The Metaverse is a loaded word promising a bright, immersive future while at the same time raising important questions about the very nature of humanity. We are joined today by Professor Andrew Maynard to help us unpack what the Metaverse is and what might be in store for us for the future. Andrew Maynard is a scientist, author, and founder of Arizona State University’s Future of Being Human community, where he’s also a professor in the ASU School for the Future of Innovation in Society. Andrew is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, is a member of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research President’s Advisory Council, has served on a number of National Academies of Sciences committees, and has testified before congressional committees on several occasions. Although he trained as a physicist, Andrew’s work increasingly cuts across boundaries as it explores the ethical and socially beneficial development and use of transformative new technologies. He has worked with a number of organizations on approaches to ensuring new technologies benefit as many people as possible, and is a regular contributor to the WEF annual list of top ten emerging Technologies.In addition to his academic writing, Andrew’s work has appeared in publications ranging from The Washington Post and Scientific American, to Slate, Salon, and OneZero. He co-hosts the podcast Mission: Interplanetary with former NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, and is the author of the books Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies, and Future Rising: A Journey from the Past to the Edge of Tomorrow. He can be found online at andrew.maynard.net, on twitter at @2020science, and in real life buried in a good book!

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