This is episode #4 of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 28th of October 2021. In today’s show I am talking to Professor Rabindra (Robby) Ratan about the Metaverse and the Web 3.0. In addition to basic definitions and the etymology of the concepts, we explore various important aspects such as how is this virtual space governed, how are its contents moderated, and what kind of experience does and can the Metaverse give its users.
As more and more companies are making their presence known in this so-called ‘embodied space’ (just to cite Mark Zuckerburg), we discuss the future of the Metaverse related to storytelling as part of the user’s multi-modal and multi-sensory experience, as well as to some of the ethical issues that most likely will arise in this still virgin space.
Dr. Ratan is Director of the SPARTIE Lab at Michigan State University, which performs research on the effects of human-technology interaction, examining how the use of media technologies (e.g., avatars, agents, automobiles) influences meaningful outcomes (e.g., education, health/safety, persuasion). SPARTIE stands for Social and Psychological Approaches to Research on Technology-Interaction Effects. At the end of the interview, Robby summarizes his work on reducing toxicity in virtual spaces by employing various design principles and finding ways to make people be more responsible and avoid promoting certain stereotypes online. Here is the show.
Interesting fact: It also happens that, as of today, when this episode went live, Facebook becomes Meta, its new corporate name.
Note:
This episode is being cross-posted with SPARTIE-cast, the SPARTIE lab's own podcast.
You can check out their episodes here:
https://www.spartielab.comartsci.msu.edu/news
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https://twitter.com/spartiecast
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https://www.tiktok.com/@spartiecast_msu?
https://www.instagram.com/spartiecast/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/spartie-cast-with-dr-robby-ratan/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyjTMOMPCm2w0i-yOat1G0A