The Immersive Wire - 10 August 2022 (News edition)

The Immersive Wire - 10 August 2022 (News edition)

August 10, 2022

10 August 2022 //

by Tom Ffiske

Metaverse and VR/AR analysis every Wednesday and Sunday

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up to get it directly to your inbox.

🌴 Time for a holiday: The Immersive Wire will be on a break after the next Sunday edition, until 31 August. I'll still be active on

and

, so feel free to say hi! In the meantime, time to rest up ⛱

TOP STORYRoblox and banks

Roblox now has 52.2 million daily active users, up 21%

  • The focus is on getting Roblox in new areas and ages: “We are driving record levels of users and engagement globally as we execute on our innovation roadmap and broaden the appeal of Roblox across geographies and age groups,” said David Baszucki, CEO of Roblox.

  • Still, its share price dipped as it missed expectations.

  • The company is known for driving its finances straight into R&D and its platform, and grows stronger quickly by uplifting its toolsets and qualities. I don't expect that to change soon, though I can see Roblox work on more partnerships (similar to The Sandbox).

  • Roblox continues its swift rise, and is comparable to Minecraft when it comes to influence, most strikingly in the US. We will see if its influence can keep spreading globally.

 The Bank of England is worried about the risks of crypto and the

  • Basically, the risks of cryptoassets are sizable, and as the metaverse grows faster and more interoperable, the problems scale upwards as well.

  • It's more outlying a worry than an overall strategy. The core blog post is a great read, exploring the possibility (rather than inevitability) of the future.

NVIDIA made a couple of announcements at SIGGRAPH, and both are worth a read:

What do you think of the Bank of England's movements? Join the discussion and meet like-minded professionals on the

The Economist's Metaverse Summit 2022 will help senior leaders define and build mixed-reality experiences that will add economic and social value. The event will take place on October 26-27th, consisting of an in-person experience on October 26th in San Jose and one day in the metaverse on October 27th. Be in the room where enterprises will build a better Web3 future and understand where the metaverse meets NFTs, gaming, crypto and blockchain to create value. Register free here

OTHER STORIESEvents and awards

Got any news? Let me know by replying to this email, or emailing tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com.

  • Leeds International Festival will be hosting panels on the metaverse as well.

  • MUTEK Montreal is launching its first XR part, called the Immersive Collection.

  • The Mill made a neat AR experience, ahead of the launch of House of the Dragon.

  • New World Notes found that 300,000 NFT holders are in Upland, which makes it an up-and-coming metaverse platform.

  • Starlite Aviation Academy has become the first company in Africa to operate a dedicated VR mission training facility for use with their defence customers which incorporates the latest cutting edge technology, with help from Vrgineers.

  • VirtCam changed its name to Metaverse Tech Ltd, reflecting its move in focus from VR to the metaverse.

  • Virtual land is crashing across the metaverse, plunging 85% so far in 2022.

    • One that warrants more analysis, but I would be wary of many metaverse platforms (for now).

  • VR Awards selected their finalists.

  • XR Stories - Storymode is an immersive tech grant available to SMEs or Leeds-based sole traders, with mentoring and guided workshops.

  • Zebra Pen, a leader in the writing and creative instrument space, brought its mascot to life with Zappar's WebAR tech. Try it out below:

Enjoy the Immersive Wire? Consider sharing it with friends and colleagues:

That's all for this week! Want to have a chat, let me know about a news story, or talk business? Either reply to this email, or contact tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com. Have an excellent day!