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The Immersive Wire - 21 November 2022 (Monday briefing)

The Immersive Wire - 21 November 2022 (Monday briefing)

November 21, 2022

Your weekly briefing on the metaverse // 21 November 2022

BRIEFINGExecutive summary

Snippets to sound smart in meetings this week:

  • Exclusive story: ATLAS: EARTH, a virtual real estate title has a fair few people playing each day: 50,000 daily active users (analysis below);

  • Headline: Pico may miss sales targets with its VR headsets, according to a report (analysis below);

  • Stat of the week: 86% of companies using AR for onboarding say the tech has improved the quality of training, according to a survey from TeamViewer;

  • Conversation-starter: Harry and Meghan may hop into the metaverse, according to a report. Someone allegedly close to them said that they ‘will have an even greater ability to spread their message if they have a presence in the virtual world as well as the physical world. They’ve spoken to a variety of experts and the view is this is the next stage to take their brand truly global.’

I adored God of War Ragnarok; an epic story about the bonds of prophecy, mixed with a personal story about family. Highly recommend! Also, I was mentioned in Sky News talking about metaverse land interoperability, referencing this piece from last week – Tom Ffiske, Editor of the Immersive WireWant to be fully briefed each week? Sign up to get it directly to your inbox.

TOP ANALYSISA peek at Pico, and metaverse land interest? 

Exclusive story: ATLAS: EARTH has 50,000 daily active users after its first year.

  • This is not a blockchain or web3 company. Instead, it focuses on the spatial side of the metaverse, where players can only buy land where they physically are. The company has sold over 4.5 million parcels in the US, selling a parcel of land every 4-6 seconds.

  • Even Mastercard is taking part. The payments company announced that it links ATLAS: EARTH to its loyalty program. Compare this to other metaverse land platforms that are taking a dip, as I explored last week.

  • It raises the question of whether blockchain technologies are necessary to convey ownership. I argue it does establish ownership, to some extent; it’s a ledger that helps to validate identities. At the same time, the concept of ownership goes beyond tech. Sami Khan, the co-founder and CEO of Atlas Reality, gave a telling quote to App Developer Magazine: ‘For us, ownership is not just proving in a line of code that something is yours. Ownership is about getting a fair share of something you or your digital self participates in via time, money, or effort.’

Pico may miss expectations this year, selling less than one million headsets.

  • The company has already cut manufacturing from 2.5m headsets to 1.8m, while potentially making a loss on each one. This is interesting because Pico also said European customers may see delays to orders due to high global demand.

  • In my view, not enough time has elapsed to fully judge its performance. The company made a big decision to focus more on Europe and less so on the US, which may bear fruit in 2023. With the development fund, it takes time for exclusive Pico titles to come through – which the company would have forecasted when planning its long-term strategy. We should have a better idea of its trajectory in the months to come.

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The Metaverse: A Professional Guide is now available as an audiobook on Audible! Listen to the audio version of the book, highly rated by professionals in our space. One review from Amazon: ‘It is definitely a book worth reading and for those who know more there are lots of facts, insights and explanations across the metaverse, AR, VR, and its applications. As Tom Ffiske outlines, this is a never-ending journey so I’m pleased to have started the journey with this book.'

Get it in your region:

OTHER STORIESImportant news from the last week

Got stories? Do let me know at tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com. 

  • AIXR unveiled the recipient of this year’s ‘Accenture VR Lifetime Achievement’ award, Dr. Jacquelyn Ford Morie.

  • AllCertified allows individuals to create and manage blockchain-authenticated autographs via NFTs.

  • AmazeVR‘s Enter Thee Hottieverse, a VR concert starring Megan Thee Stallion, will be available in Meta’s App Lab on 30 November.

  • AWE is calling for proposals to speak or exhibit at AWE USA 2023.

  • Chipotle‘s CMO reflected on a year of metaverse activations.

  • FitXR will launch a few new music collections for workout classes: Backstreet Boys, Wham!, and Billy Idol on 25 November; and Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, Pink, Miley Cyrus, and more on 12 December.

  • Google added more AR capabilities to its search engine.

  • Health Education England made a VR experience for nurses to remotely assist in prisons.

  • HTC had its headset leaked by SadlyItsBradley.

  • Immersive Tech Week is starting next week in Rotterdam.

    • Let me know if you’re coming along, as I will be there too!

  • ITRI, Taiwan’s tech research institution, introduced a new type of display for AR glasses.

  • Meta announced a partnership with Bodyswaps to give 100 higher and further education institutions access to VR across the UK, North America, France, and Belgium. 

  • Niantic and Qualcomm unveiled a reference design for their AR headset.

    • Qualcomm also announced the AR2 Gen 1, designed for AR glasses (Virtual Vector does a great analysis of this).

  • Nike will open .Swoosh – its own virtual asset platform – by the end of this month.

  • Omdia reported that consumer VR will be worth $6.9bn in 2022, and may increase to $20bn in 2027.

  • Pico announced that it will be the first to publish Survival Nation for standalone VR headsets.

  • Ready Player Golf is a charity event raising money for Children’s Cancer Research Fund, happening on 25 November.

  • RealWear announced that DanBred deployed AR wearables for the remote inspection of pig herds. 

  • Sphere is a new decentralized, sports-centric metaverse, with an initial focus on football.

  • Towards a Digital Renaissance is a new book by Jeremy Silver, CEO of Digital Catapult, on tech ecosystems – with a peek into the metaverse as well.

  • TriggerXR worked on a Duran Duran experience for the Snapdragon Summit.

  • Tuvalu will become the first digital nation, announced around COP27.

  • VictoryXR and HTC VIVE announced a partnership to deliver a dissection curriculum covering frogs, pigs, and the human brain in VR.

  • Virtuleap won the Call for Innovation ‘Wellness & the Metaverse’ competition.

  • YAHAHA raised $40m in funding, to grow its platform.

READERS CORNERLooking for assistance

Want to receive help from readers of the Immersive Wire? Send an email with ‘looking for assistance’ in the subject line to tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com.

  • Bodyswaps, a VR Platform for soft skills training, is looking for a freelance content writer to help spread the good word about VR in education. Get in touch here.

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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!