Social VR survey unveils economic and romantic trends

Executive summary

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

• Headline: The Social VR survey unveiled interesting trends when it comes to the economic (and romantic) benefits of VR (analysis here and a snippet below).

• Article: Why companies are pivoting too hard towards AI.

• AI: At the same time, I can see the value of a chatbot that has access to the latest insights from the Immersive Wire, pre-vetted by myself. You can read my reasoning here, and try it out here (if you have ChatGPT Plus).

  • (It’s not lost on me that I wrote a piece worrying about AI, and then created a prototype chat within a week. Feel free to discuss here if you have thoughts!)

• Talent: A few professionals I know are looking for work. Scroll to the end to find a list.

• Other stories: Meta struck a deal with Tencent to deliver a low-cost VR headset in China next year, and Samsung and Google’s XR headset could be out in late 2024.

Analysis

The Social VR Survey took a deep dive into user’s virtual habits.

• Some key insights include:

• Romance: 41% of users have fallen in love in VR, with personality being the key reason. The physical sex of the lover is not important for two-thirds of those who have fallen in love;

• Economy: Almost all users pay for content in VR, with 18% spending $700 or more each year. After a virtual presentation of a product in VR, 42% have purchased a physical product. Additionally, a quarter of surveyed users made some sort of income, but only 7% of users make $700 or more each year;

• Community: The three most popular types of communities were fashion-related, music-related, or drinking party / casual chats.

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Other notable stories

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

• Darabase announced the launch of its global property inventory platform for AR advertising campaigns, darabase.io.

• Kill It with Fire VR is now out on PSVR 2.

• Meta struck a deal with Tencent to deliver a low-cost VR headset in China next year.

• Samsung and Google’s XR headset could be out in late 2024.

• Smart Retail Tech, which will have XR parts, will happen in February 2024.

• Snap added ChatGPT to its lens.

• Vuzix announced a new optical waveguide design and performance for see-through AR smart glasses.

• The XR Association published a report on why the US should nurture XR development.

Help corner

If you have a problem that you think could be solved by another reader of The Immersive Wire and would like to be connected, let me know at tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com.

• Haven, a VR wellness company I am advising, is raising $1m in their pre-seed round to redefine wellness through XR. Find out more on their LinkedIn or website.

• Valkyrie Industries is looking for a collaborative PhD to help with VR and muscle stimulation for rehabilitation.

A few colleagues are also looking for new roles. They include:

• Everett Wallace has extensive experience in XR, building strategy and driving new business in consumer-facing industries, with a speciality in entertainment/media.

• Jay Parekh is a cross-industry strategy consultant with expertise in business & market research, data analysis, insight generation, and strategy formulation.

• Tyler Gillespie is a design expert who is looking to build products internally. 

• Volodymyr Kurov is a full-stack developer looking to help with web development and coding.

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.