OpenAI plunges deeper into AR hardware

The Immersive Wire - 11 November 2024 (Briefing)

Author

Tom Ffiske
November 11, 2024

Executive summary

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

  • Top story: OpenAI appointed Caitlin Kalinowski, former head of AR hardware at Meta and ex-Apple hardware product design engineer, to lead its robotics and consumer hardware division (more details below).

  • Event: The Immersive Wire and City, University of London are working together for another networking event on 27 November. Come along! I am also looking for speakers, so please email if you’re interested (tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com).

  • Other stories: Apple is conducting internal research on existing smart glasses, indicating potential future development in this area, though any product release is likely years away. Additionally, Disney has established the Disney Office of Technology Enablement, led by Jamie Voris, to oversee the responsible development and deployment of advanced technologies such as AI and mixed reality (more stories below).

Gladiator II is out next week! Looking forward to the historical accuracy of an arena full of seawater and sharks. (This is not a joke, I am actually looking forward to it).

Tom Ffiske, Editor of the Immersive Wire

Top story

OpenAI appointed Caitlin Kalinowski, former head of AR hardware at Meta and ex-Apple hardware product design engineer, to lead its robotics and consumer hardware division.

  • What else is happening at OpenAI? The company is also working with Jony Ive to make a new hardware product using AI, which will likely tie into that roadmap.

  • Is there any evidence that OpenAI will tap into AR? None. Kalinowski used to lead AR hardware, but there is no indication that OpenAI’s new product will tie into that. Still, if you think about the user experience of an AI product, the ability to ‘see’ in front of users is likely vital for an AI-enabled machine.

  • Apple is conducting internal research on existing smart glasses, indicating potential future development in this area, though any product release is likely years away.

  • Disney has established the Disney Office of Technology Enablement, led by Jamie Voris, to oversee the responsible development and deployment of advanced technologies such as AI and mixed reality.

  • Immersive Tech Week 2024 unveiled the Church of VR lineup, featuring 23 VR experiences including 18 premieres to be showcased from December 4 to December 6 in Rotterdam.

  • PulseJet Studios launched its VR music app PulseJet, available on the App Store and as a demo on Vision Pro devices at Apple stores.

  • TORCH at the University of Oxford is launching a free XR pop-up experience on November 11, where visitors interact with computer-generated gargoyles in a gamified environment to explore Oxford's history and address climate themes.

  • White Spark Pictures will premiere The Great Kimberley Wilderness, a 35-minute VR documentary narrated by Luke Hemsworth, at the Western Australian Museum on November 23, 2024.

Note: The Immersive Wire is run by Tom Ffiske, who also works within Accenture’s metaverse group. The contents of the newsletter should not be regarded as Accenture’s views.