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Category: research
Functional NFT’s
Functional NFTs are changing the ways we interact with each other and the gaming experience. Earlier, NFTs were limited to products but now it’s putting a value on services too. Now with functional NFTs, you can choose to buy an experience rather than a piece of art.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have stirred up things in the world of art. While the underlying technology behind NFTs remains simple. They have morphed into multiple applications some of which we shall discuss soon. Traditionally there have been five categories of NFTs: Collectibles, Game Assets, Virtual Land, Crypto Art and Others (including domain names, property titles) etc. Currently, there seems to be another category that has been getting some buzz in the industry. This new player is called “Functional NFTs”.
What are Functional NFTs?
Let’s discuss what Functional NFTs are first. The meaning should be clear from the name itself. NFTs that provide some sort of functionality. It could be a game asset that performs some function. For example, if a game has an avatar as an NFT and it provides certain functionality, then it can be called a Functional NFT. This functionality can be seen as accruing points in a game or giving the player some special power.
Another example can be an NFT created by a restaurant owner. The NFT works as a pass for one person to have dinner on Sunday at the restaurant. Therefore the NFT has some functionality and serves a given purpose. In a similar fashion imagine walking into a club and not having to stand in a line. Well, there can be an NFT for that too. Owning that NFT can give you free access to the club and since you own the NFT, people do not need to check for your ID.
Normal vs Functional NFTs
Moreover, there has been a heated debate about value accrual in normal NFTs vs Functional NFTs. The argument is that non-functional NFTs are easier to make and are sold quickly on the market. Thus acquiring value quickly. In comparison to that Functional NFTs such as in games need to be thought about. It takes time to build a great experience around the basic utility of the functional NFT.
Consequently taking more time to build value. For example, Axie Infinity, a Pokemon-like game that allows players to collect, breed and battle creatures. It was launched in 2018, but it was quite different then from what it is right now. The developer team had multiple iterations to finesse the game experience. Once the gaming experience was finessed, the NFT assets within the game accrued value. The phenomenon is termed as “Promise Effect” which says that an NFT that promises some experience will accrue value slower than a non-functional NFT.
A new type of Functional NFTs
HODL Valley, a new metaverse gaming project is trying to create a tokenized city. One among many of its features is Functional NFT, but these NFTs take it a step too far. HODL Valley contains around 24 different locations, each with a specific function and utility. These locations are connected to DApps which carry out the functionality for users. These locations can be purchased in-app and the revenues generated by them can be taken home by the NFT owner. For example, let’s say a bank has been represented by an NFT. Since it’s connected to a DApp, it can provide lending and borrowing services. As other users in the game play and use the bank. The NFT owner, who is, in turn, the owner of the bank will be able to generate an income stream from it. That is how functional NFTs have been pitched recently.
These functional NFTs are bound to change the way we interact with games and real life. With added functionality, individuals can get a unique experience. It’s not just a token anymore which represents value, it’s a function in itself. If NFTs was money then it was only selling products until now. Now, it has started moving into services too.
Artificial Identity
James DiGiovanna
DOI:10.1093/oso/9780190652951.003.0020
Enhancement and AI create moral dilemmas not envisaged in standard ethical theories. Some of this stems from the increased malleability of personal identity that this technology affords: an artificial being can instantly alter its memory, preferences, and moral character. If a self can, at will, jettison essential identity-giving characteristics, how are we to rely upon, befriend, or judge it? Moral problems will stem from the fact that such beings are para-persons: they meet all the standard requirements of personhood (self-awareness, agency, intentional states, second-order desires, etc.) but have an additional ability—the capacity for instant change—that disqualifies them from ordinary personal identity. In order to rescue some responsibility assignments for para-persons, a fine-grained analysis of responsibility-bearing parts of selves and the persistence conditions of these parts is proposed and recommended also for standard persons who undergo extreme change.
Genomic Surveillance
Executive summary
Genomic surveillance in Belgium is based on whole genome sequencing (WGS) of a selection of
representative samples, complemented with targeted active surveillance initiatives and targeted
molecular markers aiming to early detect and precisely monitor the epidemiological evolution of
variants of concern (VOCs). Currently, 5.050 sequences of samples collected in Belgium are available
on GISAID in open access. During week 3 of 2021, Belgium achieved a coverage of 3,5% of all positive
sequences being sequenced.
During the last 2 weeks (week 5 and 6), 146 samples have been sequenced as part of the baseline
surveillance, among which 48 (33%) were 501Y.V1 and 8 (5%) were 501Y.V2.
Since week 52 of 2020, Belgium has experienced multiple introductions of VOCs followed by sustained
local transmissions. As a consequence of a higher transmissibility of these variants, we observe a
progressive shift in viral populations, with 501Y.V1 expected to represent the majority of circulating
strains by early March. Together with the rollout of vaccination, genomic surveillance will monitor the
eventual positive selection of VOCs harbouring immune escape mutations such as S:E484K.
During the last 2 weeks, the progressive phenomenon of viral population replacement by more
transmissible strains did not alter the overall stability of the epidemic in Belgium. This is probably due
to a combination of active public health response and limited number of social interactions in the
population. The risk of disruption of this equilibrium remains, as the proportion of more transmissible
viruses will continue rising, but this risk can be mitigated by a combination of active outbreak control
interventions, maintained efforts to reduce transmission in the population and rapid roll-out of
vaccination.