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A few years ago the acronym was understood only within a niche subculture and then suddenly NFTs were everywhere. 

Digital art had finally found its market while fortunes were being made speculating on jpgs. Apes, punks, doodles and toadz popped up as profile pictures and Tezos had a booth at Art Basel. Beeple was breaking auction records while everyone from 

, to A16z, to The Weeknd seemed to have an opinion and a project.And then the market tanked, but true believers still say to believe.

So what do we believe? What happened and what is happening? 

Let’s have a lively discussion with a panel of those in the trenches still fighting the good fight to create meaning, art and sense of this strange new world.

NFTs - Fad, Fraud or Future

 x Futurespaces present a limited webinar series  to showcase behind-the-scenes insights from design thought-leaders and highlight thought-provoking experiential projects and design processes. 

Our first event in the series "Disney Imagineer Daniel Joseph, The Art of Illusion," will presents the legacy of Walt Disney Imagineering’s Illusions and Special Effects Development Lab. 

Daniel Joseph will walk us through work created by Disney Legend, Yale Gracey for the Haunted Mansion and other early projects, plus a behind-the-curtain look at the present-day magical process that is so unique to Walt Disney Imagineering.

This new SEGD Limited Webinar Series is made possible through partnership with 

Disney Imagineer Daniel Joseph: The Art of Illusion

Join us for an exploration on how to use augmented reality to transform everyday locations into experiential destinations with 

Niantic has created some of the most popular and innovative augmented reality (AR) games in the world, including Pokemon Go, which has been downloaded over 1 billion times, as well as Ingress, and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. 

From unlocking a destination's digital twin using visual positioning systems to bringing to life signage and packaging with image target technology, Tom will walk us through what opportunities are available with AR tech today and raise up in-market examples on how brands are using AR today to engage users everywhere.

Connecting People with Places Using Augmented Reality | Tom Emrich, Director of Product at Niantic

Innovation is at the forefront of museums today, as institutions seek new and creative ways to engage visitors and make learning more interactive. The new 

Here, the museum is breaking new ground in the way visitors interact with technology, allowing for for real-time collaboration and creative expression, empowering visitors to become co-creators of the experience.

Join us as we explore the exciting world of museum innovation, and discover how the use of AI is transforming the way we engage with art, science, and culture.

As the Director of Galleries and Exhibitions, Ann Neumann has led the charge in developing this groundbreaking exhibit. Through her guidance, the MIT Museum has successfully harnessed the power of AI to create a public, participatory, and truly innovative experience that challenges traditional notions of what a museum can be.

From Passive to Participatory: AI's Role in Museum Engagement

In 1998, Beanie Babies made their manufacturer Ty Inc. $1.4 billion. In 2022, NFT royalties alone made YugaLabs (creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club), $107.8 million.

Both Beanie Babies and NFT collectibles have dropped in value since their heights, causing many to write articles like “

Are NFTs the New Beanie Babies (And Not in a Good Way)

After extensive research, I discovered that NFTs are indeed like Beanie Babies but not in the way most think. In my webinar, I share my research about the two bubbles along with my NFT journey as an artist. I also talk about how key contributions by women are often overlooked when speculative frenzies are reduced to fads instead of seen as harbingers of new eras of technology.

 is a Los Angeles-based artist and writer known for her 

, a series of generative art NFTs reimagining the Medusa myth. 

Her work has been featured in various solo presentations and has been written about by notable publications such as The New York Times and Elle. Marple has also raised over a million dollars for Planned Parenthood LA and a quarter million for Critical Resistance through charity art auctions. 

, holds a B.A. in Fine Art from UCLA, and has pieces in the collections of the Museum of Crypto Art, Seattle NFT Museum, and McEvoy Family Collection.

Art, Beanie Babies, and NFTs, How NFTs are like Beanie Babies but not in the way you think...

Hollywood special effects have had a significant impact on near-term innovations across UX, digital product and experience design as interfaces and experiences - set in futuristic worlds - are rapidly being realized in the "real world." 

David Sheldon-Hicks, Founder and Executive Creative Director of 

, is at the forefront of these innovations creating speculative futures and often bridging them to market. 

David will experiences created for Hollywood fictional, near-future automotive, and present-day immersive projects. He will share how these stories get told, how the future is imagines and the increasingly blurry lined between science fiction and the everyday. 

is a renowned design and visual effects studio, founded in 2010 by David Sheldon Hicks and Nick Glover. Based in London, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, the studio is known for its interdisciplinary approach to design, which combines art, technology, and storytelling to create immersive and engaging experiences for audiences.

's work spans a wide range of industries, including film, television, video games, and branding. The studio has collaborated with major brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola, and Jaguar, and its work has been featured in blockbuster films such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Blade Runner 2049, and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Hollywood Fiction to Near-Future Immersive

On the night before we opened a large museum, a friend of mine said "Now that you've launched the project you must be so relieved; you'll have time to chill out". I snorted and sprayed my beverage on them.

We've all been there. We know opening day is the deceptive ray of light between 

 of those tunnels a few times I've identified some things that I wish I had been told a long time ago. Some of this stuff even has a "sustainable" angle. Tune in to hear about total failures, and a few good things I learned along the way.

Keeping it Up: Exhibiting Sustainably 

Join us for a conversation between Sundar Raman, Director of Technology of the 

This conversation will pick up on Sundar's presentation, 

, but also extend to other topics around the future of museums, sustainability in experience design, innovation and the affordances of public space. 

If you have any questions or topics you'd like Josh and Sundar to discuss, email 

Q&A with Sundar Raman

's Josh Goldblum, for a trip to Meow Wolf's Convergence Station. 

Guided by Meow Wolf's Director of Exhibitions, Cody Borst, we'll  explore the process, mythology, practice and wonder that is 

The QDOT Transit Station is the physical and metaphysical gateway to the exhibition. It is both a terminal for departure, and an information portal on the Quantum Department of Transportation's history, and its connection to the Converged Worlds.

C Street lives on the 4th floor of the exhibit, and will likely be the first Anchor Space encountered by visitors. Elevator doors open onto a covered plaza bustling with vendors selling otherworldly goods, buskers, currency exchange kiosks, and a disorienting ‘you are here’ map.

The Cosmohedron is to Numina as a nucleus is to a cell. It's gray-white shell stands in stark contrast to the green world in which it resides. It appears like a sort of gargantuan shelled deep-sea creature, or like a towering armored virus.

Lyra’s Keep is a place for rest and reflection. This cavernous haven welcomes visitors to take a seat, to explore the ancient history of the Y’ruks, and marvel at the miniature worlds preserved within the stone columns.

The Cathedral was constructed when the ice age began. A last will and testament to the grandeur of the Eemian society. It is adorned with mythical iconography inside it's stained glass that tells the tale of the Eemain people.

Meow Wolf, Convergence Station

Following his extremely exciting and inspiring presentation, 

, ​David Sheldon-Hicks, Founder and Executive Creative Director of 

 Founder Josh Goldblum for a lively conversation and Q&A.

If there are any topics or questions you'd like us to cover email me at: 

Q&A: David-Sheldon Hicks, Territory Studio

The line between storyteller and audience is eroding. Generative tools are challenging the authorship and ownership of stories. In this edition of Futurespaces we’ll be joined by 

, an emerging media artist and founding director of 

Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab

The Columbia DSL designs stories for the 21st Century. Through a diverse range of creative and research practices originating in fields from the arts, humanities and technology - the lab is a space for speculation, creativity and co-creation. 

Lance will pull back the curtain on two of his recent projects that are experimenting with generative storytelling. 

 is a traveling exhibition that employs elements of immersive theatre, interactive documentary, and emergent technology to co-create a personalized generative work about life, loss and memory. A personal project by Weiler, Where There’s Smoke is a collaboration with the Columbia DSL and the schools’ Narrative Medicine program. 

is a generative storytelling prototype from the Columbia DSL where those formerly known as the audience become architects of the future. Together participants explore a playful world, contend with magical threats, and face the question: What if Happily Ever After is Not Guaranteed? Together, participants create new myths that leverage Blockchain technology for creative purposes beyond commerce.

We'll have a 30 minute presentation followed by a 30 minute Q&A with Josh Goldblum (

) - if you have any questions you'd like Josh to ask Lance, feel free to email him at 

Experiments in Generative Storytelling w. Lance Weiler


Many of us are enthusiastic about AR and commerce — but is it truly inevitable? In this talk, Auki Labs' Head of Product Neil Redding leads us on an exploration of the near future of cities, why location is everything, the accelerating growth of ecommerce vs physical retail, and how AR will finally enable what commerce is truly about.

Neil Redding is a keynote speaker, author, Innovation Architect and Near Futurist.

Neil is Head of Product at Auki Labs — working with a world-class team to create the foundation for shared reality that converges digital and physical — starting with Convergent Commerce. Auki Labs is creating a decentralized, collaborative spatial computing protocol, enabling the super-precise positioning that will make AR possible and ultimately replace the GPS.

Neil is also editor of Near Future of Retail, author of the forthcoming book The Ecosystem Paradigm, and advises multiple startups at the leading edge of the digital-physical convergence.

Why AR is the Inevitable Future of Commerce

, David Bowie tries to convince journalist Jeremy Paxman that the Internet is not an incremental innovation, but a sea change in how art is created, distributed, and experienced. “I think we’re actually at the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying,” Bowie says. “It’s not just a tool, it’s an alien lifeform.” 

There is a similar sentiment today among proponents of generative AI. But what exactly is newly possible? Will there be new modes of creativity and social dynamics, and what are the impacts and byproducts of such changes? Who will be most affected? To discern signal from noise, these questions push us to assess four categories: automation and creative labor, augmentation and velocity, aesthetics and artistry, and convergence and emergence.

Jesse Damiani is a writer, curator, and producer who writes about art, media, and emerging technology. 

He is Founder and Director of Postreality Labs, a strategy and sensemaking consultancy at the intersection of art, technology, and power. 

He is Curator and Director of Simulation Literacies at Nxt Museum; Arts and Culture Advisor for Protocol Labs; and the Host of Adobe’s Taking Shape, a hub for 3D art and design. An Affiliate of the metaLAB at Harvard and Institute for the Future, his writing appears in Adweek, Big Think, Billboard, Entrepreneur, Flash Art, IndieWire, HuffPost, Quartz, The Verge, and WIRED; and syndication in CBS News, CJR, The New Digital Storytelling textbook, and REDEF.

Beyond the Creative Singularity w Jesse Damiani

The metaverse has been heralded as the future of everything, yet surprisingly few are using strategic worldbuilding and foresight to make sense of these coming threats and opportunities.

Metaverse technologies have the power to change many aspects of our lives and world, from how we govern to how we entertain ourselves to how we tackle the world’s greatest challenges. Simulations allow us to create and manipulate “virtual atoms,” paving the way for new paradigms, economies, and ways of being human.

This presentation will introduce new possibilities for the metaverse from our latest report, ‘Simulating the Future.’ It will take you to the edge of what’s emerging to redefine reality and the futures we might inhabit.

Leah is an award-winning strategic foresight practitioner and researcher, with over 15 years of strategy experience. She has consulted for a wide variety of prestigious organizations, including the United Nations, Fortune 100 companies, Stanford University, and the OECD. As a futurist, she has accurately warned of a Covid reality, a Trump incited militia attack, and Russia’s experimentation with a non-linear war (including the annexation of Ukraine), and more. She is currently serving as an advisor to the federal foresight divisions of Canada and Finland. Leah has an MDes. in Strategic Foresight and Innovation from OCAD University.

Simulating the Future: New Metaverse Forecasts

Artwrld Investment Presentation

 is an American photographer known for his documentation of the 2011 Libyan Civil War and the resulting monograph, Libyan Sugar.

Publications have long used reportage illustrations (RI) to illuminate stories in fresh ways. Though a RI may not reflect reality, it may feel true. AIRI (AI generated RI) may go a step further, as an image created from hundreds of millions of photographs may feel not only true, but real. 

A.I may reflect a novel way to translate narratives into useful imagery connecting people with important stories of our time, it may also blur what is real, what is true, what is reportage, what can be trusted and believed, and what can not. 

Michael Christopher Brown (MCB) is an American photographer and artist. Raised in the Skagit Valley, a farming community in Washington State, he became known for his extensive use of an iPhone as a primary reporting device, including during the 2011 Libyan Revolution. This documentation led to the monograph 

. A National Geographic Photographer since 2004 and a former associate photographer with Magnum Photos, he was the main character of the Michael Mann directed HBO documentary 

 and a contributing cinematographer to several conflict based documentaries, including 

Which way is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington

and others. In 2018, Damiani published his book 

 a week long journey documenting the cortège of Fidel Castro. In 2023, Twin Palms will publish 

, on youth in the Cuban electronic music scene. MCB is the creator of 

 and has exhibited in museums, galleries and exhibitions around the world. He lives in Los Angeles and is father to a beautiful four year old daughter, Poppy.

AI & The Post-Photography Era

The emerging discipline of immersive storytelling recognizes the power of creative works that put the visitor/player at the center of the action. In her recently published book,"

Immersive Storytelling for Real and Imagined Worlds

," immersive storyteller and former Imagineer Margaret Kerrison shares tips and tricks for writers on teams tasked with bringing a narrative to life. How do you take an idea from inspiration to manifestation? How do you move from telling a story to creating a world? The first book of its kind written specifically for writers, Kerrison lays out the foundational principles of immersive storytelling.

Immersive Storytelling for Real and Imagined Worlds: A Writer's Guide | Amazon

Born in Indonesia and raised in Singapore, Margaret Kerrison received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. Her career spans 15 years of creating narratives and writing for television, film, digital media, games, brand storytelling, location-based entertainment, narrative placemaking, and immersive experiences. 

She is an award-winning Story Lead, Story Consultant, and Writer for multiple projects around the world, including Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, Avengers Campus, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, National Geographic Base Camp, AMOREPACIFIC Story Garden, and the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. She was a Disney Imagineer from 2014-2021. 

She is a frequent speaker for immersive storytelling in conferences, universities, and companies, including SXSW, Star Wars Celebration, D23, IAAPA Expo, FMX Conference, Asian Festival of Children's Content (Singapore), USC, UCLA, Johns Hopkins University, Laguna College of Art and Design, Singapore National Library Board, Blizzard/Activision, and Riot Games. Her projects have been featured around the world in The New York Times, Good Morning America, The Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, Wired magazine, and the official site for Star Wars. 

Immersive Storytelling for Real and Imagined Worlds - A Writer's Guide

" was released in August 2022. Margaret is the 2023 Paul Helmle Fellow for the Department of Architecture at California Polytechnic State University, Pomona. 

Designing and Evaluating Experiences in the Enterprise

Enterprises, like Google, use a wide range of immersive experiences to engage employees, customers, and partners.

However, there are significant challenges in measuring the value and success of these experiences which limit their potential impact. 

Ryan Howard will introduce the ExPo framework, a new system for designing and evaluating immersive experiences - especially when there isn't an ROI framed in lead generation or revenue. 

Overall, Ryan will address the methodologies Google develops to create world-class experience design from within a giant global corporation.

Ryan Howard is co-lead of Google Experience Institute, a Google-led initiative that includes external partnerships focused on researching, developing, and advocating for better event and experience futures. 

In his primary technology role, he leads a portfolio of highly scalable experience design and delivery strategies tailored to the enterprise environment, including an range of innovative strategies that span design frameworks, analytic frameworks, platforms, and wearables. 

Before joining Google, he worked on similar initiatives at Goldman Sachs and across the broadcast, experiential, and audiovisual industries. 

 is an experiential phenomenon, started in 2008 as a small collective of Santa Fe artists sharing an interest in publicly displaying their works and developing their skills together. This collaborative approach blossomed into Meow Wolf's distinctive style of immersive, maximalist environments that encourage audience-driven experiences and now spans multiple locations with new venues opening soon.

Anne Mullen, Meow Wolf’s Chief Creative Strategy Officer will focus on World Building & IP cultivation starting from our immersive IRL spaces, and now going beyond to invite the participant through new portals in all realms, physical or digital. 

Anne will walk through Meow Wolf’s opportunity, some of our core strategies & newest initiatives, never compromising on Meow Wolf's foundational interest in inviting participants to discover more within themselves and our world.

 delves into contemporary experience design, with a specific focus on how innovations in design and technology can meaningfully enhance human connection.

 ) Futurespaces offers live webinars and in-person tours that provide valuable insights into the creative process of creating contemporary experiences.

The Accessible Unknown: Expanding the Meow Wolf Universe

Marco Brambilla is a London-based artist known for his elaborate recontextualization of popular and found imagery, as well as pioneering digital imaging technologies in video installation and art. 

Brambilla’s work has been internationally exhibited and is in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Perez Museum; ARCO Foundation and the Museum of Modern Art. 

 video for a less controversial Kanye West and 

Marina Abramović, starring Willem Dafoe.

Nato and Marco talk about digital art, culture and Marco's upcoming artwrld project, "

" which transports the often mystified material culture of the Freemason tradition into the digital and highly public realm of web3.

It's also crazy beautiful, mysterious and full of layers of meaning and symbolism. We'll be answering questions and talking about the future of art, communication and the strange power and iconography of secret societies. 

Also: if you missed if RSVP for our webinar this Thursday:

Anything is Popsicle | MUSEUM OF ICE CREAM

Marco Brambilla x Nato Thompson

 (MOIC) first debuted in 2016 as a pop-up in New York’s Meatpacking District under the direction of Co-Founders Maryellis Bunn and Manish Vora. Together with the creative design team led by Gaby Yacoob, the vision was to create an interactive and inclusive space that fostered human connection over the shared love of ice cream. 

The inception of MUSEUM OF ICE CREAM was the realization of two distinct dreams: Maryellis’ childhood fantasy of swimming in a pool of sprinkles and Manish’s ambition to craft a groundbreaking museum experience. Their ultimate goal was to fashion a unique space for socializing with peers, transcending the conventional confines of bars and restaurants, all while fostering meaningful connections with others. These mutual aspirations have been the guiding principles of MUSEUM OF ICE CREAM, steering it with purpose, excitement, inclusiveness, and an unwavering belief in the attainability of dreams. With permanent locations domestically and abroad, MUSEUM OF ICE CREAM continues to grow and create spaces where visitors can rediscover their inner child, enjoy unlimited ice cream and treats, and make memories to last a lifetime. 

's Senior Designer, leads the team in concepting, world building, and developing the immersive sweet spaces it's guests enjoy around the world. Dominick will talk about the concept and development process, from a napkin sketch to a real life Sprinkle Pool, the process of integrating food and beverage into the guests experience as seamlessly as possible, and how MUSEUM OF ICE CREAM evolved into a more substantial, immersive and transformative experience, having shed the yoke of a "pop-up".

) Futurespaces offers live webinars and in-person tours that provide valuable insights into the creative process of creating contemporary experiences.

The SEC is investigating once venerated projects, prices and sales are down, galleries and platforms are closing, the greatest promise of the blockchain to provide royalties to artists and to create a more equitable structure for artists is under scrutiny and attack. Do we despair? Do we retreat? Do we invest? Do we build? Let's start with a conversation.

 will host a talk with Joel Ferree of LACMA’s Art + Technology Lab and Yasaman Sheri, Principal Investigator of Serpentine Synthetic Ecologies Lab. Together they will take stock of the moment, the continued promise of blockchain and NFTs, the current conditions, where we are and what we can protect. . 

Yasaman Sheri, Principal Investigator of Serpentine Synthetic Ecologies Lab

Joel Feree, Program director of LACMA’s Art + Technology Lab

: Mushroom Cloud LA/ Proximities, Nancy Baker Cahill, 2022

IRL: Welcome to the NFT Winter at NeueHouse Venice Beach

For the Artwrld, State of the Company Address,  Artwrld co-founder and CEO Josh Goldblum will share the exciting progress Artwrld has made over the last two years, present their upcoming projects  and initiatives as well as share their vision and plans for the future. 

During this event, Josh will provide a comprehensive update on Artwrld’s achievements - including several sold-out projects, the first NFT on the cover of Art in America Magazine, the acquisition of works by major museums and institutions and major press and partnerships. 

Further, Josh will share Artwrld’s strategic direction to weather the “NFT Winter” and their commitment and vision for the future. 

In addition to the progress report, Josh will also be discussing our desire to raise additional capital to support their growth ambitions.