The Immersive Wire - 13 March 2022 (Sunday edition)

By Tom Ffiske

VR/AR and metaverse analysis every Wednesday and Sunday // 13 March 2022

Black Public Media funds and supports Black creative technologists

MAIN STORYNiantic breaks the fourth wall, twice 

Let's talk about Niantic acquiring 8th Wall. A big move, but one that complements Niantic's vision like slotting a jigsaw piece into a complete picture. In terms of strategy, their blog post had one snippet which neatly summarised why 8th Wall is a great fit: 

• "With our Lightship platform, launched globally in November last year, we’re offering all developers the world’s largest immersive canvas to bring their creations to life on a massive scale. 8th Wall greatly complements our vision for Lightship, and we plan to expand our developer platform tools with their proven WebAR technology.”

So this is all for Lightship, their platform that sits at the heart of their strategy. And it makes perfect sense. Arming developers with the right tools means they can make good experiences. 8th Wall also has high ratings for their platform, innovating it so that devs (and partner companies) can use it for their work. What alternatives did Niantic have? Zappar and Blippar come to mind, offering their own WebAR solutions. Who knows what discussions happened behind closed doors (the transaction has not been disclosed), but it is a neat fit in any case. Niantic wants to build the 'real-world metaverse,' an overlay of reality that brings people together. Of all the metaverse interpretations I have seen recently, it is one I am particularly fond of. With the acquisition of 8th Wall, it will help the company come closer towards providing devs with a suite of tools to build experiences for people. 

The BPMplus Initiative aims to increase the participation of Black filmmakers and artists working in XR, AI, 3D, and other forms of emerging-tech storytelling. BPMplus programs include: Immersive Day at PitchBlack 2022, the MIT & Black Public Media Visiting Artists Program, the Nonso Christian Ugbode Fellowship, XR mixers and classes, BPMplus Fellowships, and Pop-up XR Theaters.Learn more about BPMplus here.

Q&AA believe that AR will form a part of the metaverse

David Goldman, VP of Marketing at Lumus

What is your background?I got started in marketing in Los Angeles and San Francisco during the dotcom boom, working with eBay and Google on the agency side. Since then I’ve worked with major software and product developers for both the consumer and B2B markets on a global scale. For me, the heart of marketing has always been strategic messaging and branding—hearing ten messages and knowing which one resonates. Lumus has an exciting message: Lumus is an AR optics company that has developed the most important display technology the world has ever seen. We are solving not only an optics challenge but also a mechanics and fashion challenge. Building the Lumus brand has meant helping an innovative company become an industry leader.What are you working on, and what’s a key learning that you’ve had from it? The AR hardware space is heating up now after many years. Now the Tier 1 companies are serious about shipping products over the next two to five years. These days I’m immersed in bringing our recent 2D pupil expansion waveguide displays into the spotlight. We always had the best performing tech, but the competition had a leg up on us with the aesthetic. Since introducing our 2D waveguides, we have been able to significantly shrink the footprint of our projection module, allowing for a host of competitively natural-looking products. I’ve also learned a ton about how we manufacture and focused on our supply chain including SCHOTT in Germany and Quanta Computer in Taiwan to show our prices are consumer-friendly.I think it’s amazing that a simple, ancient tool like the mirror is the key to the world’s most advanced AR display. I’ve learned all about this incredible technology, and how significant it is to the future of the metaverse or Web 3.0. My mission is making sure the entire AR world understands that, too.If you had to give one piece of advice, what would you give? I think we all agree that the metaverse is coming, and it will have a huge impact on everyday life. So my advice would be to keep your eye on augmented reality. AR is the only way to experience the metaverse AND engage with the real world simultaneously. At the same time, as with any new technology, users will need to create boundaries and try to limit their usage so it doesn’t come at the expense of daily life, but enhances it.If you want to know more about David Goldman then click here to find out more.  

Jobs boardDISTRIBUTION AND TOURING PRODUCER. Marshmallow Laser Feast is looking for someone to join our team as a Distribution & Touring Producer. You will have a desire to work at the bleeding edge of immersive storytelling and help shape how that work is distributed globally. We see the development and distribution of MLF’s own work as key to the future success of the business, a key revenue stream and integral in building global brand awareness. This new role will be a vital part of the core team that formulates and realises this ambitious vision. Learn more. RENDERING AND C++ ENGINEER, Wikitude, a Qualcomm company. Qualcomm is a company of inventors that unlocked 5G ushering in an age of rapid acceleration in connectivity. Under this dynamic umbrella, Wikitude, a Qualcomm company, shapes the future of augmented reality by empowering businesses and developers. We are looking for the XR Software Engineer Design to design, test, and implement core parts of the Wikitude XR toolkit – particularly rendering pipelines for XR systems. Do you have a high affinity for real-time rendering pipelines and optimizing code to fit 16ms (or less)? Learn more and apply! SENIOR COMPUTER SCIENCE and SOFTWARE DEVELOPER (3D, Linear Algebra, C++).  MetaVRse is a web-based 3D game engine for building immersive experiences without needing to code.   We are looking for a unicorn computer scientist from anywhere in the world who can help us improve the core rendering technology that will serve creators to build custom products in training, marketing, sales, retail and learning in photorealistic, real-time 3D delivered on any device in a browser. Working with our Head of R&D, you will be responsible for creating and implementing new 3D graphics solutions to push the limits of our technology stack.  Solid understanding of Real-time 3D libraries (OpenGL, Vulkan), Linear Algebra, C++ and 3D rendering and game engine technologies. Apply Here.XR SOFTWARE ENGINEER NETWORKING, Wikitude, a Qualcomm company. Qualcomm is a company of inventors that unlocked 5G ushering in an age of rapid acceleration in connectivity. Under this dynamic umbrella, Wikitude, a Qualcomm company, shapes the future of augmented reality by empowering businesses and developers. We are looking for an experienced XR Software Engineer Networking to drive the architecture, development, and deployment of core parts of our XR toolkit. A successful candidate has extensive experience in multiplayer streaming and can apply it to XR experiences. Do you have a solid technical background, a passion for the XR industry, and enjoy working with engineering teams? Apply hereXR CONTENT DIRECTOR, Pixo VR. The VR marketplace is exploding, and PIXO is leading the way in on-demand generation and adoption in our industry. With our groundbreaking PIXO ApexTM platform, we provide comprehensive, end-to-end VR content, distribution, and management solutions for enterprise. PIXO VR is searching for an XR Content Director to join our team. Reporting to the COO, the Content Director will manage the overall production, procurement and growth strategy for our XR content library. Working with a team of offshore and onshore designers, engineers, artists, marketers, and 3rd party content developers, the Content Director will ensure PIXO is delivering an exceptional content experience to all our end users. Check out further details here. SDK TECHNICAL ENGINEER, Pico Interactive Europe. As SDK Technical Engineer you will be responsible for investigating/troubleshooting issues reported, and collecting/consolidating customer requirements back to the Beijing DevSupport team. Through this role you will be the technical liaison between Pico Interactive Europe customers and Pico product teams to ensure Europe region's commercial success. In Europe, Pico is one of the premier enterprise hardware companies in the rapidly growing VR market. Click here for more.TECHNICAL PROJECT MANAGER, Pico Interactive Europe. As Technical Project Manager you will be responsible for evaluating improvements to the devices, services, logistics, and operations to continue the high growth business of Pico Interactive Europe. In Europe, Pico is one of the premier enterprise hardware companies in the rapidly growing VR market. The Pico Europe business is responsible for all business opportunities in Europe, Israel, Russian Federation and India. Click here for more.  Display your vacancy in front of thousands of talented VR/AR professionals in just a few clicks. Click here for more info.

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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!