The Immersive Wire - 2 February 2022 (News edition)

By Tom FfiskeVR/AR and metaverse analysis every Wednesday and Sunday 

// 2 February 2022

My book is now out! Now I can catch up with The Veiled Throne, The Witcher, Book of Boba Fett... and have my social life back too!

The Metaverse: A Professional Guide

 is now out! Get your copy today.

MAIN STORYMeta's financials as stalkers roam their halls 

Meta will host their quarterly financials later today. 

• As dry as sandpaper in the Sahara Desert, but it usually gives a good overview of their aims and anxieties each quarter. Financials give CEOs an opportunity to outline their long-term view, as well as indicate the items they are worried about. If I weren't at my book launch, then I would tune into this and see how the metaverse will be discussed by the company.

• I anticipate that it will form a chunk of the call, but the focus itself will be interesting. Will it look into their cross-platform capabilities? Or their hardware developments?

• In any case, Reality Labs will continue to be a sinkhole of their financials, and we can expect the call to delve into why. 

The Daily Mail (please bear with me) ran a story on a woman being groped

in the metaverse. 

• I find it astounding that the story keeps going. We are seeing a variety of mainstream news outlets who are focusing on how women feel unsafe in virtual spaces, as a continuing narrative that the problems of today persist in the supposed utopias of tomorrow. 

• This is important because the media paints reality. If this is the story that people fixate on, then it becomes the key association that people have in their minds. Media reality becomes the norm, which in turn seeps into metaverse discussions. 

• So keep an eye on what outlets like the Mail say. While it paints an inaccurate picture, it's the perception that many, many people will see - which is why we need to track it carefully.

Tom Ffiske published The Metaverse: A Professional Guide

today. 

• Not much analysis on this, except that I need some sleep. I hope you enjoy reading it! 

When you invest all your finances in the metaverse, then someone pulls the plug. Photo credit: Giphy. 

Out now! The Metaverse: A Professional Guide sorts the sense from the nonsense, giving experts insights and guidance on how to navigate the burgeoning world of immersive technologies. By the end, you will have a firm grasp of the metaverse and all the contingent technologies that link to its foundations.Get your copy today. 

OTHER STORIESFitness and finances 

Got any stories? Let me know by responding to this email.

• Arvizio announced the release and availability of AR Instructor, a scalable SaaS solution powered by Microsoft Azure and leveraging AR to guide workers through complex operational, maintenance, repair, and training activities.

• Entain announced they will invest $130m to launch a global innovation lab to develop immersive games and sports experiences.

• ExxonMobil partnered with Groove Jones to develop an AR experience to help reduce carbon emissions and improve environmental sustainability. 

  • Another great way to cut emissions is to stop exporting oil, but we gotta count our blessings and continue our transition. 

• Fisk University students will provide a guided tour of the journey for civil rights through 130 years of American history, via VR. 

• FitXR is celebrating Black History Month with new updates and classes. 

• FIVARS, a VR and AR festival, returns on Feb 21

• Labyrinth deLux - A Crusoe Quest, a puzzle game set in space, will launch on 3 March. 

• Meta unified avatars across all platforms, including Instagram. 

• Morgan Stanley is looking into the metaverse, and says that China alone would become an $8trn market.

• Pinterest added AR shopping capabilities. 

• Rendever is expanding access to its platform, allowing all senior living communities and hospice centers to subscribe. 

• South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT announced that the government will invest $7.5bn into digital technologies, with 9 per cent going to metaverse and cloud tech technologies. 

• Studio Alta, the developer behind A Township Tale, announced it has raised a $12.4m seed investment to expand its studio.

• Warner Music Group announced they are partnering with The Sandbox to launch a virtual showroom.

Jobs boardNEW – 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. DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER. ArborXR is device management for AR & VR devices. We power some of the largest headset deployments in the world with Fortune 500, ISVs and companies around the world. Looking for someone with experience in the B2B SAAS marketing space who would enjoy working with a fully remote team based in the US, Canada and Europe. Would join a quickly growing marketing team with a hot product that is selling rapidly. Click here for more. WEB-AR DEVELOPER wanted to work with veteran AR agency. Experience in JavaScript, Three.js, A-Frame, and 8th Wall preferred. Ideal candidate thrives working remotely. Includes competitive salary and full benefits. To apply, send resume to [email protected].INTERNSHIP, US. The intern will be primarily focused on developing proficiency in the use and application of tools designed for experiences in VR/AR headsets. GRIP-IE interns will assist the Get Real management team and clients in the design, development, and implementation of features within both internal and partner platforms. Interns will follow industry best practices including continuous improvement through code reviews of existing and new code. GRIP-IE interns will also be responsible for managing communication with software vendors on a variety of topics including bug identification, feature requests, troubleshooting, and documentation materials. Click here for more. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, UK. Here at CIRCUS (an award-winning creative agency, specialists of Virtual Brand Experiences) we're on the lookout for an enthusiastic B2B Business Development Manager on a part-time, remote basis. If this sounds of interest and you love all things virtual, we'd love to tell you more. 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!