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Know your NFT’s from your Blockchain? Catch up on all the latest innovations in technology with our quick start guide:

NFT

NFT stands for Non-fungible Token.

NFT’s provide the buyer with the ownership rights to a piece of digital content as opposed to the content itself. So if you buy the NFT of a viral TikTok video or a piece of digital art it can still be saved, shared and distributed by others online but the owner has the rights to it and has the option to use the rights to that work for commercial gain (e.g. licensing it to an advertiser or brand for use in a campaign).

As part of the boom in NFTs there are online marketplaces that provide a platform for the buying and selling of NFTs using crypto currency.

Blockchain

A blockchain is a decentralised network that handles and processes transactions. As these networks are decentralised no one user or organisation has control – the transactions recorded and saved in each block and cannot be altered, deleted or destroyed.

Blockchain technology has come into popular awareness in recent years thanks to its use with cryptocurrencies but its use is not limited to this. Blockchains can be used for data backup, digital ID’s, data sharing and much more.

Smart Contracts

Smart contracts are pieces of software that are stored on a blockchain and run when predetermined conditions are met. Typically to automate the execution of an agreement so that all participants can be sure of the outcome.

Smart contracts, when integrated into a web app act much like an API and once deployed to a blockchain will run as programmed. Using modern JavaScript libraries, we can now integrate the calling of the smart contract functions into our web applications so that users can trigger on-chain transactions from a web user interface. Open Sea is an example of a web application that has integrated smart contracts for use within the app. When a user lists an NFT for sale the application will fire off a request to call an on-chain function that will list the item for sale on the blockchain. The same is true for a buyer their purchase will trigger a request to the smart contract to complete the on-chain sale of the item.

Web3.js

Relatively new in the space, Web3.js is a JavaScript library that allows you to interact with an Ethereum blockchain node via a RESTful (Representational State Transfer) API. Where developers would normally be required to write lower-level code to interact with and perform functions on the blockchain Web3.js means that web developers can now build web applications that speak to an Ethereum based blockchain with relative ease.

AI

AI stands for artificial intelligence. For many this conjures up images of human sized robots and while that’s part of it is also much simpler than that. AI and is essentially computing which builds smart machines that can carry out tasks or learn and process information to solve problems or make decisions.

AI is already at play in most of our lives with our streaming platform recommendations being delivered through AI, while more visible forms such as robot vacuums and virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa use this technology to operate and help you with daily requests.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality super imposes computer generated imagery onto a user’s real-world view through technology such as smart phones.

Augmented reality technology can be used to provide information to the user such as online ratings and reviews for businesses in the area. It can also be used for gamifications purposes. The most commonly known use of AR is the game, Pokémon Go, where virtual reality characters are imposed into real world environments.

Internet of Things

The Internet of Things refers to our connected devices. Whether this is your smart watch that tracks your steps and your sleep cycles or your home thermostat which you can adjust when out these devices operate via an internet connection but also physically in our world.