Three years after the sensational debut of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the art scene, it seems timely to reflect on their presumed revolutionary attributes. The speculative fascination at the beginning has gradually given way to mixed outcomes, with hardly predictable future directions. However, once recontextualized in the art ecosystem and its value chain, one may question the ability of NFT technology to lead to radical changes. Our main argument is that although they offer perspectives that are worth considering regarding contracts, authors’ rights management, and provenance, blockchain-based technologies do not substantially modify the typical characteristics of the art world. Based on recent press articles and academic publications, we comment on the effects of this technology on producers (artists’ creative process and career development), intermediaries (art market gatekeepers), and consumers (quest for authenticity, collecting habits, and museum intervention in the art market). Our main conclusions suggest that NFTs perpetuate oversupply and job precarity in cyberenvironments and reinforce existing purchasing behaviors driven by the quest for authenticity and conspicuous consumption. Our goal is to mitigate some statements found in the literature and the press, especially regarding the democratization of the art market, and to help art market stakeholders approach this technology most objectively.
Karthik Venugopal, K.S. Santhosh Anand, Nidhish Lakhinana, M Namratha
Limited edition collectibles such as shoes, watches, vehicles, and so on are high-value goods whose value only grows with time, but there is no means to validate the item’s originality or track the chain of ownership. This is usually done with a tangible certificate of authenticity, which can get lost or damaged over time. In this paper, we solve this problem by creating an NFT (Non-Fungible Token) for the object that will be permanently recorded on the blockchain network and will trace the chain of ownership as well as the cost at each transaction. NFTs can be issued to rare collectibles to aid in the authentication of the item’s authenticity. Blockchain tokens are classified as either fungible or non-fungible assets. Fungible tokens are interchangeable; they are identical and can be replaced by another identical token. They may be used to represent everything from Bitcoin and video game cash to tokenized representations of actual commodities like crude oil or gold. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are one-of-a-kind and cannot be traded. Non-fungible assets are unique and cannot be swapped directly, such as a piece of digital art you made, a car ownership certificate, or a gaming character.The NFT which is created is secured by the consensus mechanism of blockchain and prevents fraudulent transactions. The NFT can be transferred from one ETH wallet to another ETH wallet when the collectible is sold to another person and this transaction is stored in the blockchain. The NFT’s whole transaction history is permanently preserved on the blockchain and can be confirmed by anybody using the token ID.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are non-interchangeable assets, usually digital art, which are stored on the blockchain. Preliminary studies find that female and darker-skinned NFTs are valued less than their male and lighter-skinned counterparts. However, these studies analyze only the CryptoPunks collection. We test the statistical significance of race and gender biases in the prices of CryptoPunks and present the first study of gender bias in the broader NFT market. We find evidence of racial bias but not gender bias. Our work also introduces a dataset of gender-labeled NFT collections to advance the broader study of social equity in this emerging market.
3D printing’s rapid technological development is starting to impact the art field because, for the first time, it has become possible to exactly reproduce and reconstruct artworks without any loss of their physical features. Yet, a coherent overview of how 3D printing is used within the art field while paying attention to ethical considerations does not exist. This study will provide an overview of the current developments of 3D printing in the art world, its use, and the direction it is moving toward. Within this study, the technologies that enable, influence, and will continue to affect the 3D reproduction of artworks, namely technologies necessary to capture an artwork’s materials on a chemical and physical level, artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printing technology itself, and the rise of the non-fungible token (NFT) are analyzed to be able to understand what 3D printing implies for our changing perception of art in the future.
The blistering development of the digital technologies has changed the modern art and design landscape greatly, changing the way creative works are developed, expressed, and interacted with the audience. In this paper, the author examines the introduction of new technologies into the modern art scene: artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), blockchain, and generative algorithms. These technological progressions have not only widened the horizon of creativity, but have democratized the process of producing and distributing art thereby allowing artists to tap into audiences all over the world without having to go through the traditional go-between. The research examines the impact of digital tools and platforms on artistic processes, aesthetics and conceptualization. It puts the emphasis on the transformation of passive to active and participatory experiences, in which the audiences become actively involved in creating and understanding the works of art. Also, the paper analyses how data-driven design, computational creativity and machine learning are used to create new forms of art that defy the conventional concept of authorship and originality. Moreover, this study examines socio-cultural effects of technology-based art, such as concerns with intellectual property, authenticity, as well as problems of ethics of AI-generated art. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have brought about novel economics and artists can earn revenue on digital art at the cost of sustainability and financial instability. The research approach will include the mixed-method one that will include the qualitative analysis of case studies with the help of quantitative surveys of artists and designers. The results indicate that technology boosts both effective creativity and cross-disciplinary teamwork and allows new expressions of creativity. Digital dependence, accessibility obstacles and ethical dilemmas are among the problems that have remained. The paper then wraps up by restating the necessity of a moderated adoption of technology and human imaginative in such a way that the technological equipment becomes facilitators of the artistic expression and not substitutes. The research directions in the future are to find a sustainable way of engaging in digital art and creating a framework of the ethical use of AI in the creative field.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have received a great deal of attention over the past few years, with the most attention given to tradable tokens linked with digital art. The applications may seem limited because most of the discussion about NFTs has been about the superficial contents of the tokens (for example, why are people trading digital monkey pictures?) without a discussion of the underlying technology. This article addresses an important question for psychologists: what else could we use easily transferrable, unique digital signatures for?
The meaning of visual imagery encapsulates the essence of the era's aspirations. This meaning can vary across different cultures, and metaphorical expressions can also differ significantly. Throughout history, the evolution of images has experienced diverse transformations. In the present day, these images continue to undergo digitization, evolving their meanings through various markets and novel formats. As an illustration, the convergence of art, photography, and the implementation of smart contracts in the form of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) has gained momentum alongside virtual currencies like Bitcoin, serving as a digital means of value exchange.Personal experiences contribute to elevating the value of images, and the subjective nature of value assessment criteria has spurred considerable discourse on valuation methods and problem-solving approaches. In a reality lacking precise standards, both significant and minor societal side effects arise. Moreover, challenges to sustainability and environmental threats have also emerged. In the realm of design, endeavors such as design thinking, speculative design envisioning future scenarios, and design futuring have been employed as alternative approaches to address these issues. These novel design attempts have garnered attention as methods for embracing uncertainties about the future and the consequent problem-solving efforts.Against this backdrop, this study aims to pose the question of how metaphoric images, particularly NFTs, will evolve in the future. As a means of seeking answers, the research intends to explore the value inherent in images by investigating prior studies on their meanings across the past, present, and future. Additionally, the metaphorical expressions embedded in these images will be examined for the implied significations they carry. Furthermore, the trajectory of these images from their origins to their current state will be traced, delving into the frequency of use across cultural and societal strata, as well as the utilization of digital imagery following its establishment in the digital realm.This research will not merely focus on the transformation of artists' and designers' creations into NFTs but will also scrutinize how digital images in the new era acquire value and meaning. Ultimately, it aims to comprehensively explore the implications of future metaphoric images, particularly in the context of NFTs and their connection to human culture. Additionally, the study will examine instances where societal institutions impact NFTs' digital images and reciprocally, where these images influence societal norms. This exploration will encompass the analysis of different nations, epochs, and the digital convergence era. In summation, the synthesized findings will categorize the meanings associated with these images and investigate how they can genuinely add value via historical research, or case studies.
Digital art uses digital technology as part of the creative process or exhibition presentation. Crypto art is linked to blockchain technology and concerns certified digital artworks. Valuation profiles take their cues from the metrics traditionally used for copyright (royalty monetization or otherwise) and adapt to the peculiar case at hand. Compared to traditional art, the greater usability through web channels is typically counterbalanced by an absence of exclusivity.
Passion investment (e.g., paintings, sculptures, non-fungible tokens [NFTs]) are not based on straightforward valuations. To establish the valuation of collectible NFTs in the nascent market of digital art, this study uses approximately 14,000 transactions by 3 ,230 unique traders in a highly liquid digital collectibles market (CryptoPunks) to identify the price influences of affective factors at product–, market participant–, and market conditions–levels. In a robust, hedonic pricing model, the study offers multiple novel findings. First, there is evidence of subjective valuation of visual (aesthetic) elements of art among market participants, who are homogenous on the value of objectively measurable traits. Second, contrary to popular perception, NFT market participants’ who are naive (in terms of crypto currency experience) or experienced a windfall gain (due to favorable cryptocurrency exchange rates) trade at lower prices. Notably, the study finds that NFT collectibles market is a sellers’ market; likely due to its decentralized character, such that sellers have direct control and influence over transactions, unlike in traditional art markets mediated by agents. Third, prior trading activity and prices positively associate with future prices, implying price extrapolation and anchoring. The findings suggest that compared to the traditional art and investment domains, digital ownership might evoke similar, if not stronger, emotional responses among consumers than physical ownership.
Güncel bir konu olan Non-Fungible Token NFT (Nitelikli Fikri Tapu) kavramı çevresinde birçok tartışma, üretim ve kazanç oluşmaktadır. Bu oluşumun birçok ürünü ve alanı olsada asıl konu şüphesiz dijital sanat çalışmaları ve bu çalışmalar çevresinde gelişmektedir. Sanatın tanımındaki kural ve ön gerekliliklerin bu çalışmalarda bulunup bulunmadığı, sanatın dijital medyada ne kadar nitelikli uygulandığı gibi sorulardan ziyade bu organizasyonun ve yapının sanatçılar için neler getireceği, maddi kazanç, yazılım ve sanatın hibrit yapısı, bu medyanın nereye gideceği gibi konular kullanıcı ve izleyiciler tarafından daha çok merak edilmektedir. Bu çalışmada NTF nedir, sanat ve dijital sanat nedir ve NFT’nin sanat ile olan ilişkisinin nereye ulaşabileceği irdelenmeye çalışılmıştır.
The evolution of technology and science has brought groundbreaking developments to the current visual arts, and the application of digital technology has brought significant changes to the creation and aesthetic taste of traditional art. This study, therefore, investigates the current state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and applications in generating visual art while giving a brief history of the intersection of AI and art, including the milestone advancements in neural networks. Fifteen interviews were conducted with technical artists who use text-to-image AI generators to gather data. Based on the findings from the interviews, the state-of-the-art applications were reviewed and analyzed in six categories: Accessibility, Barrier to Entry, Novelty, Ethics and Morality, Control, Non-fungible tokens (NFT) and Monetization which were widely discussed along with their success and limitations. The research concludes with three main findings; (a) monetization of digital media through NFTs that has a direct impact on the advancement of art generating AI applications, (b) there is a significant change in the traditional creative process with the integration of AI applications, and AI is not just a tool but it's a creative agent that artists collaborate with (c) art generating AI applications can generate limitless possibilities within the same aesthetics as a result revolutionize the way humans create and interact with art.
Aesthetic Perception and Analysis
Generative Adversarial Networks and Image Synthesis
Abstract Liben Building, constructed in 1822 AD, is located in Xinnan Village, Hukeng Town, Yongding District, Longyan City, Fujian Province, China. This square earthen building covers an area of about 2100 square metres. In 1931 AD, the building was sacked and burned down by bandits during a war, leaving behind only the remnants of the walls of the main building. In the meta‐universe environment, firstly, this study adopted blockchain DAO technology to conduct a study on the digital collection, storage, processing, display and dissemination of Liben Building, revealing the problems with digital regeneration of cultural heritage. Then, the questionnaire with 20 questions was designed, and 158 valid completed copies of the questionnaire were collected. Combining influence relationship with sample clustering analysis methods, this paper explored the findings of a study of the historical sites under blockchain digital heritage preservation and protection in the metaverse.
Rongxin Chen, Gabriele M. Lepori, Chung-Ching Tai, Ming‐Chien Sung
Research on human attention indicates that objects that stand out from their surroundings, i.e., salient objects, attract the attention of our sensory channels and receive undue weighting in the decision-making process. In the financial realm, salience theory predicts that individuals will find assets with salient upsides (downsides) appealing (unappealing). We investigate whether this theory can explain investor behaviour in the cryptocurrency market. Consistent with the theory's predictions, using a sample of 1738 cryptocurrencies, we find that cryptocurrencies that are more (less) attractive to “salient thinkers” earn lower (higher) future returns, which indicates that they tend to be overpriced (underpriced). On average, a one cross-sectional standard-deviation increase in the salience theory value of a cryptocurrency reduces its next-week return by 0.41%. However, the salience effect is confined to the micro-cap segment of the market, and its size is moderated by limits to arbitrage.
This paper explores the contemporary aesthetics of one of the latest forms of digital art known as non-fungible tokens, aka NFTs, and how and why they are affecting and shaping today’s society. Using Manovich’s theory of metamedium, Lanza’s theory of biocentrism, blockchain technology, and NFTs can be theorized as a form of medium which represents many other media while augmenting them with many new properties. The main theoretical problem with NFTs in the domain of art theory is the question of their originality. When put to use through various digital art collections and online tech platforms, the backend section of the blockchain smart contract code also becomes part of art, hence it can sometimes be difficult to define NFTs’ originality of the art itself. Due to the repetitive nature of NFTs, it can be argued that the most unique component of the NFT metamedium is not art, or blockchain smart contract, but the owner of the digital art piece. With the collection of 10,000 similar pieces of art, the originality of art is evolving through the ideology of cultural groups associated with desired collections. It is shifting from the art itself to the owner. Throughout the unification of technology, software, and art, artists have a new way to extend their creations, while actively participating in the shaping of the cultural landscape. This gives both creators and collectors of the NFT metamedium a brand-new transcending meta experience beyond the art itself that gives a unique point to the originality of the art piece. Article received: May 8, 2022; Article accepted: July 15, 2022; Published online: October 15, 2022; Original scholarly paper
Open access
Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations
Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is a relatively new concept that has been a hot topic in the development of the field. The artwork generated in the form of NFT has made it an increasingly lucrative market, while there is also a lot of interest in the application of NFT to games, the metaverse and the financial economy. Therefore, this research paper will investigate the market development trend of NFT in the context of metaverse and the future outlook, especially to make a more detailed analysis of several important fields, taking art and branding industry as examples. Based on case studies and data analysis, NFT’s high pricing is attributed to a variety of factors, where the company's marketing approach is mostly creative and cross-pollinated to appeal to a wide audience. NFT has the ability to grow in the cultural sector as a whole, but it is challenging to sustain long-term prosperity due to the lack of NFT artworks and the likelihood of excessive speculation. Overall, this paper explores the value and potential of NFT using current research and accurate statistics, particularly in the areas of branding and the arts. These results shed light on guiding further exploration of NFT's market prospect and its own value realization.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have recently surged to mainstream attention by allowing the exchange of digital assets via blockchains. NFTs have also been adopted by artists to sell digital art. One of the promises of NFTs is broadening participation to the art market, a traditionally closed and opaque system, to sustain a wider and more diverse set of artists and collectors. A key sign of this effect would be the disappearance or at least reduction in importance of seller-buyer preferential ties, whereby the success of an artist is strongly dependent on the patronage of a single collector. We investigate NFT art seller-buyer networks considering several galleries and a large set of nearly 40,000 sales for over 230 M USD in total volume. We find that NFT art is a highly concentrated market driven by few successful sellers and even fewer systematic buyers. High concentration is present in both the number of sales and, even more strongly, in their priced volume. Furthermore, we show that, while a broader-participation market was present in the early phase of NFT art adoption, preferential ties have dominated during market growth, peak and recent decline. We consistently find that the top buyer accounts on average for over 80% of buys for a given seller. Similar trends apply to buyers and their top seller. We conclude that NFT art constitutes, at the present, a highly concentrated market driven by preferential seller-buyer ties.
NFTs (Non-fungible tokens) refer to digital assets in the form of art, game items and other collectibles that are encoded in smart contracts on blockchain. Starting from 2021, the NFT market has been growing exponentially. However, the overall structures, evolutions and trends of the market have not been sufficiently explored. In this study, we analyze data of 9,045 NFTs which were on sale at OpenSea in April 2021 and predict their price using both visual and non-visual information by a two-stage machine learning approach and an end-to-end deep learning approach. To examine the effectiveness of multimodality, models trained on unimodal and multimodal data are compared. Besides, the effect of different feature fusion techniques on model performance is analyzed. To identify important predictors, the top ten most influential features are also presented. Results show that among two-stage models, the VGG-RF model trained on multimodal data gives the best performance of R squared 69.75% and RMSE 565.49. Among end-to-end models, the multimodal neural network with self and cross-attention achieves the best performance of R squared 69.25 % and RMSE 569.13. Our results also demonstrate that the visual aspect of NFT have an impact on its price, but this impact is weaker than some non-visual information such as total number of bids in history and the collection the NFT comes from. We expect findings of this study facilitate future researches on NFT trading and pricing strategies, and help investors make more advisable investment decisions.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), digital certificates of ownership for virtual art, have until recently been traded on a highly lucrative and speculative market. Yet, an emergence of misconceptions, along with a sustained market downtime, are calling the value of NFTs into question. This project (1) describes three properties that any valuable NFT should possess (permanence, immutability and uniqueness), (2) creates a quantitative summary of permanence as an initial criteria, and (3) tests our measures on 6 months of NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain, finding 45% of ERC721 tokens in our corpus do not satisfy this initial criteria. Our work could help buyers and marketplaces identify and warn users against purchasing NFTs that may be overvalued.