The Immersive Wire - 22 December 2021 (News edition)

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

// 22 December 2021

Happy holidays, and I hope you have a restful time!

Invest to own a part of the future of exercise in the Metaverse

TOP STORIESJeez, get a Rec Room

Rec Room announced the close of $145m in new funding, and now it is worth

$3.5bn.

• One great stat from VentureBeat: 'Rec Room’s monthly user count jumped nearly 450% since November 2020 with mobile users increasing more than tenfold during that same time.'

• Pundits call this an example of a 'metaverse' company that is outside of the clutches of a large tech company, and soared to new heights without their help.

• While Rec Room is a success story, industry people forget that it is also accessible via mobile devices too, and it is following a Roblox-esque growth strategy where it can operate across multiple different platforms.

• So think of it less than a VR title that is worth billions, and more a competitor to Roblox which is also seeing major gains.

• The rise in value across both Roblox and Rec Room also shows that there is plenty of space for multiple companies to grow quickly. The space is far from monopolised.

Intel says there needs to be a 'thousand-times' increase in hardware power

for the metaverse.

• One line from Intel's blog post: 'Truly persistent and immersive computing, at scale and accessible by billions of humans in real-time, will require even more: a 1,000-times increase in computational efficiency from today’s state of the art. Many advances across transistors, packaging, memory and interconnect that will help are in the pipeline.'

• I mention this now because, if you follow Twitter for ten seconds, you would think that the metaverse would be around the corner. It is not.

• The metaverse is many years away, and we lack the fundamentals before we build on it. So however many companies talk about it, we still lack the basic infrastructure and ease of access it would require.

VirZOOM shipped the first commercial VR Exercise solution in 2016. Today, thousands of VZfit members cycle through 10 million miles of roads mapped by Google Streetview, pedal tanks in multiplayer tank battles, fly helicopters in a firefight, fly a winged horse to soar 100s of feet high through a canyon, among many games that get you fit while you explore and play!Invest to join in for as little as $500.

TOP STORIES

Submit your stories by replying to this email, or pop one to tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com.

• HBAR Foundation and MetaVRse announced a partnership to build metaverse solutions on the Hedera Network.

• Laval Virtual Europe will take place between 12 and 14 April 2022.

• OpenBCI raised a round of funding to build neurotechnology that could be used for brain-computer interfaces.

• PRELOADED appointed the eSkootr Championship to produce a gamified second-screen viewing experience for fans.

  • Quote from the company: 'By holding their device to their main screen, viewers will get stats about each rider including their heart rate, speed and lean angle, as well as receiving live text commentary about the status of the race with the ability for fans to engage through likes and dig deeper into the rider profiles.'

• Sword Art Online is going global. An exhibition is the translated version of the game held exclusively in Japan between November and December, and will deliver VR experiences to SAO fans.

• ThirdEye announced its Carbon Footprint AR tracker, aiding in environmental sustainability through its AR and MR platforms.

• Vertigo Games and Anotherway released Unplugged on PC VR.

  • Note: it is for Valve Index Controller compatible headsets only.

• VIVEPORT announced its first co-produced anime, BIRDIE WING – Golf Girls’ Story, made in collaboration with Bandai Namco Pictures, to be released next year.

• Xbox's Phil Spencer effectively said that the metaverse needs to be empowered by players, not corporations.

  • The whole article is practically a compulsory read; another great piece from PROTOCOL.

• ZenVR launched this Monday on Steam.

• The State of the AR/VR survey is now live, powered by SlashData. The survey is a chance to influence the trends of tomorrow and make an impact on the ecosystem. In return, you could enter prize draws to win new AR/VR gear. AR/VR creators, the spotlight is on you, answer a few questions & win new gear.*

*This is a sponsored item from SlashData.

Jobs boardNEW - 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. SENIOR WEBXR ENGINEER, US. Build a human-centric metaverse with a stellar team at www.urnowhere.com. Full-Time Position, Fully Remote Team, Core hours (10AM-5PM EST). NOWHERE aims to revolutionize gathering with patent-pending video presence technology that allows serendipitous social mingling between conversations with friends or colleagues at conferences, meetings, or parties all within dynamic web environments. Nowhere combines expertise from veteran founders, experience experts, engineers, game designers, theatre-makers, VFX artists from Windmill Factory to build a healthier digital future. Please share with anyone you think might be interested. JOIN NOWHERE.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!