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The Immersive Wire - 28 November 2022 (Monday briefing)

The Immersive Wire - 28 November 2022 (Monday briefing)

November 28, 2022

Your weekly briefing on the metaverse // 28 November 2022

BRIEFINGExecutive summary

Snippets to sound smart in meetings this week:

  • Headline: Meta is spending 20% of its budget on Reality Labs, and 50% of that goes into R&D for AR glasses (analysis below).

  • Stat of the week: European metaverse startups have raised $666m (up from $121m in 2021) according to Dealroom.

  • Lesson to learn: Don’t overpromise on a project, or shill too hard via partnerships. Sounds simple; but if you don’t, you may face a massive backlash that erupts in controversy… as Paradox Studios saw this week (analysis below).

  • Metrics: I took a peek at measuring success in the metaverse, which can come down to dwell time, conversions, engagement, or perhaps just the sheer number of visitors.

See some of you in Rotterdam for Immersive Tech Week! I have spare tickets, so if anyone wants to come along too, let me know – Tom Ffiske, Editor of the Immersive WireWant to be fully briefed each week? Sign up to get it directly to your inbox.

TOP ANALYSISA division of finances, in Reality (Labs)

Meta is spending 50% of Reality Labs’ budget on R&D for AR glasses, while 10% goes to Horizon.

  • What strikes me is the actual percentage of the budget dedicated to Reality Labs. The media narrative discusses how Meta is pouring billions into its division to architect the future of the metaverse. In absolute terms, billions of dollars is a lot; but compared to the wider company, it is still 1/5 of the company’s monetary dedication.

  • The same goes for the focus on Horizon. Many incorrectly conflate Meta’s vision for the metaverse with the Horizon platform, when it forms one part of its overall strategy. Even then, it is a smaller fraction of Reality Labs’ budget.

  • Still, let’s be careful with the numbers. Percentage divisions of budgets obscure the size, scale, and leadership oversight that parts of Reality Labs may focus upon. The true impact of the finances will come when the R&D for AR glasses bears fruit.

Paradox Studios is in hot water after partnering with a popular Youtube and mishandling its allegations of scam.

  • First, a brief summary. Paradox Studios is launching the Paradox Metaverse, a virtual world that uses its own virtual currency. A popular Youtuber, iShowSpeed, partnered with Paradox Studios to promote the project. So far, so normal.

  • Then it went downhill. During and after the stream, the team got hit by a wave of fans who thought it was a scam. Another popular YouTuber, Coffeezilla, hosted a two-hour stream interviewing the founders, where they received even more negative press. The founders then released a video to clear the noise… and then allegedly threatened content creators who criticised him, saying he will ‘smash [their] teeth in.’

  • What can we learn from this? First, do not promise that a currency can accrue value multiple times over in a short space of time. Even if there is evidence for this, it will raise red flags for people who are not as tied to the product. Second, I recommend conducting interviews in a measured way and avoiding rising to the bait, as it can otherwise give fuel to the fire. Finally, go quiet after a controversy; release one detailed piece of content outlying the situation, then focus on the product. Further videos or reactions will only keep the negative headlines in public for longer.

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What do you think of Paradox Metaverse?

Join the discussion and meet like-minded professionals on the

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.

  • Animoca Brands is working with 14 new brands and celebs for The Sandbox, including Paris Hilton and Snoop Dog.

  • Deloitte found that the metaverse could add $1.4trn to GDP by 2035.

  • ENGAGE XR signed a commercial reseller agreement with Lenovo.

  • FundamentalVR announced the expansion of its executive team with the addition of four leaders.

  • inCitu, which does AR visualisations, raised $2m in funding.

  • Kellogg’s is partnering with Blamkos Block Party for its metaverse play.

  • The LGBTQ + VR Museum will come to Cardiff in December.

  • Macy’s is making a metaverse parade.

  • Global Counsel published a new report on regulating the metaverse.

  • McKinsey found that women are more likely to spend time in the metaverse, but less likely to hold leadership positions in related companies.

  • Nreal updated its AR smartglasses to also work with Apple computers.

  • Oxford English Dictionary has put to public vote whether ‘metaverse’ should be word of the year.

  • Thirdverse, a web3 gaming platform, raised $15m in funding to grow its dev team.

  • Wintor is working with several Dutch tourist destinations to provide AR tours.

Q&AImproving accessability

Thomas Logan, CEO of Equal Entry and founder of Accessibility Virtual Reality (A11yVR)

What is your background?

I’ve spent the past 20 years assisting organizations to create technology solutions that work for people with disabilities. Over my career, I’ve delivered projects for many federal, state, and local government agencies as well as private sector organizations from startups to Fortune 500s.

I’m the Founder and CEO of Equal Entry, an accessibility consulting firm. Our mission is “contributing to a more accessible world.” I’m also the founder and organizer of Accessibility Virtual Reality (A11yVR) and co-founder and co-organizer of Accessibility New York (A11yNYC). Both are monthly Meetups for people interested in topics related to accessibility and people with disabilities. A11yVR focuses on accessibility in extended reality including virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. I live in Tokyo, Japan.

What are you working on, and what’s a key learning that you’ve had from it?

I am currently working on a project in WebXR related to providing solutions for people who are blind and low vision. This project uses new concepts for labeling 3D objects and providing attributes about the 3D objects through new controller interaction methods.

I also have worked with my team recently on a customized version of Mozilla Hubs that allowed screen reader users to perform a lot of functions in the interface through chat commands such as navigating around the space and finding specific avatars in the space.

I also am constantly on the lookout for new projects to work on related to people with disabilities and virtual reality technologies.

If you had to give one piece of advice, what would you give?

Make your virtual reality software accessible to people with disabilities and your product will also be easier for all of your customers to use. A great place to start is considering the following things:

  • Use text-to-speech,

  • Use speech-to-text

  • Allow your users to set font type, text size, and color preferences

  • Add captions for all spoken dialog, music, and sounds

  • Provide multiple communication and input options.

Related to this area is the extremely important consideration of designing safe alternatives to locomotion and movement to avoid nausea and sickness.

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!