benefit Entire Ecosystem – A Q&A with EEA India Regional Representative Samrat Kishor appeared first on Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.

Programmable robotics company Ozobot launches MetaBot, the free AR robot for education in STEM, available for free to students and teachers.

Reading Time: 7 minutes Darren straddles the divide between the underworld and the status quo, providing an essential bridge for digital tourists wishing to travel in either direction. He is contraction personified and has no issues walking either side of the street. “I keep my feet in both camps, remaining true to my background, […]

Conservative alt-coin podcast hosts Drew Taylor and Brent Bates recently welcomed guests and the audience to another episode of their wildly popular Wild West Crypto Show. The hosts discussed cryptos and their latest performance, with Taylor describing them as “running up and down like a ringtail cat on a tree.” The program also featured CryptoCurrencyWire’s … Continue reading "Wild West Crypto Show Features Cryptos Running Wild and ‘H3RO3S’ — a Real-Life, Play-to-Earn Game"

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Topia, the leading platform for creating social experiences with decentralized spatial chat inside fully customizable virtual worlds, announced feature launches and key new investment. Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman's Thirty Five Ventures join Topia investors Alexis Ohanians' Seven Seven Six and Bonfire Ventures. 

As an industry first, Topia has expanded its creator ecosystem with the launch of their verified NFT system. With this system, ERC-721 NFT owners can verify and place their on-chain assets inside Topia worlds and collaboratively create NFT galleries. Topia's peer-to-peer webrtc streams are decentralized, allowing secure end-to-end encrypted browser-based chat. In addition to the new verified NFT system, Topia also introduced member profiles, enabling unique usernames and greater relationship building within Topia worlds.

With the new gallery feature, NFTs can be displayed publicly in a Topia world where friends, family, colleagues, and the general public can be invited to view and discuss them. Topia is maintaining a publicly available verified NFT gallery in topia.io/nft and holding a public launch event with a series of talks on December 14 in topia.io/pixel.

“The emergence of NFTs represents a major milestone for Web3, decentralized technology, and the interoperable creator economy. Until now, it has been challenging to showcase NFTs in real-time social experiences online. We wanted to replicate the ability to socialize around art, as you would in our home, at a gallery, or museum,” said Topia CEO and co-founder Daniel Liebeskind. “Decentralized databases are great for creators, who get to add assets to a shared public backend and leave it up to platforms like Topia to build interoperable frontends that increase the value of their creations. Since founding Topia two years ago, we've been on a mission to empower the creation of social experiences for real-time connection and play. Verified NFTs and owner profiles represent our commitment to the growing interoperable metaverse and enable Topia world builders to create hybrid on-chain, off-chain social experiences that showcase NFTs and are accessible to everyone.”

How Verified NFTs work in Topia -- A new menu option allows Topia users to connect Ethereum accounts to their Topia account. All of the user's ERC-721 NFTs will be populated into their asset library and can be placed within Topia's worlds. Similar to original art in the physical world, an NFT can only exist in one place at a time across the entire Topia universe. Hovering over a placed NFT will reveal a “verified NFT” badge that confirms its on-chain identity and its owner's Topia profile. Placed NFTs can also be added to a user's profile to highlight worlds.

About Topia

Since launching in April of 2020, Topia has grown to see hundreds of user-hosted events every week.  Topia's scalable architecture can handle events ranging from a few friends to thousands of concurrent guests coming together. The free-to-use platform has co-hosted virtual Burning Man twice and attracted a diverse range of users from families, students, and schools, to companies, music and arts festivals, and Fortune 500 companies. Large companies and confluencers have been hiring agencies to build out branded Topia worlds for their employees and fans to foster creativity and collaboration. 

topia.io

Accursed Share (https://accursedshare.art/), a production studio leveraging smart contract technology to push the boundaries of cryptoart, today announced the first NFT collection by photographer Frederic Auerbach. The collection provides an in-depth look at the methodology and process of Auerbach, a world-class fashion photographer known for his work with magazines and brands including GQ, Vogue, Hermès, and more.  The multi-part NFT drop will give exclusive insight into the artists' process and highlights Auerbach's work with five of Hollywood's most notable celebrities as well as 30 never-before-seen ‘process' photos culled from the working sessions with the stars.  

The NFT collection, “Captured Moment: The Master's Process,” is accompanied by exclusive video interviews with the photographer and insight into his inspiration, planning, setup, and in-studio process. The series details Auerbach's work with charismatic ‘triple-threat' and star of HBO's ‘Euphoria', Zendaya, as well as boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and established Hollywood actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Natalie Portman, and Sharon Stone, 

One work featuring each of the celebrity subjects, deemed ‘The Master Series', will become available via auction in mid-December, but auction winners not only receive a high-resolution NFT version of the published work, but each Master Series set will also include a separate dynamic NFT. This NFT is powered by Accursed Share's proprietary technology - an internal ‘smart contract' innovation that is designed to randomly display an alternate edit of the final masterwork every few hours. Master Series auction winners will also receive a high-resolution autographed print of the photograph as well as a video NFT featuring an interview and ‘process commentary' with Auerbach. 

“We wanted to give fans, collectors, and students of Auerbach's work an internal view of his process and inspiration; we wanted to create a set of NFTs that really spoke to collectors and had engaging and intrinsic value.” Accursed Share CEO, John Connor, says of the project. The team's choice to highlight Auerbach was an intentional one, “Auerbach's ability to capture the charisma and character of his subjects is unique in the world of photography, and his uncanny ability to ‘summon the ineffable' in his images is very real. This is something that seems to be missing from the current popular perception of NFTs, and we hope that this project -and other subsequent Accursed Share NFT projects- will provide a renewed focus on high-quality NFT content and continue to push the boundaries of the medium.”

Connor references the fact that many ‘cryptoart' platforms and marketplaces treat NFTs as an almost utilitarian tool designed to simply transfer and monetize the display and ownership of exclusive art and digital images. However, he and his team are taking an in-depth look at how ‘non-fungible tech' can be used by creatives. Auerbach and the Accursed Share team worked together to create an outlet for alternate edits to the primary ‘Master Work' NFT Photos, and the rotating image NFT was a mutually-conceived idea meant to blend innovative technology and artistic vision.

In addition to the limited release Master Series (five 1:1 ‘sets'), Accursed Share is releasing “The Process Series” as an initial, more obtainable NFT drop that will be made available to fans and collectors who participate in the studio's whitelist referral program. This set of 1700 NFTs will be made up of six process photos of each of the five celebrity subjects. Totaling thirty unique images in all, these unseen selections from Auerbach's studio process will be released with varying levels of rarity - with the rarest image being limited to only 5 of the total 1700. The team is also airdropping a large number of these NFTs for free to early whitelist subscribers.

All collectors holding a Process Series NFT will be able to participate in the Master Series auction, and all ‘Process' NFT holders will be able to join Auerbach's upcoming NFT+photography Discord group.  All ‘Captured Moment' NFT holders will be invited into the Discord environment where the photographer and Accursed Share hope to foster an online community to like-minded collectors interested in photography, NFTs, and the intersection between the two mediums.  

Captured Moment's first selections from the ‘Process Series' will become available on December 5th, at which point early whitelist submissions will receive free airdrops of the first round; the remaining Captured Moments Process Series NFTs will roll out throughout the following week and will cost 0.05 ETH to mint. 

All 5 Master Series auctions will go live on December 17 and will have a starting price of 3.0 ETH; all bidding participants must hold a Process Series NFT.  In addition, one Master Series auction winner will be randomly selected to receive a private photoshoot with Frederic Auerbach in his Los Angeles Studio, a session valued at over $12,000.

For more information and to sign up for Captured Moment's whitelist, please visit the Accursed Share website at: http://accursedshare.art and click ‘Zendaya'.

About Accursed Share:

Accursed Share is an artist-led production studio and art accelerator focused on pushing the limits of NFT art. In addition to producing narrative-driven ‘cryptoart' pieces and installations, the accursed share platform aims to unlock the creative potential of what is possible with smart contracts and to facilitate multifaceted and dynamic NFT creation, even for artists who are not blockchain or smart contract developers.

Media contact: [email protected]

TWO TWO and the City have partnered to invigorate the Downtown Arts District. With immersion, interaction, NFTs and multiple forms of reality, TWO TWO's collaborations with some of the world's finest artists, composers and engineers are representative of the inspiration behind creativity, focusing on the expansion of artistic vision and disrupting the entire industry. Reimagining mediums, TWO TWO transcends all current artist experiences. As the entertainment capital of the world, Las Vegas recognizes the need to exhibit art in a manner that remains relevant to future generations. 

“TWO TWO is a perfect partner to help us re-invigorate our Arts District to attain world class status,” according to Tammy Christensen, Senior Economic Development Officer of the City of Las Vegas. “We look forward to hosting the transformation of the art world happening in our amazing City.”

As the bohemian jewel of downtown Las Vegas, the Arts District is already prominent. An absolute Mecca of food, music, fashion, and of course art, the area is home to the city's most exciting venues, boutiques, restaurants, bars, and art galleries, serving up the best culture Southern Nevada has to offer. From the hippest bars like ReBar, which is a combination of a bar and antique shop where literally EVERYTHING is for sale, to the most delectable restaurants like Esther's Kitchen, founded by Michelin five-star chef James Tree, the Arts District is the true cultural hub of Las Vegas. “Everything about the Arts District is independent and free-spirited,” says Trees. “Unlike the big hotels on the strip, where everything fits nicely into a theme, the Arts District is its own entity. That's what makes it so fun and exciting.”

You can shop for the most vibrant modern and vintage fashions at places like Glam Factory Vintage and Del'la Couture, or enjoy the best theater this side of Broadway at The Cockroach Theater or the Vegas Theater Company. Cocktail lounges like The Velveteen Rabbit and high-brow coffee shops like Makers and Finders are more New York Soho chic than Vegas Strip kitsch, and craft breweries like HUDL Brewing and Able Baker are making names for themselves by churning out the tastiest and most unique craft brews in the country. Popular venues such as Ninja Karaoke offer up a full throttle Tokyo karaoke experience, with themed rooms that are perfect for hosting your next birthday or business party, while trendy salons like The Atomic Lounge can give you the most stylish classic looks from the 1950s to today.

But of course, what would the Las Vegas Arts District be without the art.You don't even have to set foot in one of the district's many remarkable galleries in order to peruse the murals that beautify the walls of almost every building in the area. Whether in search of a limited-edition print, the perfect piece to tie a room together, or the ideal artist to bring a custom commission to life, the Arts District's galleries are treasures troves for both the casual and serious art lover alike. The Arts Factory is a sprawling converted warehouse that serves as home to the city's most celebrated local artists' studios, and Helios Fine Art is another renowned venue known for pushing boundaries and challenging the viewer.

For those seeking vintage collectibles, furniture, knickknacks, and tchotchkes, Retro Vegas is a total time machine of Vegas kitsch, specializing in the best remnants of the bygone era. Still, perhaps the most exciting aspect of this burgeoning Vegas cultural phenomenon is their renowned First Friday events. On the first Friday of every month, the Arts District hosts a huge block party where the city's best musicians, artists, food vendors, and clothing designers come together to showcase their trend-setting work.  It is the best party in town. Although best known as a monthly event, the First Friday Foundation extends its community outreach efforts well beyond the first Friday of each month.

As a non-profit organization, the First Friday Foundation serves to empower local arts, culture, and education through artistic opportunities for thousands of students in the Clark County School District. This directly aligns with TWO TWO's own mission statement, to connect and enrich the global community through arts and entertainment. As the first immersive art gallery in the district, TWO TWO will become the touchstone from which all future galleries and art will emerge. So forget your tired old Las Vegas strip, and welcome yourself to the city's best kept secret, located in the southern downtown within walking distance to Fremont St.

“If you want to learn about history, you could read history books but that's a single perspective that may be tainted by class or politics,” according to Steven W Meistrich, Co-Founder and CEO of TWO TWO. “In my opinion, if you really want to understand and embrace history, one needs art, music and literature because that represents truth; the heart of a society, a generation, a culture. That understanding, offers a true sense of the meaning of history which is fundamental to the grown of humanity. Art, music and literature are not erudite. They are oxygen and it is incumbent upon us to educate.” 

TWO TWO, the City of Las Vegas, partners in Art Without Boundaries. 

ABOUT TWO TWO

TWO TWO is the world's first Interactive Art Gallery. It blurs the boundaries between physical and virtual art, exhibiting and selling the works of visionary, established and emerging graffiti, pop and street artists. See more at www.twotwoart.com.

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Today on Fintech we are please to speak to Eela, Co-Founder of EduFund. EduFund is India’s first dedicated investment advisory app for higher education. With the help of its strategic partners and investors such as ViewTrade Holding Corp., the EduFund app gives parents an opportunity to build nest-eggs by investing in Indian markets and abroad. […]

We'll look into two different methods for learning to program, joining a coding bootcamp or self-learning.

Find out the best ways for you to improve your programming skills regardless of whether you’re a developer, designer, or a marketing specialist!