JEDDAH: On Monday night a panel discussion took place at the 2022 Jeddah Book Fair entitled “Technology, Imagination and the Marketing Game: Future Alliances: NFTs / Web3 / Metaverse.” While the crypto sphere continues to blur the lines between the virtual and physical worlds, Princess Reem Al-Faisal agreed that these technologies, the Web3 ecosystem, nonfungible tokens and the metaverse are well-positioned to dictate the future of the former.  She said blockchain technology, which is for storing information in a decentralized way and keeping it more secure, is an upcoming knowledge. Al-Faisal said that she is fascinated by cryptocurrencies and bitcoin, which she called “the most amazing technology revolution.” While facing the audience, Al-Faisal, a photographer for more than 30 years, then moved on to defining the “Infinity” technology, which is non-fungible and divisible symbols, and explained its most common uses in artworks and digital contracts.  She also mentioned that this technology allowed artists to enter the digital world, such as stereo arts and paintings, to have their creations bought and sold.  “It is also used in real estate because it uses indivisible symbols, and its advantage is that all information that is put in the contract remains preserved and continues until death.” Regarding the metaverse, Al-Faisal indicated that it is technology beyond reality, and the city that contains all other digital construction. “While Web3 is a new generation of the internet, we started with it, but we are not going to use it, because it needs public adoption.” She added: “We use the blockchain in our dealings by 99 percent, in banks, various investments, and commercial opportunities. There are platforms that use this technology, including OpenSea, Foundation and Rebels, and it is also used in marketing for business and exhibitions. The platform that most supports this technology is Twitter.” She indicated that the metaverse will change many things in several fields, including banking, as institutions will dispense, for example, with physical branches, as well as in medical services, which use the triple dimension, and universities that will use it for distance learning. “The most critical challenge of these technologies is a lack of knowledge. So, individuals who will deal with these techniques should study them well, and take their time to learn, as they need at least 150 hours to be familiar with all fields because one of the risks is that those who don’t study this field will fall into identity theft and scams, for example,” She concluded.