The Immersive Wire - 20 February 2022 (Sunday edition)

By Tom Ffiske

VR/AR and metaverse analysis every Wednesday and Sunday // 20 February 2022

Playing Worldle (not Wordle) is making me remember why I did so poorly in my Geography GCSEs. Also, wrote a column on crypto and the metaverse for TechInformed.

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TOP STORIESWhen would you make a metaverse equivalent? 

When do you build a metaverse equivalent of a real-life location? Some projects that opine to invest in the metaverse are so half-hearted and dismissive that they are seen as momentary flicks of the flame, squandering an opportunity to provide a full response. How many plots of land are full of companies who wanted to make a metaverse play on behalf of their company, but then stand empty long after? In real life, these sites would become weathered and broken; in the metaverse, the absenteeism is crystallised in pristine condition. A notable failure is Samsung's recent phone launch. The company hosted a metaverse unveiling of their new Galaxy S22 line, but the realm was hit by a range of technical difficulties that hampered the experience. When brands want to create a curated brand experience, any issues leave a mark on what is otherwise a controlled launch. Others provide a robust response. Manchester City, a popular football team, announced that they are rebuilding a metaverse equivalent of their Etihad Stadium so that fans can watch in the virtual location. A bold move, and one which implies some level of consistent upkeep as they broadcast games on the location. But time will tell whether the stadium will have the capabilities to service thousands of fans simultaneously, while likely selling NFTs of club shirts or merchandise. Learning from these, brands must make two considerations. The first is whether they need to make a metaverse play to begin with. Not all companies need to hop on a burgeoning trend to make a dent, before they disappear back to their core corporate strategy. Companies must lead with a genuine investment for it to have resonance and impact from the first day. The second is technical; the space itself must be well-designed and supported to uphold a positive brand experience, otherwise its failures will reverberate well beyond the activation. Share the insights with a colleague or friend. 

Welcome to the internet, have a look around. Photo credit: Sony/CFG. 

Metaverse hype is driving more and more enterprises to get started with VR. VRdirect is the standard VR software solution for enterprises like Siemens, Nestle and Deutsche Telekom, and enables many more companies to take the first steps into the metaverse.  

Now is the time for enterprises to develop a VR strategy and gain a competitive edge for the future. VRdirect is the easiest solution to get started with VR projects. 

Learn more about chances for your business and how to start in the metaverse. 

Q&AEthics and enjoyment 

Michaela Ternasky-Holland, AR, VR and metaverse Creative Strategist 

What is your background?While I was studying for a Literary Journalism degree and Digital Filmmaking minor, I continued to audition for acting and dancing roles and performed on a Disney Cruise Line, at Disneyland, Legoland, and SeaWorld in Southern California. This made me realise, firsthand, the power of immersive and interactive, human-centered storytelling. As a result, I developed my own specialism as a creative consultant - combining immersive and interactive technology with non-fiction and socially impactful stories. I work with clients such as museums and non-profits, helping them to use non-traditional storytelling methods like VR, AR, AI, and online interactivity to increase the impact of the projects. I am also an athletic movement artist, and still perform and train as a professional dancer, aerial artist, and I’m a long-distance running coach.What are you working on, and what’s a key learning that you’ve had from it?The latest project I am part of is called, “On the Morning You Wake (to the End of the World)”. It is a three-party virtual reality documentary that captures the voices of the people who experienced the real and imminent threat of nuclear weapons. Chapter 1: Take Cover is making its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival in the New Frontier category. For this consultancy, I am working within a company called Games for Change, which is an executive producer for the project. My role is Creative Strategist and Impact Producer, and I oversee everything outside of the virtual reality documentary - so the website, social media, installation, festival activations, programming, and more.For most, nuclear threat is unimaginable—out of sight, and out of our control. “On the Morning You Wake” makes that threat proximate and uses the first-hand experience of citizens in Hawaii to make clear the fundamental injustice of a world held hostage by nuclear weapons. Before starting this project, I had never thought about the impact that nuclear weapons have had on my life. Now, with the help of Games for Change and other experts in the field, we have developed a multi-media impact campaign centering on the human cost of global nuclear threat. A story is the most powerful agent for change that we have as a society. The intersection between art and technology has never been more important in shaping the opinions of the public and our political leadership.If you had to give one piece of advice, what would you give? When creating an immersive or interactive project, make the internal team's experience as ethical, equitable, and enjoyable as the external audience's experience. If you want to know more about Michaela 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!