The Immersive Wire - 5 December 2022 (Monday briefing)

Your weekly briefing on the metaverse // 5 December 2022

BRIEFINGExecutive summary

Snippets to sound smart in meetings this week:

• Exclusive story: DSCVR, the largest web3 social network, has about 12,089 daily active users (analysis below).

• Headline: Meta also asked policymakers in the US to resist regulating the metaverse.

• Stat of the week: US companies were responsible for 57% of metaverse-related patent applications (followed by South Korea then China), according to a joint survey by Nikkei Asia and the Cyber Creative Institute.

• Funding: Amimoca Brands announced a new fund and seeks to raise $1bn to $2bn to fund metaverse businesses.

• Immersive Tech Week: I had a blast at the event, alongside the VR Awards as well. It also outlined some interesting trends in relation to Meta and Pico.

• Conversation-starter: Only five people came to a metaverse-related event hosted by the European Commission’s foreign aid department, according to POLITICO. But there may be more to the story. The party may not have had many guests, but there seem to be a few people who are entering the persistent virtual world right now. Perhaps it’s a case where the department did not push the event well enough, but it is now gaining traction as the Global Gateway initiative spreads further.

Loved my time at Immersive Tech Week, though the fog right at the beginning of the event felt very Silent Hill-esque – Tom Ffiske, Editor of the Immersive WireWant to be fully briefed each week? Sign up to get it directly to your inbox.

TOP ANALYSISInvestigating web3 social media networks

Exclusive story: DSCVR, the largest web3 social network in terms of sign-ups (150,000), has about 12,089 daily active users.

• What is DSCVR? Basically, DSCVR is a decentralised social media platform where users can control the content and the platform itself (unlike Meta). ‘Users are looking for an alternative to traditional social media and Web3 provides the ideal infrastructure for us to do this,’ said CEO Rick Porter. The company recently announced that 150,000 users signed up, and then highlighted to me that around 12,000 people use it each day.

• Is the number low? It’s complicated. On the one hand, web3 is relatively new with a new spectrum of companies tapping into the technologies, so we can’t expect a major player to come instantly. On the other hand, it is dwarfed by the user counts across Meta’s and Snap’s networks, to name two examples. A representative at DSCVR says it compares favourably to more traditional apps, saying that it does not have all the types of notifications that help with engagement.

• What’s the bigger picture? I have outreached to Farcaster and Lens – two competitors in the same field – for comments and insights. I will update you when I hear back. I also had a peek at DappRadar, though DSCVR said it does not paint the whole picture. ‘DappRadar is set up to look at interactions with wallets and smart contracts,’ a representative said. ‘The majority of DSCVR users don’t connect an external wallet and if they do, not all the time when they use the product.’ The same would be true for competitors.

• It also raises questions on what constitutes a ‘metaverse’ social media network. Arguably Roblox would have more impact, with over 58 million users each day. Whole networks on Discord would have more active users, albeit on a centralised platform. Social media itself will likely shift as blockchain technologies get deployed, but its form is still up for debate and innovation.

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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.'

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OTHER STORIESImportant news from the last week

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

• Apple renamed its software to xrOS, and may reveal it next year.

  • I treat Apple rumours carefully, but I trust Mark Gurman from Bloomberg considering his stellar track record.

• Authentic Artists received funding from The Sandbox’s Game Maker Fund to develop its generative AI music platform.

• Bohemia Interactive Simulations released the VBS4 and VBS Blue IG.

• Brave Group appointed Hayashi Norikazu, the former representative director of Applovin Japan, as the CEO of MetaBash.

• Pixelynx is a new web3 company by Deadmau5 and Hawtin.

• DPVR E4 is a new wired SteamVR headset, with a wider FOV.

• Gatherverse Africa is happening today.

• GN3RA, a fashion metaverse, is having a launch event in London, 6 December. Maybe see you there!

  • If you are curious, here are more details on the company itself.

• Hype will run a we3 job fair in February.

• IDC forecasts that VR will account for 70% of all VR/AR spending up to 2026, evenly split between consumer and commercial applications.

  • I would treat analyst stats with a pinch of salt.

• Immersive Health Group entered into a technology and IP assignment agreement with InciteVR.

• Joy Flight, a VR flight simulation game, has launched on Steam.

• Meta launched its first ‘metaverse’ experience in Africa.

  • It will be a mixed-reality concert in Lagos, Nigeria.

• Metaverse Safety Week is coming up, between 10 – 15 December.

• Microsoft will collaborate with Hadean to help with its cloud-based military training capabilities. 

• Mozilla Hubs launched the first public beta of its subscription service for $20 per month.

  • Mozilla also acquired Active Replica, to help build its web-based aspirations.

• Pantone picked the colour of the year: magentaverse.

• Perkins Coie found that nearly half of XR professionals expect to see widespread adoption of immersive and web3 technologies within five years.

• Razer announced the free release of the Interhaptics haptic authoring tool.

• Resolution Games announced that it will be hosting the first-ever Resolution Games Showcase on 15 December.

• Sony unveiled a set of light motion capture wearables.

• Unity and ROTU Entertainment will partner to give 500 Quest 2 units to struggling music programmes.

• Virtuality Web3 Summit is happening between 16 – 17 March in Paris, and free tickets are available.

• VR Awards unveiled the winners for 2022.

  • One notable winner is Pico, who won the best hardware of the year with the Pico Neo3 Link. Interestingly, it looked like Meta did not submit its hardware this year.

  • Disclaimer: I was a judge at the awards, for two categories (not hardware).

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.

• Jo Eyre is looking for those that have experienced workplace virtual worlds to complete a survey that will support her PhD research. The survey looks at how people experience immersion in workplace virtual worlds and how this is compared with feelings of immersion using other workplace communications tools. Complete it 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!