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Meta identified the person who leaked Quest details to Brad Lynch

The Immersive Wire - 13 February 2023 (Monday Briefing)

Author

Tom Ffiske
February 13, 2023

Executive summary

Welcome to your weekly briefing on the metaverse. Here are your snippets to sound smarter in meetings this week:

  • Headline: Meta identified the person who leaked Quest Pro and Quest 3 details to Brad Lynch (analysis below).

  • Funding: XR30, an XR policy fund, is now open for applications.

  • Stat of the week: 58% of US viewers are interested in watching events like the Super Bowl in a virtual stadium, according to Amdocs.

  • Conversation-starter: Microsoft cut its Industrial Metaverse team after four months of activity. 

  • Other stories: Paris Hilton launched a dating experience in The Sandbox, Dave & Buster's Entertainment launched its own world in Roblox, and VITURE started shipping its VITURE One XR Glasses to its Kickstarter backers (more below).

  • Community insights: 68% of readers believe we need to look beyond Meta’s earnings.

    • “It's more important to look at the return on investment in long-term projections and technology created than just the investment itself.” - Sam Roach, Unity.

    • Want to appear in the next newsletter? Vote then comment on the next vote below.

Community question:

How relevant is that chatter on generative AI to the metaverse?

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If you make a funny meme, make sure to add a watermark. You never know how far it can spread on social media, plucked like a pick-and-mix chocolate.

- Tom Ffiske, Editor of the Immersive Wire

Analysis

Meta identified the person who leaked Quest details to Brad Lynch.

  • Summary: A third-party contractor gave details on the Quest Pro to Brad Lynch, a Youtuber, in return for a small sum. In response to Brad’s video, Meta conducted a long investigation which resulted in the identification of the leaker.

  • Brad’s response: “They might have asked because I wasn’t willing to give much money up front. I’m just one guy who loves VR and just enjoys talking with industry friends and reporting what I hear. And I’m definitely not getting rich from it.”

  • My thoughts: As Andrew Bosworth shared the update internally, it implies that his videos caused a stir within Meta as they work on their projects. The next steps would include how they can ensure hardware is kept secret for as long as possible, ahead of the unveiling.

Google launched Immersive Stream for XR.

  • What is it? Google Cloud can host and stream XR assets for users who need the specifications for particular immersive projects. The technology can work for desktops, phones, headsets or tablets, with Unreal Engine 5.0 support.

  • My thoughts: Streaming will be a huge deal for headsets. The hardware limitations that they face are high, as touched on in Matthew Ball’s recent essay. This is a decent in-between as we work out the hardware problems of immersive tech hardware.

Other notable stories

Got any stories? Let me know at tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com.

  • Accenture made a strategic investment through Accenture Ventures in Looking Glass Factory, a hologram company.

    • Disclaimer: I work at Accenture as a global thought leadership strategist.

  • AWE USA is happening 31 May - 2 June.

    • Immersive Wire readers can have a discount of 20% if they use this code: 23WIRED

  • Dave & Buster's Entertainment launched its own world in Roblox.

  • Glimpse Group announced that its subsidiary company, Foretell Reality, integrated AI into its platform.

  • Kinetix, an AI company for emotes in virtual spaces, launched its infrastructure.

  • MagicBeans, a spatial audio company, is running two days of demos at Somerset House on 1 and 2 March.

  • Paris Hilton launched a dating experience in The Sandbox.

  • Revelator announced that it has embedded a new easy-to-use product in its Revelator Pro platform.

  • Tilt Five will integrate its tech with award-winning board game Takenoko.

  • Toei Animation launched a virtual world as part of the metaverse project ONN'ON STUDIOS.

  • Verses and Valleys is a group of top creative technology experts who will be offering free metaverse consultations to select companies through February.

  • VITURE started shipping its VITURE One XR Glasses to its Kickstarter backers.

  • XR LIVE Performance Exhibition is a non-traditional online exhibition featuring artists.

  • Yahaha Studios announced the launch of YAHAHA Asset Ovi, to help game developers search for game assets across areas.

Help corner

Need some assistance from other readers? Let me know at tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com.

  • Helen Ponsford (Senior Programme Editor): The Economist is looking to speak to industry experts to research the agenda of The Economist's Enterprise Metaverse Summit taking place in London 27th - 28th June 2023. The event will help senior leaders build and benefit from digital twins to enhance productivity. If participating would be of interest to your company, please get in touch with Helen to discuss.

  • Headonists, a UK-based XR community, is looking to compile XR-related events within a single calendar. The calendar itself can be found here, and the submission form is here.

  • Metaverse Tech developed a social Metaverse edtech platform, VBuddies, which focuses on peer-to-peer learning in the metaverse. Contact Lijia Zhang for further details.

That's all for this week! Want to have a chat, let me know about a news story, or talk business? Contact tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com. Have an excellent day!